I've started a company with the aim of developing a few apps since I had a buyer ready. I had no reason to worry, but a mistake I made was appointing 180 freshers with just 2 friends of mine to manage them. They were divided into shifts, and I had to oversee the business end, while the technical end failed and couldn't develop anything. Although I clearly stated (unfortunately, through verbal communication) that salaries could only be given if apps were completed.
The company was operational from August to September but had to close due to issues with employees and the premises. While I wish to pay salaries for one month, I won't be able to afford salaries for October and November, during which no work was done.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated at this moment.
From India, Chennai
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The company was operational from August to September but had to close due to issues with employees and the premises. While I wish to pay salaries for one month, I won't be able to afford salaries for October and November, during which no work was done.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated at this moment.
From India, Chennai
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Hello,
While empathizing with your situation, it would also be important to bear in mind that 'to err is human'.
I wouldn't really agree with your usage of the word 'failed'. Edison 'failed' 99 times before he invented the Electric Bulb.
And like the saying goes: When you make a mistake, first 'realize' it, then 'correct' it, to the best extent you can, then 'learn' from it. Then it's no more a mistake—it's EXPERIENCE.
Looking at your situation, you already have crossed the first step.
First of all, please do some analysis of WHY nothing was developed—while you do this exercise, please don't rule out anything or anyone—INCLUDING YOUR miscalculations of the situation.
Going by what you mentioned, I see a few aspects where you seem to have gone wrong initially [I won't use the word 'fail'].
1] You hired 180 guys [freshers or not ISN'T the point here]. How many apps did you begin to work on in-parallel? Maybe, you tried to bite off more than you can chew—given that you just started on your own? Give it a thought.
2] Hiring friends, per se, is not wrong—it all depends on whether they are cut out for the job you wanted them to do. If not, then it looks like you thought through your 'heart' rather than through your 'head'. While there are advantages of hiring friends, there could also be downsides too in such hiring.
Coming to how to handle the situation, please confirm if you STILL HAVE THE BUYER active or not. If yes, then your job is a lot easier. If no, then things would have to be handled in a different way.
Please let the forum know ASAP.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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1650While empathizing with your situation, it would also be important to bear in mind that 'to err is human'.
I wouldn't really agree with your usage of the word 'failed'. Edison 'failed' 99 times before he invented the Electric Bulb.
And like the saying goes: When you make a mistake, first 'realize' it, then 'correct' it, to the best extent you can, then 'learn' from it. Then it's no more a mistake—it's EXPERIENCE.
Looking at your situation, you already have crossed the first step.
First of all, please do some analysis of WHY nothing was developed—while you do this exercise, please don't rule out anything or anyone—INCLUDING YOUR miscalculations of the situation.
Going by what you mentioned, I see a few aspects where you seem to have gone wrong initially [I won't use the word 'fail'].
1] You hired 180 guys [freshers or not ISN'T the point here]. How many apps did you begin to work on in-parallel? Maybe, you tried to bite off more than you can chew—given that you just started on your own? Give it a thought.
2] Hiring friends, per se, is not wrong—it all depends on whether they are cut out for the job you wanted them to do. If not, then it looks like you thought through your 'heart' rather than through your 'head'. While there are advantages of hiring friends, there could also be downsides too in such hiring.
Coming to how to handle the situation, please confirm if you STILL HAVE THE BUYER active or not. If yes, then your job is a lot easier. If no, then things would have to be handled in a different way.
Please let the forum know ASAP.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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I still have the buyer, while I managed a team of 300+. I was busy handling the problems created by my friends rather than concentrating on development. 50% of the hired staff were undergoing training, the other 90 were developing 10 apps, and not even one went the way I wanted it to.
For example, I wanted to make a calendar app with specific features. These friends of mine made the employees remove those features and added these features: 1) send SMS to someone from calendar 2) send an email to someone from the calendar (both manually). I couldn't see any purpose; it was inexperience and miscommunication.
Now, I fall short of money (have a few payments pending) and I've not paid salaries for one month. People created a mess in the office, and I had to vacate. It's been one month since the office closed.
I have a few questions:
1) Do I still need to pay salary for the time they didn't work?
2) Can I remove all the people who created an issue and a few more who are not good and ask them to collect their salaries after a month?
I've spent a lot of money training them, but I want to be out of the issue so that I can start working back.
From India, Chennai
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For example, I wanted to make a calendar app with specific features. These friends of mine made the employees remove those features and added these features: 1) send SMS to someone from calendar 2) send an email to someone from the calendar (both manually). I couldn't see any purpose; it was inexperience and miscommunication.
Now, I fall short of money (have a few payments pending) and I've not paid salaries for one month. People created a mess in the office, and I had to vacate. It's been one month since the office closed.
I have a few questions:
1) Do I still need to pay salary for the time they didn't work?
2) Can I remove all the people who created an issue and a few more who are not good and ask them to collect their salaries after a month?
I've spent a lot of money training them, but I want to be out of the issue so that I can start working back.
From India, Chennai
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Hello,
Since you still have the client with you, I would suggest following steps to get back into action ASAP. However, I suggest looking at the feasibility/practicality angles from YOUR end before you implement any of these.
First, to answer your queries:
1) Do I still need to pay salary for the time they didn't work?
If any employee is still on the company rolls, then obviously you need to pay them the agreed-upon salary. If the employee doesn't work, then it becomes a disciplinary issue. However, if there's no work for him/her, then he/she isn't to be blamed.
2) Can I remove all the people who created an issue and a few more who are not good and ask them to collect their salaries after a month?
You can remove them, but ensure that you don't use the problem any of them created as the reason for removing them. This could lead to arguments and delay what you want to do. Also, ensure that your attention is not diverted when you need to focus on the next steps. Since everyone, I guess, knows the current scenario, I suggest taking that as the reason for removing them with a 'wholehearted' sorry for this action of yours. This is 'wholehearted' because, to a large extent, you too have to take the blame for the current situation. Use the present situation to 'CLEAN-UP' the whole setup before you begin afresh. You may not get such a chance later when things begin to stabilize.
Regarding their agreeing to take their pending salaries later, it all depends on HOW MUCH THEY TRUST YOU, which depends on the quality of your relationships with them in the past few months. However, if they insist on getting PDCs, please take care and give PDCs ONLY if you are absolutely sure of the revenue inflows. If not, explain to them why you aren't confident to give PDCs now but give them a letter that their salary dues will be cleared ASAP with no timeframe. Also, clear all their paperwork, such as Exp Letters, Relieving Letters, etc. NEVER leave the paperwork pending or half-finished in such situations as it COULD boomerang later if neglected.
Regarding your mention of "I've spent a lot of money in training them," in such situations, it's wise to focus LESS on what we lost and MORE on what we can lose if the same situation is allowed to continue in whatever direction. Forget about the past and try to clear the current scenario ASAP to move forward.
Regarding your comments "...not even one went in the way that I wanted to," with respect to the progress of the projects, frankly, YOU need to take the flak for this. I am not sure of your overall background, but obviously, Project management skills aren't one of your strengths. You should have insisted on the preliminary documentation (the features, the coding methodology, etc.) in place BEFORE the actual development began, with the baseline document being 'WHAT THE CLIENT WANTS.' This would have reduced guesswork, deciding-along-the-way situations, and tinkering. Better clarity and detail in such documentation would lead to fewer fiascos.
As for retaining your friends in whatever capacity, it's YOUR call. But I suggest keeping this as the bottom line: if your decision is to PART, let the parting be amicable (maybe taking the same reasons as with the employees). If the decision is to CONTINUE with either/both of them, get things like individual roles and responsibilities, including where the friend(s) is/are NOT to interfere, very clearly defined (if needed, in writing) to ensure there are no chances for overlap of responsibilities and consequent messing-up of the situation or creating new mess-ups.
All the Best.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Since you still have the client with you, I would suggest following steps to get back into action ASAP. However, I suggest looking at the feasibility/practicality angles from YOUR end before you implement any of these.
First, to answer your queries:
1) Do I still need to pay salary for the time they didn't work?
If any employee is still on the company rolls, then obviously you need to pay them the agreed-upon salary. If the employee doesn't work, then it becomes a disciplinary issue. However, if there's no work for him/her, then he/she isn't to be blamed.
2) Can I remove all the people who created an issue and a few more who are not good and ask them to collect their salaries after a month?
You can remove them, but ensure that you don't use the problem any of them created as the reason for removing them. This could lead to arguments and delay what you want to do. Also, ensure that your attention is not diverted when you need to focus on the next steps. Since everyone, I guess, knows the current scenario, I suggest taking that as the reason for removing them with a 'wholehearted' sorry for this action of yours. This is 'wholehearted' because, to a large extent, you too have to take the blame for the current situation. Use the present situation to 'CLEAN-UP' the whole setup before you begin afresh. You may not get such a chance later when things begin to stabilize.
Regarding their agreeing to take their pending salaries later, it all depends on HOW MUCH THEY TRUST YOU, which depends on the quality of your relationships with them in the past few months. However, if they insist on getting PDCs, please take care and give PDCs ONLY if you are absolutely sure of the revenue inflows. If not, explain to them why you aren't confident to give PDCs now but give them a letter that their salary dues will be cleared ASAP with no timeframe. Also, clear all their paperwork, such as Exp Letters, Relieving Letters, etc. NEVER leave the paperwork pending or half-finished in such situations as it COULD boomerang later if neglected.
Regarding your mention of "I've spent a lot of money in training them," in such situations, it's wise to focus LESS on what we lost and MORE on what we can lose if the same situation is allowed to continue in whatever direction. Forget about the past and try to clear the current scenario ASAP to move forward.
Regarding your comments "...not even one went in the way that I wanted to," with respect to the progress of the projects, frankly, YOU need to take the flak for this. I am not sure of your overall background, but obviously, Project management skills aren't one of your strengths. You should have insisted on the preliminary documentation (the features, the coding methodology, etc.) in place BEFORE the actual development began, with the baseline document being 'WHAT THE CLIENT WANTS.' This would have reduced guesswork, deciding-along-the-way situations, and tinkering. Better clarity and detail in such documentation would lead to fewer fiascos.
As for retaining your friends in whatever capacity, it's YOUR call. But I suggest keeping this as the bottom line: if your decision is to PART, let the parting be amicable (maybe taking the same reasons as with the employees). If the decision is to CONTINUE with either/both of them, get things like individual roles and responsibilities, including where the friend(s) is/are NOT to interfere, very clearly defined (if needed, in writing) to ensure there are no chances for overlap of responsibilities and consequent messing-up of the situation or creating new mess-ups.
All the Best.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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