Employing friends

[thekitchendesigner]

I'm finding myself so busy its now at the point where i need an extra pair of hands asap before i burst!. However due to the nature of what i do, and a couple of other reasons, it wouldnt work employing someone 9-5 5 days a week

So i need to look at a freelancer which i am fine with - i've done it myself for many years and it works well in the kitchen industry for people in my position.

However, i know of no-one in the area who is freelance and they are often hard/impossible to find. Ironically, type 'freelance kitchen design' wiltshire, bath or bristol - and i come up!

But a friend of mine who is currently employed by a bathroom studio, has most of the knowledge (having also worked with kitchens), is desperate to leave his job and having just had baby no.1 is keen to earn more.

I would quite happily use him but am i asking for trouble because he's a mate?

Many thanks, Mark

 

[Deliberator]

As long as both you and he completely understand that he is there to do a job of work for you and that if he doesn't, he will be treated like any other employee!!

I would err on the side of caution though and consider that it could ruin a friendship if things were to go Pete Tong.

Be careful

 

[KM-Tiger]

There's an old saying: the closer the friend, the tighter the contract.

 

[NextPoint]

It really depends on the person, but in general I would say never hire friends - it gets too difficult to make business decisions without affecting your friendship, such as telling them when they need to work harder. If you did this, I would say hire them on a fixed price per job basis - that way nobody can use the friendship to take advantage of the other.

 

[thekitchendesigner]

Hmmm mixed views so far then!

With regards to asking them to work harder etc, that would be one of the bonuses of freelance, as if they dont work hard enough and bring the orders in, they dont get paid!

Fixed price per job is workable which might make it more clear cut i guess.....

 

[activealex]

Be very careful. If you decide to go ahead make sure it is all put on a professional basis with contracts of employment etc. Why not trial him for a couple of jobs initially to see how you work together and then see how you feel.

 

[thekitchendesigner]

Thats probably what i'll do to be honest. It would only be part time to start with anyway, and before that, like you say, a couple of jobs as a trial

 

[Ashley_Price]

It depends on the level of friendship. If they are good friends they will be loyal to you and want to do well for you and your business. If they are not so close then they may see it as just a free ride.

As has been said above, make sure they are clear what their duties will be, make sure they have a contract of employment that they understand and so on.

I employed someone, who was a friend before she worked for me, and it was the best decision I ever made. She's loyal, brilliant at what she does and is always looking at ways of helping to make the business even more of a success! For example, without asking she redesigned our "New Client Information" form so it was clearer and easier for clients to fill in and return - I'd never even thought about it. Obviously she checked with me that I was happy before we started using it, but she had done it completely off her own back.

 

[MH1]

Depends on the person, all I would say is if you have any doubts then do not employ them.

 

[thekitchendesigner]

I dont have any doubts in him, just concious of whats always been said about doing this really.

We're not the kind of friends that live in each others pockets per se - we used to work at the same place and we got on really well, and have kept in touch for 10 years now. He moved to the same town recently and has a baby a couple of months younger than our 2nd, so we've got more in common again!

 

[Ashley_Price]

At the end of the day, of course, it's your decision. However, you need to make sure both you and he are clear what your roles are so that there's no misunderstanding further down the line.