Not sure what to do - I have lost a big contract at work so I may have to lay one or two staff off.

Despite paying upfront for the SVR so no dramas in cash flow etc, I will be mortified to lay staff off and it feels so wrong swanning around in a 100+ k vehicle.

It's giving me sleepless nights trying to work out what to do for the best  2016 RRS SVR Estoril Blue

Work overtime with your sales staff and get another contract. The car is your reward, so... use it only as the last resort.
What is your industry, if you don't mind asking? Regards etc.,

Wojtek

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WAS: 2006 RRS Supercharged
IS: 2010 RRS TDV8 HSE

I own a Garage, servicing, repairs and MOT's. We don't sell cars though.

Obviously I am going to try and 'get busier' but these things don't happen overnight. The Garage does well and isn't in any danger, it's just I took extra staff on for the large contract, so I either need more work or less people. 2016 RRS SVR Estoril Blue

You have worked hard and taken risk to get to where you are now so selling your own assets wouldn't be the way I would do it unless it was to save the business or my house which it doesn't sound like it is for you at the moment.

Worst case you need to reduce hours or get rid of staff. If they are long term and loyal to you then consider keeping them on for now and try to get busier finding good staff isn't easy to find so for the sake of a few quid in wages until things pick up might work best in the long term.

As long as your company isn't losing money and your happy with your income then I think your in a good place and shouldn't worry.

You have to get rid of some staff to secure the future of the others as well as yourself.
Last in first out. (Not first!?)
But if you really feel that bad driving a 100k car I'll look after it for a couple of months.
I like to help out like that.

Last edited by HemoRRS on Wed May 11 2016 4:48pm. Edited 2 times in total

Add a couple of subtle advertising stickers on the car and use it to promote the business. 

Can't give you any advice but it's good that you're feeling that sort of guilt. Plenty of people wouldn't.

It would be last in first out for me, not first in first out, too.

The company I work for had a similar situation as this but with a substantially more expensive new build 95ft sailing boat purchased by the company owner. 4000 people had to be made redundant about 3 months after the boat was delivered and our 90+ year old company owner felt very upset about such an obviously expensive purchase being made when so many were loosing their jobs. We are fortunate to have an excellent board/ employees / works committee (it is a Danish owned company) and we were all given the exact details of the purchase to allay any hard feelings and no body was under any illusions that the boat had been purchased with private money earned as the CEO of the company. The employees attitude was that the CEO had not used company money, he had used his earnings to make the purchase so it was none of our business. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
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2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
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TDV8Mat wrote:

I own a Garage, servicing, repairs and MOT's. We don't sell cars though.

Obviously I am going to try and 'get busier' but these things don't happen overnight. The Garage does well and isn't in any danger, it's just I took extra staff on for the large contract, so I either need more work or less people.

Thanks for all the kind words.

Had a chat with a guy I sometimes look to for business advice this afternoon and he echoed some of the thinking here. Going to put a plan together to try and drum up more business. Going to set a time line - say 6 months, and then review the situation - but talk to all the staff and inform them of what is going on.

Oh, and after thinking, talking and listening - the SVR was a reward to myself for the last 2 years hard graft, so I think she will stay  2016 RRS SVR Estoril Blue

A business acquaintance of mine recently gave me some good advice - he said that you owe the business/employees etc. nothing. They would not be there were it not for your own vision and the life energy you expend upon it. Life energy that is very limited and running down every single day.

He asked me to think of it this way "In all the years you have been employing people, exactly how many have ever written to you thanking you for running the business that paid their wages"?

My own RRS (paid for by me, not a company car) arrived just as a downturn forced me to cancel our Company Christmas party, and like you I had a lengthy period of reflection, but now I feel not a twinge of guilt to turn up to the business where I work as hard as any of my employees and worry a damm sight more than every last one of them, in a car I am enjoying owning and which, like you, I spent years earning.

So do what you need to, to get the business back to where you wanted it, and if you have to cut headcount while you do that, that is just how businesses go, you are by no means alone or unique in that respect.

But good on you for looking deep inside yourself, it is a good habit. MY2016 HSE D SDV6 - gone due to fuel dilution problems.

By the age of 50 you have the face you deserve - George Orwell.

I know what your saying Mat,but look at it the other way,,I'm in the same trade as you,tyres,mot',repairs etc & if your chaps were offered say £1.50-£2 per hour more they be gone like a shot & they wouldn't be bothered wether you were short staffed at the time.
Keep the SVR,I wouldn't sell my RRS for the sake of keeping employees,,it might sound mean but I've always been brought up to think about number 1 only as no one would be bothered if you went under,would they sell their cars to keep your business going.

Andy. Andy.
21 Ford Ranger
Gone but not forgotten
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2014 RRS SC Santorini
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You stated that you have lost the contract so only answer is last employees in, become the first out, depending if it was a new contract which staff taken on for, they could be ones to go. Keep the SVR nothing to do with this problem, are your staff going to get rid of anything they purchased with their wages to keep staff on? Of course not so its a non starter. Any staff you lay off can be told if new work becomes available they will get first option of job before going out to advertise positions.
We have worked similar, and you can't feel guilty if there isn't the work there for staff taken on, you won't be Liable for redundancy etc if they haven't worked for longer than two years, depending on their terms of contract with you of course, just the notice of what ever period you/they have to give.
Best of luck with getting new contracts in, contact companies that are small enough to just have their own cars rather than fleet purchases. John

RRS MY12 SDV6 HSE. Sumatra Black/Ebony & Walnut + Dynamic Pack, + Cold Climate Pack + Memory Pack, Digital TV/DVD, Premium Leather, Cornering Lights, Cooler/Fridge Box, & most Options.

Very sorry to hear that. Please think of the other side before flogging it though - what message does it send to the staff that you have sold your car? The staff could grow concerned about your financial stability by selling the car and worry for their jobs - the SVR shows potentially that it's just one of those things that all businesses go through but that you're still confident.

That's a good point autobiography. What does the struggling salesman do, drive an older car or a newer one... the newer one. Image counts for a lot. Same sort of thing as this situation - if my boss started selling things I'd be worried about my job.