[Bill Schwab]

With the pay thing...You get you run of average buffoons who, attempt to sell you on they are worth that amount of money. Then, you have a select handfull who will consciensiously take charge of the job, produce an end product you can be proud of, and, treat the customer as they are thier own.

Thier skills would entail being a master plumbers, and having full knowledge of codes and applications, or at least have the intelligence to have operations run the requirements prior to progression of work. The same woulkd apply for electrical work. 120 and 220V applications. Have a CLT or equivelant. They would have skills in brick and segmental paving, and a vast knowledge of soils and SRW applications. They would have a valid drivers license, with no dings on the record. They would leave thier human issues at home and prepare to give the company 110%. They will know irrigation, and drainage issues. Have vast knowledge of plants and soil amendments. Have a vision to complete award winning projects in a timely profitable manor. They better not smoke on our jobs or in our trucks, and not get caught hanging thier hog on the side of a customers house.
First and foremost, they need to think about what is going on with thier project a week ahead of the time while running multiple jobs.
I also would expect them to know how to, or be open to learn, how to run various types of labor and back saving machinery, and, care for that machinery as it was thier own.

There are alot of fakers out there, if I hired a crew foreman, and pay them the amount of money they can command here, I want the real deal. It is far easier, I think, to hire a sales person, and, so long as I reviewed every bid brought our way, with photos and a job description, I could tell if his numbers are close. And, tieing his salary into the net, not the gross is the only way to make that person become part of the team and work in sync with us, rather than all for himself, as with commisions reflecting from the gross.
When you tie someones pocket book to thier production schedule, they learn rather quickly what to do, and how to bid, or they move along. We pay our work force bonus incentives for beating the clock right now, and that bonus is adjusted off our net, not gross sales. Gross really means nothing if there is no or too little net in my opinion.....

I plan on entering the office, I'm just not fond of sitting around all day inside. I could build an outside office to fix that.

Please anyone else, feel free to chime in, these ideas are what we will be going with when we make this move.