OT: Help with decision

X

XThing

Guest
I apologise for making what may be a rather OT post, but I think the
people here will be well qualified to advise me.

After doing repair work at home for some 30 years in a rather isolated
part of the world, I've semi-retired from repair work for the last few
years. However, the regional manager of a giant multinational visited
me last month, and invited me to open a servicing center for their
products covering my state. I'll be grateful for your opinions on
whether I should accept the offer (or what you would do in my
position), and also for any insight into the way things are done
elsewhere.

The terms he offered seem to be reasonable except for one thing : For
products within warranty, repairing charges (apart from spare parts)
are fixed at the equivalent of a little over USD 2 (that's right,
two), half of which goes to the company. For out-of-warranty products,
it's about USD 6, again half going to the company. These figures are
very low even by local standards.

Other terms : several service engineers and other staff paid by the
company at salaries fixed by me (within reason of course),
company-paid phone, rent, electricity, travel allowances, etc. RMA,
repair-or-replace decisions to be made by me.

Except for a 2-year stint at a research center in another state 30+
yrs ago, I've been my own boss all my adult life, and I'm not sure
what it would be like to work under company terms. I declined the
offer at first, but the guy has been calling me constantly from 500
miles away and is really persistent. What do you think ? I'll
sincerely appreciate feedback from everyone - servicing pros,
customers, DIYers ....

-PJ
 
In article
<9ea2a688.0312061017.3c03b55c@posting.google.com>,
pjdd@rediffmail.com says...
However, the regional manager of a giant multinational visited
me last month, and invited me to open a servicing center for their
products covering my state.
Which means they currently have no one. Given your
description of the company, there should be other (existing)
dealers/servicers _eager_ to get the shop work, just so they
can sell the product. As this doesn't seem to be the case,
I'd consider this to be the first of a few rather large red
flags.

The terms he offered seem to be reasonable except for one thing : For
products within warranty, repairing charges (apart from spare parts)
are fixed at the equivalent of a little over USD 2 (that's right,
two), half of which goes to the company. For out-of-warranty products,
it's about USD 6, again half going to the company. These figures are
very low even by local standards.
Massive red flag #2. First, are you actually saying _Two
Dollars_ to repair something? In the US? I wouldn't even
pick up a screwdriver for that. Bench rates in the US are
in the order of $50-75/hour, depending on region and
product. Some may be somewhat higher or lower in extreme
cases. As an experienced tech, you should consider your
time to be worth no less than $15/hour _in your pocket_.
That's after taxes, expenses, etc.

As to the 50% commission rate, that's rather low as well.
Assuming the company is paying all expenses (overhead), as
well as putting you on payroll as an employee (tax
implications), your commission should be no less than 60%.
Other terms : several service engineers and other staff paid by the
company at salaries fixed by me (within reason of course),
company-paid phone, rent, electricity, travel allowances, etc. RMA,
repair-or-replace decisions to be made by me.

So you're a Manager as well? That being the case, you
should receive a fixed salary for the management portion, as
well as commission on the repairs.

All-in-all, unless I've completely misunderstood what you're
describing, I wouldn't touch this offer with a proverbial
ten foot pole.
--
Mark

The truth as I perceive it to be.
Your perception may be different.

Triple Z is spam control.
 

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