Painting Business Success Happens Much Faster When You Have A Coach/Advisor Helping You

So many painting business owners struggle (unnecessarily) because they try to grow their business by themselves through trial and error...

Those who become very successful rather then moderately successful or fail all together are those who (9 times out of 10) have someone coaching and advising them.

I just came across a great article (by Ray Dunaway) that illustrates this point...

A primary key to success in a start-up business is finding the right management coach/advisor.

As I struggled through my first business I began observing other businesses, generally small businesses or start up businesses, and I began to look for what makes one very successful, another moderately successful and another a failure.

I started noticing that in the most very successful businesses there was always a person in the background, usually an older person who had been in the same business or a very similar business.

These people kept a very low profile and very seldom said much in front of other people. I often wondered who these people were and when I asked they were introduced as a friend.

Then one day I was waiting to speak to a shirttail cousin who had built one of the top five painting companies in the United States in just a very few years, and I overheard his coach talking to him like a Dutch uncle. This person was my cousin's coach and mentor, and kept him on the right track for a long time.

I have had other opportunities to see the impact of a good coach/advisor through the time-sharing service bureau that was part of my first business. Since this was the first step in automation for many of our customers I had the opportunity to study a number of businesses firsthand while determining how they should reorganize to use computers.

I had ample opportunity to observe the correlation between listening to a coach or advisor and having a successful start up business. It soon became clear that those businesses that had a coach or an advisory board generally tended to be the most successful startup businesses.

Many of these businesses were started by people like my shirttail cousin, who had little or no formal education beyond high school, no special talents, and in fact were not the brightest bulbs on the block.

But they were smart enough to listen and take advice from people who have been down they road were traveling that they did not make many of the mistakes that were made by businesses who were only partially successful or failed.

Ray Dunaway

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Here is a link to the original article...
click here

This article also validates the reason why we are creating our NEW 'Subscribers Only' membership web site.

Be sure to follow this blog to stay up to date on the launch... We will be doing something VERY special for our charter members.

Painting Business Success: What Does It Take To Succeed LONG-TERM

Over the last three and a half years I have been privileged enough to have spoken to hundreds of painting contractors all over the world.

...and the one consistent thing I hear from the really successful (Financially) ones who have used the techniques and strategies laid out in our programs is this:

"If there is one new nugget of information... one new marketing idea that I haven't thought of... one simple spark of inspiration to keep me going (growing) then it is worth the investment."

I have come to realize that those who succeed long-term are those who continue to gain knowledge. They are always learning and more importantly they take consistent action and apply what they have learned.

We have been talking to a lot of painters lately who have said they are frustrated because they cant find a public forum where they can ask questions and get good feedback or suggestions...

...and if you have spent any time on the public painting forums, then you know exactly what they're talking about.

It's a shame that so many people on these public forums feel that it's OK to reticule, put down and more times then not be just plain mean to people that post thoughtful questions.

Personally I don't waste my time on public forums any more.

Right now we are in the process of putting together a privet, subscription membership web site where professional painting contractors and those who wish to become such can share thoughts, ideas and ask for feedback without fear.

A place where we can all learn from one another and encourage each other to better our best. We will keep it ultra affordable and jam packed with so much value that it will be worth 10 x the cost of admission.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in knowing more about please leave a comment and we will keep you in the loop.

I'll post more about what the content will cover in up-coming posts

Part Time Painting Business = Full Time Income

Today I'm responding to some feedback we received from the latest edition of the "Painting Contractors Perspective" Newsletter...

Steve Writes:

Hello Andy,

I am just doing my research now about starting a painting business. My hope is to do it part time, no more than 2-3 days a week. Could you devote an issue to the part time business start up and the best ways to ease into the trade with little prior experience?

Looking forward to your reply, thanks Steve Johnson

Thank you for your question Steve!

The first thing I will say is that starting a part time painting business is a GREAT way to earn extra income and realize some fantastic tax benefits...

In fact, it is entirely possible to earn a full time income painting 2-3 days a week, however in order to do that you must focus on a few key things:

Here are three of them:

1. Specialize & Target "specific" kinds of jobs - for example you will want to focus on small one day (two day's max) jobs like bathrooms, kitchens, and bedroom repaints...

Keep your marketing message and promotions focused on "one room at a time" offers.

For example: You could run an "Exterior Door & Trim" promotion where all you would do is repaint the front door, shutters or the accent trim around the house rather than the entire exterior.

This type of job is more cost effective for the home owner and offers an outstanding improvement on curb appeal and can be done in just a day or two. (not to mention these jobs can pay really well)

2. Network with larger painting contractors to paint the jobs that are to small for them to take on...

Large painting contractors typically like large paint jobs and will not even consider doing small one or two day jobs. A lot of times they will sub out work to a small or part time painter.

3. Advertise "No Job Too Small" or "We Specialize In Small Jobs" -

This is a simple way to market your part time business and set your self apart from the crowd... Write up a benefit rich direct response flier and canvas a neighborhood... Create a short newsletter about the benefit of updating one room at a time, or painting "Walls Only"

With the shift in the marketplace and homeowners buying habits the trend has been toward small updates more often rather than having the entire interior or exterior painted all at once.

The market is perfect for the good "Part Time" painters to gain market share and create a very nice income for themselves.

Whether it's part time or full time... Do the painting yourself or hire a crew to paint for you... the process of finding and landing jobs is the same. The only difference is the message.

I'll give more tips to help the part time painter in future posts, however if you are just getting started you will benefit greatly from the proven step-by-step information laid out in Painting for Profits.