[Instant_Contractor]

Hey gang, I'm a IT guy who does network design, I have decided to become a Painting Contractor. I have painted a few rooms in my house but other than that, I have no experience painting.

I'm interested in any helpful tips you can offer me in running my new contracting business...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mandrake]

Do you want to paint or run a painting business?

If you want to paint I'd suggest working for a pro for while to learn the trade. If you want to run a business then you can look into the franchise model or just go it alone. There are some publications that can help.

You will find a wide variety of opinion on this site with respect to franchises. I do consulting for both franchises and independents and find that it ultimately depends upon the owner and what he or she is trying to accomplish (such as a quick buck as opposed to long term customer base).

mandrake

 

[slickshift]

Best Advice:

Apprentice with an established painting company for a few years

Take a few night courses in business (specifically running small businesses) while you are apprenticing

 

[Rich]

I'm interested in any helpful tips you can offer me in running my new contracting business

even if you are interested in running a painting business, you need to have more than general knowledge of the field

you will have a hard time if you jump in without learning to swim first

we are hard workers in here, so when we hear someone say, "eh...I think I'll become a painting contractor"...it's sort of like you're saying anyone can do it not having any experience at all

there is MUCH more to this trade than "painting a few rooms in my house"

MUCH MORE

 

[Instant_Contractor]

we are hard workers in here, so when we hear someone say, "eh...I think I'll become a painting contractor"...it's sort of like you're saying anyone can do it not having any experience at all

Actually becoming a painting contractor is so trivial a task that even Nathan, the owner of this forum did just that:

"Two years ago I decided to leave my job as a Network Design Engineer with Sprint and start a paint contracting business. I had the entrepreneur bug and I really wanted to start my own business." said owner/Administrator Nathan Wingate.

But there was a problem. While I had painted throughout college and knew some general info about the trade, I knew nothing about actually running a business." --Nathan Wingate

http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-2594.html

So the fact of the matter is, any dweeb from the IT department, with "some general info about the trade" can suddenly announce to the world that they're a "Painting Contractor" and go into business.

The fact that a poser like Nathan can call himself a "Painting Contractor" is a disgrace to all real contractors who paid their dues and worked their way up from the bottom of the trade.

I think you've all been the victims of an elaborate hoax.

 

[slickshift]

So you didn't really want some business advice then?

 

[Nathan]

So, this guy has 8 accounts on ContractorTalk.com and has been causing trouble. I've been trying to give him a break and not ban him and now he comes here and tries to attack me?

I got nothing to hide LB... I spent 4 years learning how to paint while in College working for a friend of my family that has been painting for over 20 years. Then I spent time of forums learning how to run a proper business and had guys help me out. Now I try to do the same with other contractors through these sites.

 

[slickshift]

That's not much of a hoax there....I'm disapointed

 

[timhag]

So, this guy has 8 accounts on ContractorTalk.com and has been causing trouble..... now he comes here and tries to attack me?

I think it's time for him to go, we don't need his kind here.:boxing:

 

[Brian]

I think you've all been the victims of an elaborate hoax.

The only hoax was pulled by the idiot who posted this. Nathan has always been above board.

Brian Phillips

 

[Rich]

geeeez....I wonder what his response would be if I sugar coated it and said...

you'll be fine, it's easy

( someone was instantly outnumbered when they came in here and bashed the very person who runs this forum :yes: )

 

[panderson2414]

panderson2414

I could use an IT guy Starting pay $ 9.00 per hour. When you are a journeyman painter we can talk wages.

 

[Tmrrptr]

Well that's a pretty shabby trick... go to someone's house and rag at them!

Key to any business is opportunity and management.

Management is a skill that can be learned.

Personally, I don't feel NOW is an opportune time to begin a new construction biz. But that's not to say market conditions are not good somewhere I'm not aware of.

 

[JNLP]

Painting a few rooms in your house & starting a business VS painting through college & starting a business is a big difference. I see no problem with it. I was ready to start a business after painting through highschool. It's all about what you learned while working. I used to clean blood & body parts up at the local ER though. Does that mean I'm no longer a qualified painter?

As for knowing the business part of it... Who the hell cares? You can either jump in & learn from your mistakes, or, what is usually recommended, go take some classes. Everybody always say you should take the long route and learn this & that first. That's them trying to help you from possible failier and making your life easier. It's not required though. 9/10 successful contractors I know learned business as they went.

Your attempt at an insult was pretty disappointing. :sleep1:

 

[paulingrad]

I mean, how much experience do you really need? I've been working for a friend who suddenly became a paint contractor. Hardly any, limited, hands-on experience. And not the brightest guy. He now has eight to ten guys on the go. I watched how he did it. And within two years !

 

[slickshift]

I mean, how much experience do you really need? I've been working for a friend who suddenly became a paint contractor. Hardly any, limited, hands-on experience. And not the brightest guy. He now has eight to ten guys on the go. I watched how he did it. And within two years !

I can appreciate that
But the fact is, the more the better
Who's to say he wouldn't be doing even better if he had some biz school under his belt
Also, you don't need the technical painting knowledge if you've got somebody to cover that and your a biz wiz
By same token, if your a tech wiz at applying and have good biz people working the paperwork end...you know
A good "salesperson" with people skills can go a long way on not much
But is that a good business model?

The biggest thing is, in your friends case, as much as I admire how far he's got so far, two years is not nearly enough time to say how well or how poorly your friend is/has doing/done
Two years is just the beginning

 

[Brian]

At the risk of being a downer, it's easy to stay busy. It's another thing to actually make money.

I used to work 60 hours a week trying to keep 15 guys busy. I didn't make any money. Now I work 15 hours a week to keep 8 guys busy, and make money.

Brian Phillips

 

[Nathan]

FYI... I was in no way ready to run off on my own after college and I worked several years in the tech industry before I realized how much I hated a desk job and wanted to go back into painting. It's a long story and it took a couple of years of me planning my business before I actually launched it. I also worked for Lennar Homes for a while as a Construction Manager and went through their construction manager training program. I built homes for them in 2 states.
Long story short my background in both contracting and the tech industry is what enables me to run these sites. I don't think anyone who visits these sites come here because of me or what I do or don't know but rather what the community as a whole knows and the relationships they develop.

My passion is the business of contracting and my hope is that these sites help develop that in the industry.

 

[PressurePros]

What a bonehead. You are still my hero, Nathan. The trolls seem to be out in force of late.

PS: I'm coming for you with my new DIY site.. LOL.. just playin'. Nice work on all the "talk" sites.

 

[Z paint]

i don't always agree with jumping in right away unless u have alot of money saved up as a cushion especially after todays downward spiral of foreign stock markets..sure many people learn from there mistakes but at a certain point u need more stability and dont want to get burned on ur mistakes..i also reccomend learning the trade from some expert for awhile..."people have learned for thousands of years from apprenticeship type mentoring...only after industrialization when we had large groups of people that needed to be educated quickly did we start grouping the masses together for lectures and so on...