Bad First Experiences?

stimpysuzie

So this is my first thread on this forum and I would like to say I have spent the last hour reading through the other members threads and I am impressed that other people take this trade as seriously as we do.
A bit of background, we are a couple of gals who have been doing hand painted signs for pubs, markets, events and so on so forth for a long time (family business)
Recently we decided to branch out and use our knowledge by starting a business doing house painting and repair, int and ext.
As we are just starting out and wanting to learn what we don't know from someone with expertise we decided that sub contracting ourselves out would be the better way to start.
Yes I understand that we would be learning from different guys but with different opinions we figured we could find out what suits us best with brushes, techniques etc.
So we put ourselves out there and did the good old fashioned way of cold calling and securing a job.
Well we got a guy who said that yes he had plenty of work and that we would come in handy.
We turned up and worked our socks off because he was the type that thought that because we are women, women can't climb ladders or do caulking or drywall.
Well we did and without tooting did a damn fine job.
A week later on a Sat after being called in that morning on our day off cause another guy had let him down, we went, we worked, we invoiced, we got cheques.
Ah ha you can see where this is going......
Today surprise of all surprises we go into the bank, bank teller looks quizical, I look worried, partner looking at me looking worried.
I keep my cool and ring him asking when he wants to pick us up then casually tell him the cheque bounced.
No that can't be, its the bank fault, I am comfortable blah blah blah!!
We arrange to meet him outsie his bank and lo and behold he shows us his bank balance atm style then without him expecting it, the machine says that said balance is insufficient funds to complete the transaction. Now I was furious and could see where this was going. We stepped outside and I told him that I will meet him in the morning outside the same bank, be there.
Well e wasn't expecting a lady to stand up to him so he panicked and got his employee, henchman to go clear his funds and hand them over.
Anyway the point of this is hopefully other newbies to the trade will read this and secure themselves by getting drafts, secured cheques or good ol cash.
Now thats off my chest I will go and peel myself off the ceiling

Flikka

Hey Stimpy,

I'm just a little north of you (South Simcoe) and while I've never had the problem your complaining about I have been worried a time or two that a clients payment was going to be an issue. If you want to work for someone else to learn the trade I would suggest that you ask around where you buy your paint. The paint vendors will have a pretty good idea of who is running a reputable business and may be subbing out though if I was going to sub out part or all of a job that I had, it wouldn't be to someone with next to no experience. No offence intended. If your interested, I also heard that there is a trade school in Brampton that teaches a variety of trades. Sorry I don't recall the name.

Good luck
Mary

paint_booger

In business there are good guys and bad guys ... sorry ... good people and bad people ... just like everywhere else in life. Running your own business is full of decisions. One of them is whether to trust the person on the other side of the table or not. If you limit the amount of people that sit across from you ... you limit your options.

This guy probably burnt everyone else in town, then along came you two ... all bright eyed and wanting to prove yourself.


You wanted to learn the business. Well, he "gave you the business" alright. You learned a lesson. I think it's one of the most important ones.

If you are going to represent yourself as a subcontractor or contractor, write yourself up an air tight contract, and get a downstroke ($) before you start the work. Know the person you are dealing with. Learn how to put a lean on not only the property you worked on, but his assets too (just in case you have to.) And always walk in the door like you've been there before.

Don't beat yourself up over your mistakes.

Brian

I can tell a story from the other side of the fence.

I'm short on help and go through my normal procedures for getting a new sub. This includes an interview, and 2 4-hour training sessions, along with some actual painting. They pass with flying colors and I assign them to a job.

They ask for some help with materials. I tell them they can use my account. They run up a huge bill buying hand tools and other things they should have already had. They totally flake out on me, and 2 days into a 3 day job they haven't done 4 hours worth of work. I send them packing and finish the job myself.

This was years ago and I haven't repeated those mistakes since.

As Booger says, there are good guys (and gals) and bad guys (and gals). But they can be on both sides of the transaction. It sounds like you are one of the good gals.

Before working for someone, ask for references. Ask to see one of their jobs in progress and talk to the workers. That will give you a good idea as to the character of the contractor.

When I am interviewing I tell everyone that I understand that they probably don't trust me. I also explain that I don't trust them. We need to work together, communicate, and be honest with one another to build trust.

Brian Phillips

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ModernStyle

Only work for people who are scared of you and what you might do.

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Brushslingers

Been through that too many times, couple tips for ya....

Carry your biz license (copy) with you and go to thier bank for new customers, and problem customers... you can get it certified for less than 10 bucks. Also solves the problem of someone trying to stop payment on a check.

Open an account at the local check cashing place... if it bounces, THEY will go after the fool.

Realize that with a visit or a phone call you can verify funds on anyones account, long as you have the account number.

Good luck to you, i'd hire a couple female sign painters in a heartbeat.. even if they were dogs.

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stimpysuzie

Thankyou everyone for your advice and tales from the trenches!
We have dusted ourselves off and made friends with the phone and the
internet!
Thanks again guys and gals

thom

Good luck with that. If you can't finance a paint job I'm sure not going to hire you. You're already in to deep. You can check my finances, you can check with my long-term subs to see how I pay. You won't get a check before you perform. Keep on truckin.

stimpysuzie

My father ran a construction business for some 20 odd years in the south of England and he has always advised both my partner and I that if you can't obtain a contract for whatever reason then yes a downstroke as you call it is the best insurance.
Whilst there may be arguments surrounding that statement or view I can see both sides of the story.
Say you employed me tommorrow and outlined what you wanted me to do for the next two weeks. I asked for part payment immediately. I show up on time for three days of those two weeks, don't clean up, works a bit shoddy, tiny attitude problem and so on so forth.
As the employer you are monitoring my progress and come the first weeks end you decide to cut your losses and let me go.
I kick up a fuss and tell you to stuff the job and you will be hearing from me.
Well there ain't nothing I can do so either I get over it or move onto the next guy.
Well there are plenty of people out there looking to put there hands in your pockets but you either sew them shut and take no risks or you find god like employees who will never ever rip you off or deliver bad work.
Um I don't think that exists in any profession and its certainly not limited to skilled trades.
So to finish if you have any sense of judgement, these guys and gals are usually all about the money from the get go, so be concerned and what happened to having a soft interview to determine what they are like and references that are checked.
My father said the only reason he ever got ripped was when his back was turned or he was feeling slightly under the weather.
So in conclusion both the employer and the employee has to safe guard there interests and that should be done with both parties agreeing beforehand on how its going to work.
Cheers

welovepainting

Who wants to work for home builders anyways?

Wolverine-Eric

Things that require little effort hold little value.

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welovepainting

Nice quote I like that

Wolverine-Eric

I actually thought of that all by myself too!

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MarvinWilleyJr

I had a friend call me and said he needed help on a school he was doing for the builder. I worked 2 weeks and my buddy get a 500.00 advance and quits!

Leaves me there lookin like an idiot. I try to keep the job goin, but the last straw was when he wouldn't put off the ceiling guys for one day and at least let me roll the block walls with block filler where the track went. I tried to tell him the time it would save and he just blew me off, so I walked off.

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