Business Morals

[TheAngryDrunkenRussian]

Alright some of you know I recently purchase a fair large business, Grounds Master Lawn and Landscape Co. that put me the hole dramically (about 300K) and I've been taking every contract that I can get in 3 months I've paid about 80K of it off so far. Dealing with wages, taxes, bids, and repairs also leaves my bank account at about 10K a month. So in short my employee's and me have been working our tails off 6 days a week about 12 hours a day me about 14. But here's what is laying on my desk right now.

My bid has been accepted and been working up the contract. 10K in a stone padio, another 10K in block work for beds aroudn the house and front lawn, 5K in dirt, 6K in trees and shrubs. 3K in hydroseed. Yeah lots of dough in just installments not to mention another 10K for the amount of work and equipment rentals. so add it up 45K in landscape work. Also wanted to work in a lawn maintance package in it. To good to be true.

The owner of the summer home I will not mention his name is a high VIP for Quad Graphics, many of you know who they are. So I know this isn't bogus. But when I got the call for the contract the owner wanted NO MEXICANS!!!! working on his house. WTF I have 6 full timers and 2 part timers which 4 full timers and one of my part timers are Mexican/Puerto Rican. Now I know this a too sweat of a contract to pass up and would boost my business to the next level of working with retailer's (dollars signs are running through my eyes). But my no tolerance for racisim would be effected. I can get it done with my two white employee's and myself but the turn around time would be two weeks plus vs. with a full crew of 8 plus myself 9 could get it done in 4-6 days. I call to you AO right now I'm very tired and worn out to deal with this Please help!!!!!

Joel Schmitz AKA TheAngryDrunkenRussian
Owner/President/Architect/Supervisor of Ground's Master Lawn and Landscape Co.

[quasimorte]

look at your compition (sp), do they have the men to do this job under the clients restrictions. if not tell him no and he will probably still go through you, but it all depends on the client. plus it's your policy if you have to fold it once then it becomes useless. can you survive without this job? i know it will hurt but sometimes you just have to walk away from things if the condition isn't right.
eg. had a guy buy an 8K (really big sale for us) pool table form my company, we go to set it and the guy is giving my crew a major hard time. so they call me, i tell them to packup the table and come back. as they were pullling the table out of the guys house he was litteraly crying. he came in and appologized and payed us a $200 redelivery fee.
if the customer knows you can do the job and do it well they may be willing to fold on their demands. but you have to have a feeling of your own industry to be able to work the clients like you need to to succeed.

[going_home]

Find a landscape business without Hispanics

Just lay it out for him.
Tell him what he said was just wrong.
And then tell him to try and find a good landscape company capable
of doing what he wants done that doesnt have Hispanic employees.
Good luck for him on that one !

[91Foxtrot]

This is a tough situation to comment on. My first impulse is to say, "Screw the job and the customer." But it isn't my livelihood we're talking about.

What would your Hispanic employees think of you if you took the job?

[lather]

Perhaps he is assuming your Hispanic employees are illegals? If so, perhaps you should inform him as a responsible business owner, you would never hire illegal aliens and only employ American citizens and those who chose to come to this country legally.

Maybe that would help ease him off his silly no Mexicans rule.

[bentothejam1n]

what state do you live in??

[neppo1345]

Perhaps he is assuming your Hispanic employees are illegals? If so, perhaps you should inform him as a responsible business owner, you would never hire illegal aliens and only employ American citizens and those who chose to come to this country legally.

Maybe that would help ease him off his silly no Mexicans rule.

Thats what I'm thinking....

[ScatterPlot]

Perhaps charge him a crapload extra? If this means your mexican workers are out of a job for 2 weeks, goodness no, but if they can still work somewhere else- if it comes to this (try to get him to fold first) but charge him some rediculous padding. Tack it in all over the place- give him some crap about dwelling too long at one place or something. Put it in business terms (thats where you come in ) and make it hurt for him to do such a thing.

I would only recommend this as a last resort though.

[TheAngryDrunkenRussian]

Sry for responding late still up in my neck in contracts to type up and paying taxes/loan/bills. My company is based in southeastern Wisconsin. The bad thing is that in Wisconsin all you need is a truck, trailer, and mower to consider yourself a landscape specialist. I'm 23 yrs old and own a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment I've been legelly in this field for 5 yrs and under the table for 5. so yeah I know how it works.

But with roughly 300 landscape companies with in southeastern Wisconsin alone he can gladly move to another company. I.E. David J. Franks, KEI, Terra Tec., etc, you get the point to compete with these big name companies that basicaly treat employee's as a number you need that "Name" But not wishing to expand to such numbers and leave as a small business with that "Name" I.E. AGD

All my Hispanic employee's are legel I have their SSN and Green Card info on hand in both my office and at home. Don't want to piss off the Government you know. Sacking him with extra chrages because 75% of my crew is Hispanic may drive him away. I already lost one account this year to what they thought was a bogus charge ($150 for trash removal from 7 gas stations) I called the guy a crock when he thought it was outragous.

Really leaning to let this go but I should let my employee's know and if they feel comfortable doing this. They have wives and kids to feed not me.

Joel Schmitz AKA TheAngryDrunkenRussian
Owner/President/Architect/Supervisor of Ground's Master Lawn and Landscape Co.

[Pyroboy597]

Tell him you will do it with your remaining two workers, but he will have to pay them hourly, which would account to probably 3 times the price of the work "with mexicans" because it will take that much longer. And make sure you tell him he is racist, and that your workers did nothing to deserve that type of stereotyping.

[Recon by Fire]

All my Hispanic employee's are legel I have their SSN and Green Card info ....

Having that information does not ensure they are legal. I'm not saying they are not 100% legit but a simple call to the SSA will verify the SSN's.

I can understand your morals dilema. But have you ever had a boss that you hated working for or did not approve of? Your customer is your boss really. So you just have to decide wether you need this $45K contract or not.

[MoeMag]

[PyRo]

I'd try to explain to the guy that you don't have any illigles working.

If he flat out refuses I'd give in. It's one of those things where if you don't do it someone else will. No one is getting hurt in the process. You're not the one being racist. So why not?

[1337caesar]

just take the job and get your mexicans to wear skimasks like so ... nobody would know.

something to think about may be, if someone gave you the same job and said he only wanted mexicans working for him would that be a problem?

[Tunaman]

Just take the job and show up with all the guys. If he asks if they are Mexicans say no...they are americans.