Janitorial Liability: Protecting The Owner Of A Cleaning Company


By D. Brownlee


Let’s face it, running a janitorial company is not easy. It’s not glamorous. And, at time’s, it’s not very profitable. But, when you add the ever lingering possibility of lawsuits by your employees and customers and worker compensation claims, you begin to see why a lot of company’s don’t make it past their 3rd year!

Look in your local yellow pages, and you’ll discover an unending line of lawyers, all waiting to file a claim against someone, anyone, for just about any reason imaginable.

If you’re a small company, you may be dependant on your customers paying you on time, so that you can meet your payroll cost. That’s too bad. Why? Because, many business owners are habitually LATE on their Account Payables. And, this means that you have to borrow the money to pay your employees and of course, pay it back with interest OR you have to tell your employees that payroll will be a few days late, and risk them quitting or worse, going to the Labor Board.

Now, consider the cost of dealing with Workers Compensation claims. Even if the claims are true, you have to stop running your business (sales, management, supervision, etc.) and fill out papers, possibly meet with their attorney, and a hundred other task related to the case.

But, what if it’s a false claim (your employees wouldn’t file a bogus claim against you, would they?)

Now, you have to hire your own attorney, and gather witnesses, and drudge up documentation supporting your case PLUS stop running your business, filling out forms and meeting with the plaintiffs attorneys, etc.

What’s at risk? For starters, your time, and lots of it. And, thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees and damages. And, quite possibly your personal assets (if you’re not incorporated).

There are a couple of ways to protect yourself.

The first way is to clean all of your buildings yourself. That’s right. Every square inch of buildings that you currently have…. Clean them yourself. After all, you’re not going to file a claim against yourself, right? If you did, YOU would have to pay YOU!

Of course, you wouldn’t be able to take on any new business, if you couldn’t find the time to clean it yourself. This would basically create a ‘glass ceiling’ on your income, and lock you into being an employee for as long as your company continued to operate.

If this doesn’t sound like the way to go, you’re right… it isn’t. A more feasible alternative is to merge with another company, and allow them to bill your customers, train your employees, and deal with the headaches of running a janitorial company.

This would free up your time to do more selling, quality control, etc. Furthermore, you would have more time for your family and friends, social activities or anything else you’d like to do. But, most importantly, you would transfer all liability to the other company, thus protecting your company’s name, assets and reputation.

In return, you would pay them a small percentage of the business that they’re managing for you. The percentage would have to be negotiated in advance, but expect to pay around 10-15% of your gross billing. But, when you factor in the protection from liability AND the freedom of time that you receive in return, 10% is a steal.

It’s better than hiring an employee to do it for you. After all, if you hire an employee and your company is sued, YOU (the business owner) are still at risk.

For more information on how to find and select a company to merger with, visit http://www.breakthecycleokc.com/Opportunities.html .

D. Brownlee http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com

D. Brownlee currently works as a Territorial Area Developer for a large janitorial company. He manages in excess of $1.5 million dollars of volume, overseeing hundreds of janitors. For more information on his company, you may contact him at http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com


More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Management Information:

Related Articles

Experiences of Management Coaching (Part 2)
In our experience, we have found that there are several reasons managers fail to get employees to see and acknowledge that they have a problem.They assume.
Outsourced Learning: Are You Ready for Learning BPO?
As the business world enters a period of hyper-competitiveness, every business process will be subjected to examination and possible restructuring. We have already seen outsourcing and offshoring used to an extent what nobody would have dreamed of a few years ago.
Four Ways To Make the Case For Outsourcing
How do you convert outsourcing leads into clients? You may need to make the case for outsourcing."Businesses today are kicking into survival mode," says Bill Allison, managing director for the Pacific Southwest Management Solutions & Services Group at Deloitte & Touche.
Meetings and Road Trips
Managing a meeting is like setting off on a long car trip with friends or family. You need to plan your route, pay attention to the rules of the road, consider what will keep your passengers engaged and occupied, and always remember you have to get back home at the end.
Well-Defined Processes - How to Create
Interested in learning how to reduce development time, save money and stay in control? Business professionals can learn how to create well-defined processes with the easy-to-manage Process Approach of Plan-Do-Check-Act.Real Tools for Real Business ProcessIn MBA courses, students come across a lot of buzzwords and the theories behind them.
Your Organization Is Only as Good as Your People
Let's begin by singing the jingle from an old US Army commercial. Ready? Sing! "Be all that you can be, in the Aaaaarmy.
Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part Two)
In the first part of this two part article, I talked about the importance of character in leadership. After all, the best leadership involves the people bonding with the leader in deep, human, emotional ways.
Get Down With OCP: Evaluating DBA Job Applicants in an OCP World
Not long ago, weeding through DBA applicants with a tech interview was a straightforward process. You'd ask candidates 200 or so technical questions.
The Idol-Makers
The end of the television season in May included the usual array of cliffhangers on shows like "Alias," the departure of Noah Wylie from "ER" and the finale of the highly-rated "Everybody Loves Raymond" after 210 episodes. On the last day of "Sweeps," more than 29 million people tuned in to see the crowning of the fourth "American Idol.
Management to the Vision-Contribution and the Role of Compliance
As a manager our role is to:1. Establish the vision, or our contribution to the vision.
Building the Trust in Your Employees - 12 Easy Tips
In Stephen Covey's great book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", he talks about the 'emotional bank account', where you have to build a credit in your relationship with the individuals who you work with (and everyone else as well!).If what you do isn't 'trustworthy', then all you have done in your gentle listening and asking great and interested questions to build, is to 'debit' your account.
Making Change Work
Shaky FoundationsWhilst over 60% of businesses will be looking to implement some form of business improvement initiative over the next 18 months, less than 1 in 4 of these change programmes will achieve any worthwhile results that are sustainable for a further 12 months post the introduction of change.This brings into focus two key problems:1.
You Cant Afford the Luxury of Disengaged Employees
In today's business environment with increases in staff reductions and rapidly changing roles and responsibilities, it is crucial that all of your team members be fully engaged in the tasks at hand. According to a Gallup survey, 350 billion dollars are lost each year in American companies due to disengaged employees.
Your Biggest Problem in Business? Work Ethic
US Work Ethic Issues and Lack of serviceWell many of us are getting upset with the lack of service these days and no one cares and somehow we have all lowered our standards to the fact that getting good service is not to be expected, but rather a nice surprise if it ever does occur. Many great companies have derelicts, under achievers, cry babies, and people which could really careless and this is causing a rift between the best customers and businesses.
Keys to Feeling Powerfull In An Uncertain World
Life has always been full of uncertainties. Over the last several years with downsizing, bankruptcies, scandals, crime, the economic environment, and the threat of war, people are feeling power-less, fearful, and stressed about their present and future lives.
Eight Key Steps to Building B2B Major Account Client Alliances
Audiences who saw the fabled Broadway musical, Chorus Line, marveled at the intricate timing and seamless interaction of the dancers as they mastered the choreographer's precision steps after many false starts in rehearsal.At the final curtain, the stage is crowded with dancers whose images are multiplied by mirrors strategically placed about the stage.
Managing Group Meetings
MANAGING SMALL MEETINGS: Keep the size of the meeting as small as possible. The larger the group, the more complicated communication becomes and the more garbled the purpose may get.
People - You Cant Make Them What Theyre Not
Many business people and managers are spending too much time trying to change the underperforming people who work for them. They seem to believe that if they train people - tell them what to do or even threaten them with the sack - then the performance level will go up.
Delegate Tasks to the Right Person
SELECTING THE RIGHT PERSON: To whom should tasks be delegated? Selecting the right subordinate to do the work is an evaluative process, and managers must be able to identify individuals both capable and willing to handle responsibility.DETERMINING EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITY: A careful review should be made of past assumptions about personnel.
Coaching Can Get The Boss In Shape
Who tells the boss that they can improve their management or leadership? How do they look at themselves objectively and identify what areas they can improve and the benefits of doing so?These days many people have become more aware of the need to look after their bodies and their health. Not only do many join gyms or start participating in sports regularly - a number are using personal trainers.