I am to the point where i am needing a sperate glasser and sander for production purposes. I am in Florida and I am wondering how smaller board shops do this (inbetween 2-4 people per shop). I like the piece rate idea but dont know which way to go. Either 1099 a person or what? I am in the Gulf Coast and there isnt any contract glasser shops anywhere around here so all glassing would be done under my roof. I just dont want to get my butt in a sling with the MAN (IRS). What are my options?
…another option if you are a craftsman: if most of your build are clear, detachable fins HPSB, you can do it all by yourself; with a production of around 350 boards per year.
Being on the Gulf Coast I do mainly surf style sups and recreational sup’s with a handful of longboards. Almost no clear laminations. Some foam sprays and resin tints or opaques. Didn’t really want to throw out the sup thing here but the Stand up forum sucks for industry talk.
Worry about the Man and money later. Independant contractors could be paid by job. You could start a co-operative where your worker(s) is also an owner in the company.
You might be heading for a big spanking. Just because they call themselves subcontractors, doesn’t mean they are subcontractors. If they are in your shop, using your equipment, during your hours of operation, they are employees.
Just wait until one of them cuts a finger, or even worse “hurts their back” while lifting a drum of resin. No workers compensation insurance, and they will own you forever.
I have an idiot roofer friend who paid cash to a worker. His “back injury” cost my friend everything. House gone, business gone.
Brian,
If you go the “piece work” method, one thing you should probably plan for is Quality control review. A few years ago I worked on a residential housnig tract project as a carpenter. With piece workers, alot of the time quality suffers because they are trying to go as fast as possible to make the most money.
Funny thing about that was that my friend & I couldn’t keep up because we wouldn’t sacrifice “quality” & the General Contractor ended up hiring us 'hourly" as the Quality Control crew to fix all the piece work deficiences.
Your best bet is to get some advice from a lawyer that knows Florida labor laws and IRS rules. When I had my Yacht repair business I had both employ and subs working. I had a stamp for the back of the checks I paid the subs It said, by endorcing this check they were excepting all reposability for their taxes. Saved me a lot of money in an IRS audit.
Where are you setting up shop on the gulf coast of Florida? I’m north of Tampa. There are afew small shops around Sarasota Florida
Pardon me all of you General Cotractors and Construction types; but building surfboards isn’t building houses. The average surfboard factory or glass shop in Hawaii or the West Coast operates on a piece work basis. The simple way to cover your ass is to run their wages and taxes thru an employment/payroll service. I know the technicalities of determining who is or isn’t an employee and will not argue those here. Just stating the obvious; The Surfboard Industry in the U.S. is primarily piece work. I would imagine that China and Thailand are a differant story.
35 dollars cash for a ding repair is what I charge…ha ha… I have a real job where the govt rapes me…
…i’m solo… all cash ding repairz…losing money daily… Stingray
Hey Brian,
I don’t know if you remember me, but you gave me some advice last year when you published your vid’s on modifying a hitachi planer. It worked great! Thanks! I’ve only had time to shape one board with it; definetly need to practice more.
I’m contacting you because of something you wrote above. You mentioned that you build mainly “surf style SUP’s” & my next planned build later this winter is a high performance wave SUP and was hoping for some design advice?
Background: I’m out on the west coast (central california) at mostly beach breaks. I’m 5’10", 210# & currently ride a 9’10" x 31" x 4" thruster board that I shaped a few years back (my first SUP shaped). It was modeled after a PSH board I templated from a friend with average rocker, slight v in the nose, single concae through the middle & v in the tail. It surfs mostly like a traditional longboard. Surprisingly, it doesn’t plane as well as I thought, but have learned to ride around that by taking off slightly later.
A friend(actually the guy that got me started shaping my own boards) just shaped a new board (8’11" x 33" quad with a pulled in nose and alot of rocker). He said that he likes it and turns like a short board, but he complained that if there is any chop, it’s hard to stay balanced on the board. Other than the dead of summer (when the waves are small) there is always some chop. Dawn & Dusk are the only other times that seem to be smooth, but I’m not going out i “prime feeding time” for “whitey” (w/ El Nino, we’ve had a rash of shark sightings and attacks lately).
Anyway, I’m curious as to any design input you would be willing to offer for my next board. I’m thinking a similar size to my friends, but with abit more stability. I’'d welcome any ideas you may have.
Talk to you soon.
Chris