Professional Painting Contractors Forum banner

Craftsmanship is not what makes a business successful

96K views 241 replies 159 participants last post by  CornerstonePainting 
#1 · (Edited)
I guess the first thing I should do is preclude this post with an explaination. I'm sure the blood pressure of many has risen just reading the title of this thread. This is not about big versus small. It about generating profit.

Doing high quality work is a given. I don't think anyone here will stand up and publicly declare that they do substandard painting. There may be plenty of guys that don't know how to paint but they don't (or shouldn't) own businesses. If a company is asking someone to trade their dollars for a paint job, their work has to be above and beyond what the average novice can perform. So again I say that craftsmanship should be a constant for everyone here. Please consider this though, being the best painter will not neccessarily make you a successful business owner.

I am not trying to preach to anyone, declare your business a failure or compare your goals to mine. I want to parlay that people will pay good money for a positive experience. It is this experience that makes a company successful and able to achieve longevity or growth.

Why Do You Own a Business?

There are many reasons a person will venture out on their own and hang a shingle that says "Painting". They tire of working for a disorganized company. They tire of making someone else rich. Maybe they even want to offer a level of quality that doesn't exist in their market. The bottom line of all of those is.. that person wants to generate more money than he can working for someone else.

Where The Plan Goes South

It's very easy to get single minded and let your ego blind you to your goals. If, "I'm going to offer the highest quality work" was your mantra and you stayed true to that goal, you have realized that quality work is expensive (for the business owner). You need to use high price paints, your prep takes a long time, you have to hire high end employees, the list goes on. If you haven't priced your service as the highest in the market, you have been taking it on the chin. You are probably slaving day in and day out doing estimates at night and strapping on your boots in the morning. Is this what you envisioned when you opened shop? Have your personal finances increased every year since you started this thing or are you in the same place you were five years ago?

But.. My customers get quality work and that's what counts the most.

Okay so.. your paint jobs rock. You do not need to advertise because you are in demand. People line up to get "quality at an affordable price." I don't know who to call but you are a candidate for a Nobel prize for altruism. You bust hump, give people awesome quality, charge a fair price and they love you for it. Meanwhile you pray your truck doesn't break down because your daughter needed braces and your central air just kicked the bucket. You can't afford to put your guys in uniform.. wait there are no guys, you cannot afford to hire someone that paints to your standards.

Are you trapped? Is "enslaved" even more accurate a word? What if you get hurt tommorrow? Will the business operate without you? Even if it stays afloat, are you building wealth? Hourly employees live paycheck to paycheck. Wasn't owning a business your ticket to get away from that stressful lifestyle?

So if not quality, what is it that makes one successful?

John is a decent painter. Most homeowners would call his work "good"
Alan is a craftsman. The cream of the crop when it comes to quality. John couldn't hold Alan's strap when it comes to cutting lines or turning a wall into a canvas.

Alan drives an 8 year old van with a magnet, works by himself and makes $38K a year. He has tried raising his prices but his customers complained. His referral network fell apart when he went up. He cannot close new work at the higher rate because his image does not parlay that he is a successful painter. Alan realized his workload was falling off so he panicked and went back to his old rates. Alan comes on the internet at night and types.. "marketing doesn't work. Selling doesn't work. People in my area won't pay that much for a paint job." Alan can look at photos that other guy's post and immediately see the flaws. Alan is a damn good painter. Alan's wife wishes he would go back to making union wages working for someone else.

John offers a good paint job. His customers are very satisfied with his work. John realized early on he wasn't the best painter in the world so he sought to make customers confident in hiring him. He has professionally designed business cards, brochures, and uses various advertising medium. When someone calls for an estimate, John is on the phone with them within the hour. He schedules appointments, he shows up on time. He speaks well and he knows the painting business. He instills confidence in the homeowner. John carries all the insurance, wears the logo'd gear and has brochures and color charts for the customer to view. John is not so busy that he cannot spend some time with a customer making sure they feel comforable before signing a contract. John isn't knee deep in mud doing texture every day so he can answer his cell phone and talk to a customer that has concerns. John's customers absolutely love the experience in dealing with his company. They feel that their needs are always first. The job is done cleanly, efficiently and in the customer's eyes, is flawless. They know why they paid John twice what that guy Alan wanted to charge them.

Alan thinks John's business is a scam.. smoke and mirrors. Alan's ego makes him believe this his superior quality is all the customer wants or needs. John just put his sixth truck on the road and hired an operations manager. That burns Alan's hide that John is able to con people into using his service.. after all, Alan is the superior painter.

There are many criteria that customers look for in a buying experience. Contrary to what you may have convinced yourself, quality is only one part of the equation and not neccessarily the most important. Ask yourself this. Does Starbucks have the greatest coffee in the world? It has to be right? They open new stores every single day and are the largest retailer of coffee in the world. I can't imagine how they do this since I find the $1.50 large coffee at Dunkin Donuts far superior in smoothness and taste. Starbucks provides a good customer experience.

Look directly into that mirror

Whenever you get the temptation to sit back and post "I don't need to advertise, my work is all referral" put yourself into check and look at what you are doing. Is it your ego that is successful or is it truly your business? Business is measured by profit. I don't want to create a wrong message. Success doesn't mean a hundred crews on the road because that comes with headaches that many don't want, no matter what the profit.

A one man show can be plenty profitable for some and have the right balance of working and having a life. If you are booked for the next four months without doing any type of advertising I am going to venture that you are underpricing your service. Actually, its not a guess, its a certainty. Try raising your prices. As little as a ten percent raise can put an extra ten thousand dollars in your pocket this year. Are you going to lose some bids? Of course, but who cares? So now you will be booked 45 days in advance instead of 120. Maybe you will finish working by two o'clock every day instead of by 5 or 6. A strange things also happens. You find yourself working less and making more money. Is that all that bad? If your work quality is all that you think it is, you'll still get the referrals and be making enough on your jobs to hire that union guy or other craftsmen like yourself to start taking away your burden.

You can only be your company for so long. Its always juggling swords of fire. Eventually, something happens and you can be left burned. Now is a good time to preclude making that mistake.
 
See less See more
#8 · (Edited)
I also agree. The thing is, if I do an 'excellent' job, or a 'pretty darn good' job, less than 2% of my customers would notice or care about the difference.

EDIT: I posted the above after reading the thread title, but before I read the post. After reading the post, I see Ken touched upon this. Can you say STICKY! :yes:
 
#9 · (Edited)
I also agree. The thing is, if I do an 'excellent' job, or a 'pretty darn good' job, less than 2% of my customers would notice or care about the difference.

EDIT: I posted the above after reading the thread title, but before I read the post. After reading the post, I see Ken touched upon this. Can you say STICKY! :yes:
The way I view it is this: My customer's want and are willing to pay for an 8. The labor requirements to go to a 9 or 10 are exponential and thus the price must also go up exponentially. As you say, most customers won't notice the difference in the quality of the work. They will notice the huge price difference.

The closer you get to perfect, the more you must charge. That gives you a very small market, and chances are you won't have the time and inclination to sell jobs at the right price. So you wind up in the place that Ken describes.

Certainly there are exceptions. But they are exceptions, and not the rule.

There was a time that I expected pretty close to perfection from my guys. Little wonder I didn't make any money. When I "let go of perfect" I started making money and my customers were just as happy. And I was a lot happier.

Brian Phillips
 
#10 ·
Brian:
I wonder if we did our bids on a system of 1 - 10 how it would pan out.

A few times I have given the opportunity for a one coat price, or a two coat price check and sign here placed next to each option... a Majority took the one coat price even though the second coat price was not that much more.
 
#185 ·
Brian:
A few times I have given the opportunity for a one coat price, or a two coat price check and sign here placed next to each option... a Majority took the one coat price even though the second coat price was not that much more.
Now was that with remodels or with new construction? I couldn't imagine doing a "1 coat" quality on a new construction job.
 
#12 ·
I wonder how many of the guys who really need to read this are working right now trying to eat this week. Irony...

I liked your post Ken. I am not a man of great ego. I have actually taken to heart many of the things I've learned in this forum and put them into practice. I am happier than I've ever been right now and I mean this with the deepest sincerity-I owe some of the posts on here to my happiness right now including threads you have been a part of. Seriously, I am very thankful for how you've continuously tried to help people in here in a way that is very clear.
 
#13 ·
Wow, man Im speachless,,, really puts your gearbox in granny huh? makes ya stop and think. thats the kinda input that I for one am thankfull for, folks like ya that have it in ya heart to share your wisdom. I thank ya. and ya really made me think. I gotta feelin even an ol backwoodser like myself can gain from this place! thanks!
 
#14 ·
I've worked for crews - where we would show up the next day with post-it notes all over the walls where there 'weak' spots - and the customer dragged out their step ladder to and put these post it notes 9 feet up! What do you do with those type of customers? I've had house wives watch me right over my back as I was working inspecting my work!
 
#41 ·
You didn't know your customer would be like this...

Sorry. This post was from long ago but I just read it...being just a p.o.s. newbie and all...

I've worked for crews - where we would show up the next day with post-it notes all over the walls where there 'weak' spots - and the customer dragged out their step ladder to and put these post it notes 9 feet up! What do you do with those type of customers? I've had house wives watch me right over my back as I was working inspecting my work!
So now you are in or near finished with this job and you see all the post it notes... What now? If you knew the customer was a real pain in the arse at the beginning, maybe you factored that in to the bid. But you did not know. So do you just say "yes ma'am" or do you point to the fine print in the contract and say "we'll take care of that" and charge extra?

Sooo excellent to read this thread. Thanks
 
#17 ·
Their are plenty of guys out their running two or three man shops, whear the owner works in the bucket 20- 30 hrs a week in the bucket, taking home $100,000 a year . you can retire this way.

Their is nothing wrong with working in the field if thats what you like. Just because your in the bucket doesnt mean your not allowed to have a retirement plan, or make a good living.

I do not paint anymore, but that is my choice, some people still paint and that is their choice, and you can make a killing with just a couple of guys.

Jhon and Alen are only two of the million differnt sample buisness out their.


some people are just hands on, and guess what thats ok, you can still make a great living. You do have to learn buisness skills as well, but that to me is a lot easier then learning technical skills of a craft.

dave
 
#20 · (Edited)
Ken--You Da Man!!

Ken--

I've got to say you really put it out there in simple terms so that someone like me can relate and understand the points you make.

And, my name is John, and I can't paint as well as Alex, and I am happy working 6 hours a day, and I am in the bucket, and I am raising my prices 10 percent or more.

But, that's me and my choices. There are lots of ways to get what you want. When you are tired of smashing your head against walls and learning the hard way, take advice from a qualified successful person.

You my friend seem to be a qualified, thoughful, and wise man. Thanks for a great post. It is a classic and should go into the FAQ Hall of Fame here.

JTP
 
#31 ·
I had a "company" once that I formed to simply make ends meet back on the east coast before moving here (back on the west). The company name had "Excellence" in it, and believe me, you described me to a "t". That was painful to read! But, too true.

I only wish you had written it sooner, Ken. I'm now in the same boat, getting ready to start over with another paint/remodel gig, only this time trying to go at it right.

I was once told that I could and did "Paint with excellence," but my customer told me she'd settle for "Painting with adequacy."

Ouch! Keep posting. I'm waiting for the book to come out.
 
#32 ·
great thread. i feel like im part of the industry that lowers the bar and while we take pride in our work, we cater to cheap landlords. i guess there will always be cheapo's who want a quick whitewash, but if the job is there, and i can do what they want, and i need the work, should i feel bad or dirty? i mean, its not like one day the cheapos will wake up and say to themselves, you know, my tenants deserve this and this and im gonna spend extra money keepin up these rundown rentals. it makes me almost cry to go into these small, 1900's, mill houses, with high ceilings and beautiful trim etc... that has 30 plus years of slop-antique white, plaster walls collapsing on themselves, and boss says, alright boys start caulking and cutting in. theres gotta be another way to save these old houses. sorry if off topic
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top