The pros and cons of using contractors over employees

May 1, 2017

In 2016, the owner of BLUi Security, Boz Jovanovic, learned a lifetime of lessons. His company had just had its biggest quarter after five years of being in business.

It’s not uncommon to hear stories from trade business owners learning the hard way what it takes to ride the roller coaster of profit and loss. Boz learned a lot last year, and he’s come out the other side with a fresh approach and some fresh ideas.

Contractors vs employees

Managing people is among the most challenging of tasks for those who own their own business. Us humans can be a funny breed. Boz brought on staff last year to manage key positions, but the expectations weren’t met. It was a stressful time and it hindered the growth of the business.

This year, Boz has decided to use contractors instead of employees. There are pros and cons for each, but for him, keeping good relationships with self-motivated contractors is working best. The contractor has a deadline and a budget to meet. While the initial cost may be higher, the costs are actually more controllable and there is no risk of down time.

At the end of the day, hiring contractors is actually working out cheaper for us.

  • Boz, BLUI Security

Boz says that keeping a good relationship with the contractor and good communication is key to remaining at the top of their priority list.

Using well written Work Orders and Purchase Orders in Simpro, we make sure the contractor has all the information they need to to start the job without fuss. That’s been vital to the relationship.

Winning big projects always helps

While the maintenance side of the business is ticking along nicely and growing steadily, a recent contract has given them a welcome boost to 2017, with more work coming out of it as a result. To that they’ve added a project manager and five electricians, all on contract.

Droning in downtime

Boz’s latest hobby, of which he’s had a few, is building and flying his home made drone.

With a natural interest in electronics, tinkering on these extreme flying machines is the ideal way to switch off from the business and immerse himself into the world of flying.

In the world of FPV (or First Person View), hobbyists don oversized goggles to view the camera mounted on the drone.

Here's a video Boz produced with his drone, you can find more on his YouTube channel.