Is Advertising The Only Key To Getting Out Of The Bucket.

dwbrooks

I know that quality is the number one factor for success in most any business. Without good employees that do quality work and provide outstanding service, a business is destin to fail. With that being said I wanted to ask everyone this.

I feel that I could continue doing what I'm doing (Myself doing every aspect of the business) or grow into a larger business were I can do just the bidding and office work. I enjoy painting and construction in general, but I really hope to grow my business too several crews and take on some larger projects.

I've done a lot of thinking and it seems as simple as securing the work. I understand that your employees must be talented because they represent you, but other than that whats the differance between the one man crew and a large painting company?

It would seem the only differance is the amount of jobs that the companys get. Instead of focusing all my energy into the actual work, do you think it would be wise to hire an experianced painter and begin to focus my time on generating leads and therefore landing more work? It just seems that if you spend all your time doing the actual work and not so much on expanding your business that it would be easy to be in the same position 20 yrs from now.

What is your opinion on what the differance between a one or two man company and a 15-20 man company?

Wallcoat Joe

The amount of money you make is directly related to the amount of greif /stress you can put up with.

Tom Rohland

Say what Sailor?

Tom

gianlucaf

I believe the hardest thing is finding and keeping good quality employees.
That is the hardest thing about being the owner of any company.

Mike Finley

Wow, talk about a can of worms. There are so many issues and answers to everything you are asking.

Two answers, the difference is often just a shift of duties from the owner. In the 1-2 man company the owner is performing the services the company sells, the the 15-20 man company the owner should be selling, managing or best playing golf. However there are plenty of owners making the exact same amount of money running a 1-2 man company as they are running a 15-20 man company.

A friend of mine has a 30 man painting company and I know he takes some jobs just to keep his guys busy so they won't quit on him.

George Z

I heard the magic number for getting out of the bucket
and moving out of the home office is six employees.
I suppose it could be done with less employees if subs are used,
or with high hourly rates.

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Robie

Have you given any thought to taking on someone who will partner with you? You could do your thing and he/she could look after the actual physical labor end of it. With a person out in the field with as much to risk as you, they would be more inclined to keep quality up and workers working.
Just a thought...

Wallcoat Joe

Great idea, take your best guy make him a partner. Non-voting shares of the corp. and profit split. Tie them to a buy in and finance with the profit due him staying with you until paid (with interest), business is business. Nobody takes care of a business better than an owner.

slickshift

Very true
There is a great difference between a lead guy working for a wage, and one whose income is tied to the profits the company makes
It'll make a difference all the way down to buying the sundries
It's a great attitude adjustment when how much you buy/pay for even the little stuff affects how much you make

copusbuilder

I wouldn't touch a partner in any way shape or form. They will want as many vacations, cars, medical etc etc as you get. Treat them well..pay them sick days or if they attend a funeral pay them for that. Even go so far as to shake hands and drop a hundred of every now and then....If they are a partner and things get tough?????

I had a large company. I used to work 90 hours a week and clean the office for the guys on Monday. One day my wife told me I was an a-hole...Naturally I got mad and spun off......Got down the road a few miles and thought for a moment.
I am working my ass off to feed a bunch of guys that talk nice but will dump me in a heart beat.
I went home and looked at my wife and said you are right!
Next day I terminated all the guys but one. Even the brother in law
I actually made more money with a small 6 man crew (with paint subs). I am even smaller now.

I live on a lake and go to Houston and do bids one day a week. The rest of the time is mine and my families! I have actally trained my customers.

Stress is a tough thing. It can blow families apart.

It might feel good when all the salesmem are dropping jackets and taking you to lunch but it won't last... Funny, when I down sized the salesmen stopped coming by

Now I will step off my soapbox.

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DecksEtc

I'm not there yet - still running/doing virtually everything myself. I have a couple of occasional helpers but the bottom line for me at this time is that my name is on all the work and I have a hard time deligating and trusting others to do things "my way"/the "right way". Deligating has always been an issue for me though - even when I ran a department of 15 people - in my "office days". Leaving an office environment and doing "real" work has been the best thing I've ever done - I've lost 30 lbs. so far this year and feel heathier than I have in a very long time!

As for a partner, I think it boils down to having the right partner. It woud have to be someone that has the same mind set as yourself. I may consider it in a few years.

Grumpy

Wow! I posted a very lengthy and informative reply to this topic and now it is gone. What's up?!

PlainPainter

I think the size of your crew is proportional to how many jobs you get.
I have a prejudice for thinking that typically large crews are best suited
for large type commericial jobs/huge condo complexes where great quality
is not an issue. For most guys like me, that maintain a close business
relationship with homeowners, it seems you can't ever get away from
having a small crew. Maybe 5 guys under you at best - and even then
most have to be laid off for the winter months. High quality interior/exterior
repaints = smallish crews. Mediocre quality new construction type jobs = big crews.
My attitude is focus on quality, maintain a reputation for quality, few callbacks and few renegotiations on estimates. That in the long run you can find a clientale that is comfortable and willing to pay extra money for you.
Just spoil people - and when they relapses for cheaper contractors they will find out in a hurry why they paid high prices for you.

-PlainPainter

Nathan

Nothing got deleted from my end Grumpy. No idea what happened?

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Teetorbilt

Hit the wrong button, Tom? I do that from time to time.

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Nathan

I read in a book one time: how many people think they can make a better hamburger than McDonald's? Almost everyone... so why is McDonald's so successful and you and I are not? Its because the system they have developed is more important than the hamburger itself.

Most painters who want to build a large company make the same mistakes. They focus so much on quality that they cannot step away from the bucket. How could they, one of their employees might do something wrong. Or, if you do find that perfect employee you have to pay him so much to stay you can't make money on him.
This focus on quality also prices them out of the general market making it hard to keep up the volume.

I think if you want to build a large company you have to be willing to give on quality a bit and come up with great systems to run your business by. You need systems to estimate, run employees, follow up with customers, everything. Then your job becomes running that system.

BTW, I'm not talking about delivering bad quality. Most customers don't want top quality services. They want "good" services for a good price.

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot