Busy Or Making Money?

daArch

Just outa intererst, what's your city day rate ?

After advice from others hangers who work the city, I tell people $600/day for Boston, Cambridge & Brookilne, and no one bats an eye. Little different than out around 128.

But with all the hassles of city work, ya charge that.

-Bill

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Wallcovering Installations by Bill Archibald|paperhanger|Eastern Mass|Greater Boston Area|Dover|Wellesley|Franklin|Sharon|MA

Thewallfixer

I had this job the other day. Someone bought a house and wanted to get as much painted as possible in 2 days. So I got a buddy of mine(I am my only employee) to help and we painted a lot. The home owner also hired this other guy off craigslist. I read his ad, something like I am teacher I paint in my off time in the summer I charge $25 an hour. Dude showed up without a paint brush. I think the only thing he had was one "dropcloth" the one ply plastic kind that coverd half of the room I sent him in to paint. He alos had a real snotty attitude when I tried to give him a pointer or two, I couldn't help it I felt bad for the homeowner.

People do think they can paint. I feel bad for the homeowner, that teacher was slooooooooooooow, and not very good.

Luckily I am really good at repairing plaster and that's how I get most of my jobs so I don't ever have to worry about competing with clowns like this guy. But they are out there.

And on the other end are the guys on craigslist who advertise they will beat any price. Great, that's what we need, a race to the bottom.

The way I look at it plaster repair and painting are really diffcult, especially compared to most office jobs so I charge a lot and am continually busy, since last april I have two weeks off not by choice.

Thanks to Craigslist mostly.

Da Vinci

My suggestion? Market to the HIGH END neighborhoods. Every city has areas where the homes are way more expensive than the average.

IF you are good enough and are meticulous, neat, efficient, and knowledgeable, you can earn a great living by raising your rates and focusing on these areas. We all only have 40-50 hours a week to work (not including bids/paperwork), it takes the same time to work for wealthier clients as it does to work for those who can't afford anything but cheap.

There is also a "perception" when a painting company has just maybe one employee as opposed to a couple crews. The guy with crews says "established company", while the part time employee+painter looks like a guy who has a job.

I've noticed with my company, the more guys I have, the more referrals come in because people know I can get some guys on it right away. Does that make sense?

Bay Area Painting Company