I know I'm dredging up an older thread, but that's because I own a copy of the "Bid To Win" system, which is what the "How To Bid Paint Jobs" site offers.
When I decided to look into starting up a painting business in September, I wasn't concerned about how to paint (or else I would have been a idiot to do it!), but rather how to do estimates. I tried some ideas that a contractor friend gave me, but I took forever to do an estimate and I had no set guidelines to go on. I was quite frustrated.
I admit that after I read that web site, I was a little skeptical at first, but I did some reasoning. I thought, 'Okay, I could spend $100 and get shafted, or that $100 could be for real and it could pay big dividends in the future.'
First, it wasn't a scam. If you order the printed version you get a spiral-bound book with no BS (except for the "Special Unadvertised Bonus", which takes up the last half of the book, and may or may not be "special" depending on who you are). The "bonus" aside, the estimating system he presents is fairly easy and straightforward to wrap your brain around.
My one critique is how some numbers presented in one part of the manual are different later on, like he edited one part of it without remembering to update the other parts. But if you're kind of anal like me you'll notice the discrepancies and figure it out.
His system will result in more paint than you'll actually need, so only buy about 75% of what you estimate at first (esp. with a large wall area), then buy more as needed (unless you can hide the extra from your customer!). As for estimating the amount of time to do walls, trim, ceilings, etc. I find his recommendations work well for faster painters but not for sticklers like me. Also, because I'm still not as experienced as most of you, I easily take about 50% more time than I estimate using his numbers. But keep in mind that I'm also taking a hit just to get jobs and build a reputation.
Even if you have some experience with the business side of painting, I would recommend you just spend the $70-$100 and go for it. He has some really neat ideas, and frankly I believe I got a huge leg-up on getting an estimating system going. I believe that without it I may have taken many months to figure something out. I now have some solid guidelines to go on, and I'm tweaking them as I do estimates and jobs.
Oh yeah, the book has other bonuses too, but they're very practical and I found great ideas in them (again, except for the "Special" bonus).
Hope this helps with your decision!
