Pay for an assistant?

I

imported_Detailing Technology

New member
What are yu paying your assistants who do not polish paint?



Someone who:

Wash

Wheels

Vacuum

Shampoo

Wax/seal

Set-up and Clean-up





I was thinking of $15hr or 100 flat per car until I can teach them to polish.
 
jdoria said:
I dont get that MAN HOUR thing. What is that?



You bill him out for $20 and keep 10 for overhead?
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When working alone I charge $45 an hour. When I have an assistant there are two of us working. He may be doing “grunt work” but he is still doing work that I would have to do if he were not there. So in essence in one hour, you are getting 2 “man hours” of work therefore, I charge $90 for each hour worked when I have an assistant.
 
MotorCity said:
When working alone I charge $45 an hour. When I have an assistant there are two of us working. He may be doing “grunt work” but he is still doing work that I would have to do if he were not there. So in essence in one hour, you are getting 2 “man hours” of work therefore, I charge $90 for each hour worked when I have an assistant.
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I did two full interior details yesterday; one on a Honda Pilot and the other on a Honda Odyssey. If I was working by myself it would have taken me around 10 hours. My labor rate is $40 per hour, so the price would have been around $425. With my assistant it took us 8 hours and the customer was billed the normal price of $425. Using your method it would have been $640. I think most people would have balked at such a high price. The point of having someone help you is to achieve economies of scale; get more done for the same money or even charge a bit less. By using an assistant and charging more, you are reducing the demand for your services. Kind of seems counter-intuitive to me.
 
brwill2005 said:
I did two full interior details yesterday; one on a Honda Pilot and the other on a Honda Odyssey. If I was working by myself it would have taken me around 10 hours. My labor rate is $40 per hour, so the price would have been around $425. With my assistant it took us 8 hours and the customer was billed the normal price of $425. Using your method it would have been $640. I think most people would have balked at such a high price. The point of having someone help you is to achieve economies of scale; get more done for the same money or even charge a bit less. By using an assistant and charging more, you are reducing the demand for your services. Kind of seems counter-intuitive to me.
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Not to be rude but if your assistant only reduces your time worked by 20% you are not working him/her to the full potential.



I have my guy do everything but use the polisher.



Final bill comes out to be the same as it would have if I didn't have an assistant, only difference is my body is much less sore and I actually have time to sit with a drink and a cigar after and time for the woman and kid! It benefits my customers due to the fact that I need the vehicle for less time



By doing this I am able to do more vehicles which, thus far has worked as I am booked for the season
 
MotorCity said:
Not to be rude but if your assistant only reduces your time worked by 20% you are not working him/her to the full potential.



I have my guy do everything but use the polisher.



Final bill comes out to be the same as it would have if I didn't have an assistant, only difference is my body is much less sore and I actually have time to sit with a drink and a cigar after! It benefits my customers due to the fact that I need the vehicle for less time



By doing this I am able to do more vehicles which, thus far has worked as I am booked for the season
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Agreed as well as with Jakerooni.
 
$15 seems a bit high to me also. Maybe if you're mobile, and can keep a fairly low overhead, but in a fixed operation like mine, you've got to keep costs down.





John
 
brwill2005 said:
I did two full interior details yesterday; one on a Honda Pilot and the other on a Honda Odyssey. If I was working by myself it would have taken me around 10 hours. My labor rate is $40 per hour, so the price would have been around $425. With my assistant it took us 8 hours and the customer was billed the normal price of $425. Using your method it would have been $640. I think most people would have balked at such a high price. The point of having someone help you is to achieve economies of scale; get more done for the same money or even charge a bit less. By using an assistant and charging more, you are reducing the demand for your services. Kind of seems counter-intuitive to me.
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Am I reading that right, $212.50 for an interior only detail? That is good pay.





Man hour - I get it. 10 hrs @ 45hr = $450. Ideally the helper will reduce the hours consumed at a lower net burn rate of cash. Ideally your net now would be 5hrs @ 90 = $450 but only cost you $50 in pay at a rate of $10 per hour.





I like to bring along a helper that I can shape into someone who I can let go out alone eventually. If I am earning $500 to 600 for a full job, I'd have no problem paying out $175-200 flat per job to someone reliable, manageable, and honest.
 
jdoria said:
Man hour - I get it. 10 hrs @ 45hr = $450. Ideally the helper will reduce the hours consumed at a lower net burn rate of cash. Ideally your net now would be 5hrs @ 90 = $450 but only cost you $50 in pay at a rate of $10 per hour..
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yep, you got it





jdoria said:
I like to bring along a helper that I can shape into someone who I can let go out alone eventually.
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I agree with you 100% which is why I do not treat him as an assistant, he is my apprentice. May seem like semantics but it really is different.
 
I pay mine 10/hr. On a interior reconditioning(carpet extract, leather cleaning/conditioning etc etc..) and wash/AIO/Seal/Wax, it takes me ~8-9hours on a large mid size car. with my assistant it takes 4 flat.
 
hei how come u dont train ur assitant to polish paint??i am no pro but if i was an assitant i would work hard and beg u to teach how to use the polisher.....also i f ur assitant know how to polish he could work on half of the car and u the other side and would finish faster..
 
Maybe its regional, I don't know???





Be the Peter Luger.



If you have been in a steakhouse in NYC, you have met a waiter who claims to have been trained at Peter Lugeras.

I can think of 900 waiters that have used that line...Wolfgangs being the number one culprit.





I pray to build that kind of cult following.
 
For me, it all depends on how much I'm charging for the job in the 1st place. If I've got 2 $600 jobs that can both be done in 1 day(because of 2 people doing them), then I'll pay a few hundred for help. I figure that without the help of this person, I would have to work 2 days instead of 1.
 
Right now I pay my assistant $7.25. He has been with me for about a month and will get a raise to probably $8.50 in a week or two. He didn't know anything about detailing when he started.



When he's running a van I will pay him 30% of billed work + tips.
 
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