My business is getting hammered. It is a small one, but I currently employ 7 employees. In 2 weeks I will reduce my workforce to 1, me. It is a 24/7 carwash business with 3 locations.

I feel really crappy right now. It totally sucks my employees rely on their jobs to put themselves through college. Now they will be flipping burgers for minimum wage if they are lucky enough to find jobs.

I hope I can stay in business through the "global meltdown". Maybe someday I will be able to hire some more people.

America is totally screwed.

I have 3 jobs at this moment.

I run the carwashes.

I have a delivery business.

I do random landscaping and other random stuff on the side.

My income has been drastically reduced in the last six months.

My wife is pregnant with our first child.

I'm not worried about my future because I am smart enough to make money no matter what happens, but there are a lot of people that are only capable of certain jobs, and those people will be hit hard by this economic situation.

Sorry to hear about your situation. Your concern for your employees rather than yourself speaks volumes about the type of person you are. That is something to be admired. Good luck in your businesses and let's pray that this economic downturn turns around quickly.

Wish ya the best.

I am so sorry.

From your posts and the details of your work ethic, I'm sure you're a smart and motivated guy. You just have to hang on, as best you can. Things will turn around. You can make it happen. The words may seem shallow, but they are true.

I will send up happy thoughts for blessings on your family, especially the baby. Good Luck.

that's a nightmare, good on you for caring so much for your employees.

i hope i'm not being overly prying but out of interest, what has led to this, is it a tightening of credit or a fall off in custom?

You should work with your employees to support each other across all cultural lines or any other ideaological divide. They worked for you, and you were their "master". Your obligation is done, but now they have something to offer you: How to live with less.

Come together as families, and you will survive.

I really feel for you hun....I went through this last year with my shop. and although I didn't have so many staff to care about, it still hurt. But, you know what? You're smart enough to be fine....just keep a smile on your face, and you'll cope. It's not a good thing to go through, but other avenues will present themselves. Good luck and keep us posted, especially about the baby.

Much love


Cait

Firing or laying off a person is one of the toughest calls you'll make as an employer. It comes with the hiring process.

I can remember the first person I fired, in 1982. Still remember his name and his kids name. Yeah, it will mess with you for a while.

Good luck with your business and keep in touch with the kids you let go. Let them know how you are doing in a few months and see how good they are doing. If any of them are worth a damn, tell them you'd like to have them come back when you can afford them.

Did people near you just stop going to get their car washed? Or are they going somewhere else? I know I'm particular and only go to one car wash here in town although there are like 12.

Firing all of them equals succumbing to the artificial panic/hysteria hype that will pass by in a month or two.

How do you expect to run an entire car-wash alone, especially if you have other jobs as well?

Do you seriously think customers will drop by 80%? I think a 10% drop is more realistic.

I dont get it.

Back in the 1980s I was the manager for an engineering office. I remember talking about who was going to get laid off. The conversation was taking place during the Christmas party.

When times get tough, tough decisions have to be made.

Good luck.

this is truly saddening ... people mostly hear about what is happening to the big businesses and for the most part don't worry because they will most likely survive and possibly get bailed out ... it's these type of businesses we have to worry about ... just look at these stats of how much the small businesses have an impact on the economy

-Employ about half of the country’s private sector workforce
-Hire 40 percent of high tech workers, such as scientists, engineers and -computer workers
-Include 52 percent home-based businesses and two percent franchises
-Represent 97.3 percent of all the exporters of goods
-Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms
-Generate a majority of the innovations that come from United States companies

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, September 2008

This is not a good sign and it's a sad thing to see happening...

The effects of trickle down economics are amazing. It's too bad some in government want to punish success with higher taxes to help the poor. How does it help the poor if the successful have to lay off people to make up the difference?

Originally posted by pieman
what has led to this, is it a tightening of credit or a fall off in custom?

I too had to do something like this, i run a small software house and now i am the only employee.

At least for me, since my business is very small, (i had three people only working full time, including me), the problem is that my clients don't have enough money to go through with the projects as they use to have, and that is because they don't have enough business on their side too.

So i have to charge a lot less than i use to do before, and sometimes i have to even take work almost for free to help support them, since some of them are really good customers and have stayed with me for a long time, if they go out of business, probably i will go down as well, so i have to support them as much as i can, i guess if every one supports each other, it is harder to fall right?

Originally posted by Skyfloating
Firing all of them equals succumbing to the artificial panic/hysteria hype that will pass by in a month or two.

Are you being sarcastic, or should I commence with allowing my jaw to hit the desk?

I've been laid off many, many times in the past, partially due to the economy, partially due to the type of work I was doing. As a result, "retirement" is just a fantasy for me. I'll be working until I drop dead.

This sucky part is that it always seems to happen either before or after the holidays. I suppose that in some ways it's better to get laid off before the holidays, as it will somewhat limit you from racking up big debts on your credit card for trips back home or gifts. Either way is lousy.

And people wonder why I get so edgy and depressed around the holidays. It always feels to me like the axe is going to fall.

I feel your pain, we havent had to let go of anyone in the 20 years the buisness was running, now christmas is our deadline for finding work otherwise we have to go out of buisness.

Its a high quality renovation buisness, we only appeal to people with quite a bit of money

I feel your pain. I had to get rid of my 4 employees and shut down my business inside the mall back in July.

oops double post

[edit on 2-12-2008 by Kingfanpaul]