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First Job

3K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  Tmrrptr 
#1 ·
I am new to the whole "owning a painting business", and I was wondering how long I could expect before I get my first real paying job. Also, the area I am covering will be philadelphia and the outlining suburbs. It is just myself and a partner, and I was curious as to how much we could both make in the first year....and so on.

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
A million huh? I seriously doubt i'll ever get there, but I hoping to increase my salary to over six figures within a few years. I have a pretty strong business plan in place, and I am hoping it pays off. Any suggestions for advertising?
 
#6 ·
I am new to the whole "owning a painting business", and I was wondering how long I could expect before I get my first real paying job. Also, the area I am covering will be philadelphia and the outlining suburbs. It is just myself and a partner, and I was curious as to how much we could both make in the first year....and so on.

Thanks!
Welcome to the site
I would have expected that you already had your "first real paying" job (as opposed to your "second fake paying job", lol)

Don't have big expectations for your first year. It takes some time to get your production up and your systems established. It's going to be somewhat of a rollercoaster ride for a bit, but as long as you know that's normal....the better you will feel when things don't smell like roses 24/7. Remember to deduct ALL business expenses. <---VERY important. If you don't know what all you can deduct, call a CPA or accountant.

I wish you luck. Get a whole ton of business cards made. Get some logo's on your vehicle(s). And get some T-shirts made. You need to get your name all over the place. And don't cut corners, you'll only make a bad name for yourself.
 
#7 ·
I am new to the whole "owning a painting business", and I was wondering how long I could expect before I get my first real paying job. Also, the area I am covering will be philadelphia and the outlining suburbs. It is just myself and a partner, and I was curious as to how much we could both make in the first year....and so on.

Thanks!

now thats a loaded question lol!!!! how much experience do you have, ?? are you planning on being in the bucket or out of the bucket, your first year??? what type and how much advertising are you doing??? chances are in your first year you will loose money. What market are you going after??


dave
 
#8 ·
Thanks for all of the replies fellas. Basically, I have been doing interior painting for family, neighbors, and friends for years. All of them always said that I missed my calling due to how methodical and careful I am with each and every job....big or small. So, I basically thought that I would bite the bullet and go for it! I will be spending about 1000.00 on advertising my first year...targeting wealthy middle class in the suburbs of philadelphia. I was hoping to bring home about 45-50 thousand my first year. Am I aiming to high?
 
#12 ·
Before you do anything else, buy this book, and read it.
yeah....I'd like to add this to my post too

reading this book is more important than you may think...it helped me realize a lot about the structure of a business

when Tmrrptr says he's "the technician with an entrepeneurial spasm guy", it's not a good thing...a business is a serious thing and it needs more than a guy with a brush and dreams to fuel it
 
#11 ·
...It took quite a few posts for the E-myth to pop up!

I'm the technician with an entrepeneurial spasm guy.
(whatever the heck they call it, it's hard to spell, but it might be me)
at least it's nicer than what my wife says about me.

I'll put in my pitch for Dave Gerstel, "How to run a successful contracting business."

You can get 'em both at your local library.
 
#15 ·
Rich is correct.

I guess.

If you DO have a business, I suppose you should try to expand it to something bigger... find competent workers at every opportunity and delegate tasks to them... after some period of time, you shall have a finely tuned machine that functions on it's own and you shall have your foot,
out of the bucket.

I worked in a niche market.
a number of times.
Problem is, they tend to, well, go away!

Cheap laborers kinda set me back.
It's just not possible to compete on a price basis.

I made a choice to stay small and deliver personal service, but that is certainly not the big bucks money way to do it...
 
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