2 Much Work....

KellyPainting

Have alot of work... anyone from the mass. area thats real hard up.... feal free to contact me... I can use you for a few days at least. Presently working in Newton mass area. but driving from Worcester. Only contractors from Contractor talk please, and only above average painters.
kellypainting@charter.net

copusbuilder

Why do they have to be real hard up
Can they be a little hard up?

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AkA Richard Cranium

KellyPainting

I know you were just kidding...but I should word it better,
What I mean is that this time of year is tough for us... just a few
months ago I was wondering how I was going to make it thru the
winter, Now I got alot of work and want to help a fellow painter
that might be struggling to pay bills.

copusbuilder

O.K. in that case I will do it

Just kidding (again). Though I could combine it with a trip to see my old buds

This has been an odd year for us as well. Usually I give the guys lots of time off over the holidays. This Year it's 4 days and back to it.
Not that i'm complaining

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AkA Richard Cranium

Bob Kovacs

Weren't you just talking about moving to the Vineyard a few weeks ago because you had no work????

Bob

mahlere

Feast or Famine, the scourge of the small contractor....

Bob Kovacs

Hence the reason so many fail- no backup plan and/or savings for the "famine" periods that inevitably come between the "feast" periods.....

Bob

mahlere

"What famine? We're busier than hell today"

AAPaint

Well said guys, and thanks for the reminder! I'm working like hell now to fill in the calender a month and a half from now. Rarely have I held a lead time this long, so I figure....why not see if I can make it longer! I'm trying to get June booked now too....heh! Hope it works!

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

KellyPainting

Ya.... It's weird... contacts are paying off... I'm busier now than i've ever been, In fact 2 houses want exterior bids.... The thing thats even better is that the work is all in towns/ cities that pay double the rate i am used to making..doing alot of traveling though, this month I'll be in Newton, next month Wellesley then the Cape.. then Back to Martha's Vineyard. I'm actually booked well beyond the winter and am looking for a few good painters.

Gordo

The flood gates opened here too. Booked into March.

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Looks like some pros were here.

Brushslingers

Been running since before Tday, booked four months up and still have this house to finish building.... gah.

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Benn

AAPaint

Am I the only one who's jobs went haywire for the holidays? Most of it had to do with other subs/scheduling and one job in particular taught me about the troubles of a HO acting as GC on their own bath remodel *major scheduling snafu. Sheesh. I'm burried in work right now.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

mahlere

OK Guys,

So what's your plan for staying booked?


Here is the typical cycle for a small owner operated operation:

You were slow, so you beat the bushes and drummed up work. Now you're cranking and busy getting the work done. You finish up the work you have lined up and are suddenly slow again.

How are you going to avoid that cycle? How are you going to keep the work flowing in as you bust your hump to get it done?

AAPaint

I'm still doing estimates left and right to try and book the rest of february. Just bid a $16K acid stain yesterday. I'm on autopilot for right now. The website is cranking out the leads, I have more appointments than I can stand right now. Once I have the last two weeks of February locked in, we're working on March. I'm hoping since we have tons of leads coming in we will be able to keep it rolling....I'll worry if the leads slow down, other than that things are looking great, and this is a first for me. Usually the best I can do is keep a two week lead time.

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

TUPERCENT

How do you guys handle the customers that balk at having to wait 2 months to have their work done? Do you leave some flex in your schedule to squeeze in these people?

donb1959

This has absoulutly been our slowest year yet. Every paint contractor in town is dead. But, this extreme slow down is typical. Here I basicly divide the year into thirds. 120 days (early spring-early summer) it's very busy, book all the work you can,hire one more guy and get it done as quickly as possible keep your profit margin as high as possible. Prepare for the slowdown.

120 days (early summer-late summer) things will slow down now, school getting ready to let out, vacations getting ready to start, parents getting involved in kids community sports. Again book as heavily as possible, work as fast as you can to get the work done. Lay off the guy you hired for the spring rush. Prepare for the extreme slow down.

120 days (late summer-winter). Now things die. My 2 full time guys will be lucky to get in 20 hours weekly....if that. We have saved hard through the 120 days of all out work in the summer, hopefully we will have enough saved to take us through this period.

Although this year has been worse than most, this is still the basic cycle I see year after year. My advertising has increased every year Ive been in business, but things remain the same. This year I will use Footbridge, and maybe do a PPC campaign, and even if business does increase, you can only book so far in advance with a small company.

If you have work coming in now, and its busy for you, you should count yourself blessed. This paint contracting business is a tough nut to crack. Youre either so busy that youre working 60 hours weekly trying to keep up, or youre so slow till you wonder if the phones broke.

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premierpainter

Waiting till the last minute could lead to serious downtime. The average return of leads from an ad or a mailer takes about six weeks. If you wait till the last job and then mail ads out you're in trouble. When we are busy, we typically bring in more and more clients. We keep an average of 20 painters working in the winter and more in the summer. We too have work until Spring, but could always take on more. Always think ahead!!
Kevin

Richard

nope...when your good and they want you for your reputation and reasonable price...it doesnt matter--they wait

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Rich

Richard

Holy cow man...20+ guys...that's a big company.....the biggest guy around here has 24 painters and thats as big as they come here --check this guy out...www.fitzgeraldpainting.com

he's the painting God of Connecticut these days--

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Rich