Chosing The Right Equipment

Merry Christmas everyone,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, I certainly did. I know that for most of us parents we only have a great Christmas when we get up Christmas morning and we see the happy & excited looks on our kids faces and know that they received everything that they had hoped for.

But there are some of you that enjoy treating yourselves to something special, or maybe your spouse has been saving to get you that show stopper gift that would make your painting biz run that much smoother. Well I say congrats if you got that gift and you had that look of excitement on you face that our kids get.

The reason I bring this up is that whether it's Christmas or just another day of the week you need to make sure you pick the proper tools to help you succeed, too many people don't put enough thought into picking the right equipment and that just leads to them having to buy something else to compensate for what they bought to begin with.

Take the time to research an important tool Before you (or someone else)purchases it.
Hey we all have the most incredible research tool at our disposal and that's the Internet.
Make intelligent decisions before we plunk down our hard earned cash and that will actually save us money in the long run.
Have a Happy & safe Holiday Season.

"Show Me The Money"

Yeah I know I ripped that saying off a famous movie but it applies to the topic I want to discuss today and that is getting paid from your customers & contractors.
I know this seems like a no-brainer but actually this is a very real problem in our industry.

With the economy the way it is and people trying to get the most out of every dollar they spend it just makes getting paid that much more difficult. I find that more contractors are having a hard time getting paid & that of course trickles down to us subs when it comes time to pass out the checks.

I have found that living in a resort community is wonderful for the most part but also it can be a pain when dealing with customers that are not from your state because it makes it that much harder to get a final payment when the job is complete.

I hear the same excuses all the time ("I left my check book at home,I already put the check in the mail", etc...) this can be very frustrating when you have to make payroll and you have soo many bills for materials. The customers never seem to get those facts.

The most frustrating thing of all is that I usually deal with customers that have 4 to $500,00 homes and were talking about mere pocket change to them.
So be aware that when you have your own business that the actual labor it took to finish the job is only a part of the process of getting paid.

Tricks or Treets

With Halloween right around the corner I got to thinking about the Tricks and Treets that go along with being in business for your self. All the things that go with being self- employeed.

Before I start I just want to state that I am in no way trying to discourage anyone from starting a business or from making it seem that I am in any way unhappy with the path I choose.

That would be just the opposite from the truth ,I am extremely happy with my decision to go out on my own, and I would not want to ever have to go back to work for someone else.

So I will act as an impartial party and give you the good and bad points of being self- employeed.

First the Good:

1. You get to make all the Money!


2. You get to set your own hours.


3. You make all the decisions.(that can be both good & bad)


4. You have total control.


5. You get to exercise your creative juice

Now the Bad:

1. You have all the headaches.


2. You make all the decisions (see #3)


3. You get all the blame.


4. You get to put out all the money for supplies etc....

There are probably many more positives as well as negatives that you can think of that I may have left off this list but you get the idea.

This post was just food for thought for anyone thinking of starting a new business.

Good Luck.

Learn Baby Learn!

I always wonder when I hear people say they are "too old to learn something new".
Like they have absolutely no interest in improving themselves or making themselves more well rounded. I hear people say " You can't teach an old dog new tricks" well shame on ya.

I believe we were put on this earth to learn and absorb as much information as we possibly can.
I am the kind of person that craves learning, that will read,watch videos, and ask questions whenever I can. I think that too many painters think that they have their brushes,rollers,pails, ladders,and trucks so that makes them masters of their trade. Why should they have to keep up with the current trends or try to learn new techniques when everyone knows that their a pro.

Well if that's your attitude then just "keep on keepin on" and I hope you succeed but for me I will always strive to make myself the best Painter,Father and Man that I can.
The day that I stop will be the day that they put me in the ground. Well maybe when I get to heaven there will be plenty of stuff for me to read and learn there too.

Marketing

As you probably guessed by the title I want to address a very overlooked aspect of the painting business(and Contracting in general) and that's Marketing.
I know your probably thinking what is he talking about I put a lot of effort into marketing my company, well I then would ask you this question:
"
How much business do you have right now"
If you say well I go through the typical ups and downs that most business's go through then I would say you probably need to work a little more on your marketing strategy.

We all need help from time to time and I am no exception but I also place a very high emphasis on marketing my business every chance I get and that's what I want everyone to understand.
The more that you treat it like a chore the more it becomes one. I realize that it is a necessary evil when your in business for yourself to get your companies name "out there" any way that is possible but if your not doing it with enthusiasm then you will come across as being less then genuine to your potential clients and that's when you will lose them to your competition.

Treat your business as a product that your clients need to have and you will not go wrong.
Check out (Marketingscoop.com) for more strategies on successful marketing.

Learning to work with Contractors

I think this is a skill that takes years to develop but one that is key to your success as a painter or as a sub-contractor in general. I hear painters say that they will not work with any contractors and I hear the horror stories that go along with this. As we all know there are always two sides to every story, as they used to say there's the one side ,there's the other side, and then there's the truth somewhere in the middle.

I can't help but wonder if the reason that they despise working with contractors is that they have yet to develop that skill that we were talking about. That skill that in my opinion is very easy to acquire,all it takes is a desire to put in the time to learn it.

I believe this is yet another reason why so many independent contractors fail. The belief that "I work for myself now so I should be able to make all the rules and always have the final say".
Well that simply is not the truth. I tell my children when they come home from school and complain they have to listen to everything that the teacher says, I always say "get used to it because whether you have your own business or work for someone it will always be the same"

When you are doing a project for that contractor THEY ARE YOUR BOSS. Understand that and you have solved that great mystery. So brush up on your people skills and eat a little crow with the knowledge that your business will be the better for it, sometimes you'll learn that you'll pick up even more business in the process.

Network to get more business

Hi again,
I thought that I would spend a little time today on the subject of networking. This is simply,
connecting with other business people in your same field or fields related to yours.(Construction,Plumbing,Electrical...) This is very important when you want to have a successful business.

The old saying that "It's not what you know but who you know" has some truth to it.
Because you could be the most talented person in your field but without anyone knowing
about your talent then you are going to have very limited success.

I believe that Talent as well as good Marketing are the keys to making any business successful.
What I want to stress to you today is that when you are on a job with the other trades make a point to talk with them and build a rapport, leave them your business card and take theirs.

Recommend each other to clients and you will build a trust with each other that could last a long time. Success comes one step at a time and you should never overlook an opportunity.

Happy 4th Everyone!

Hope everyone is having a great holiday and getting some much need relaxation.
I know we all need to recharge our batteries once in a while so I thought that I'd post to everyone that is doing just that.

As business owners we all need to get back to what is really important in our lives, and that is our FAMILIES. Without who we couldn't have the courage and determination to do what we do everyday. When we can spend this time at home with the ones we love the most we truly appreciate what we have and what our real goals should be.

I want everyone to remember what our founding fathers fought for and died for and that is our FREEDOM. The fact that we live in a country that provides us with the opportunity to be all that we can be is what this holiday is all about. Remember to hold dear to us what is most important and that is our FAMILIES & our FREEDOM.

Happy 4th everyone.

Having Support

Hi again,
This post I wanted to talk about something that is very important to me and that's having the support of the one's we love. That sounds like a given but in reality it's not, too many of us don't have that assurance that if we screw up there's someone there that will help us get back on track.

I'm lucky that I have my wife Karen to lean on when things don't seem to be going like I planned them. She is always there to lend her support and give guidance when I need it and that gives me the confidence to go out on a limb sometimes knowing that she'll be there to help me if I fall.

That is something that I think gets overlooked at times when your in business for yourself and that the ability to have that special someone there to help you succeed, or to be there to help when our goals do not live up to our expectations.

I remember what coaches say all the time and it's true:
Work as a team and we can accomplish anything, work as individuals and we fail.

Energize your Marketing!

Spring is here and it's time to get out and promote your business, that means get your logo in front of as many potential customers as you can. So how do you do that? Simple just be aggressive with you marketing by following some or all of these ideas:

1. Leave your business cards everywhere.
2. Print up some flyer's and leave them in the neighborhood your working in.
3. Get some shirts printed up and make sure your employees wear them to work.
4. Leave your card or flyer in the local grocery store's bulletin board.
5. Network with as many contractors as possible and always leave them with you card.

And as always do quality professional work and your customers will always refer you to others who will want your services.

Exterior Photos

This is the pic I promised to show when I had it, This is the exterior of the house in Bethany Beach Delaware. The beach is so close you could throw a ball from the house to someone standing on the beach. All the siding is hardy board(painted) and all the trim is Azek(painted on the front of the house)Beautiful house,beautiful location.

Working with Colors

I just wanted to share some ideas with you about color,

as you'll see in these pics the use of color can really make a difference in how the room can come alive. The use of color is very important in our line of work, I am asked the best way to brighten a room and my answer is always the same and that's with a color or colors that compliment the room.

In this pic the use of an Extra White really brings this sun room to life.

While the use of a bolder color makes this bathroom seem fun & inviting

Use color wisely and you will really make a dramatic difference in the project your working on.

Check out some Pics,part 1

Here are some pics from a job we just completed.

The interior was 3300 sq. ft. The ceiling in these pictures was pickled white,tung & groove pine.

It was a really great project to be a part of. I'll show the pics of the exterior in part2.

Let's start a new year off right!

Hi everyone,
I wanted to say I hope you all had a merry Christmas & a Happy New Year and I hope all of you are ready to stay focused and get serious about your business this year, I know that your all saying "what are you talking about"? your convinced that you are taking your business completely serious and have been since you started. Well statistics show that most businesses fail within the first year of starting , so there must be something wrong with this picture.

These people didn't have a plan, a vision, a goal that they started that first year that should have been in place so they could see the BIG PICTURE. Society as a hole only can see what's right in front of their face,not what's 2,3,or 4 months down the road. Live for today and we'll worry about tomorrow some other time. Well I don't want to see you fail so I hope you take this advice.

When yo have some down time and your at the breakfast table with a cup of warm coffee, take out a notepad and start writing down the goals that you want your business to achieve this year,write down everything that you want to see happen to make this year turn out to be what you would consider a successful year, (not what someone else would consider successful) but what you would consider to be a year that you would be proud of. Write all that down then put it away and take it out from time to time and see if your sticking to it.

Success is what you make of it not what someone else is going to do for you.
Start now and let me know in a year how you have done.