Confessions Of A Former College Pro Manager

pinesol

Hello everyone

I have been painting for 5 years now, it was kind of odd how i got into painting to begin with, through college pro. I went to my first year of university in ontario and thought the idea of owning my own painting business with college pro's help would be a great job as I had been working since I was 13 and eager to make enough money to pay for my education and all my expenses without having to take out student loans. I had a decent year, I painted about $60K worth of homes, (about 40 jobs) had a crew of 8 painters, found all my own jobs and employees etc.

I switched to being a painter for a friend of mine who was a manager the next year, I had just turned 19 the year I owned my business and did not enjoy all the stress at this point in my life. This was interesting because I knew more about my friends business than he did considering I was in his shoes the last year. I ended up leaving half way through the summer because I found greener pastures painting a 10million dollar cottage on a beautiful lake up north. I left university halfway through my 3rd year because I really wasn't enjoying what I was taking and have been painting full time with a large amount of construction on the side since then.

You are probably wondering when I will get to the confessions part?
I was told all this stuff with a straight face as truth, and since I left college pro, I can't believe all the things I had been missing or doing wrong. To be honest half the reason I've registered on this forum is to ask you guys questions about current projects I'm working on so I can improve my speed/techniques/product choices. So, some of the stuff I was taught by college pro:

1) It's ok to paint when it's spitting outside, or when it just stopped pouring. If the pavement is dry, you're good to go. Window sills have water pooled on them? Just wipe off with a rag.

2) All professional painters use a 3 inch brush for every situation. I can understand for the most part you want to try and use the biggest brush possible so you spend less time loading paint, but we didn't even have a smaller brush in the toolkit!

3) It's considered proper technique to apply your caulking and putty, put down the gun, pick up your brush and prime it (not even a minute has passed since the caulk left the tube)

4) Power tools are useless/gimicky or are too expensive for your crews. Oh jesus if I had known how much time a palm sander saved over hand sanding when the customer wants all the edges feathered out I would have bought one for everybody!!

5) I was taught how to paint a house about 2 weeks before starting my first job, with pretty good BASIC instruction but my god was I unprepared for all the things that would pop up during an exterior paint job. I was very displeased after the summer was over about all the little things that I was left to figure out on my own, while still being expected to fork over 21%.

6) There are a lot of good things that they taught me. How to clean a brush quickly, how to estimate how long a job will take, How to paint a house in an efficient manner (im thinking there are faster/better ways though)


So, I just finished painting a basement that a friend and I renovated, and landed a job to paint an entire 1800sqft house interior reno, the entire house was gutted and built again, so all new drywall and trim. I must say I'm nervous for this house job, as I'm doing it bymyself. Thank god for my Titan . I have so many questions, I'm not even sure where to begin!

I guess one thing I'm curious about is would you guys recommend applying to work for a REAL professional painting company for a while to learn about speed and technique properly? Would I have enough experience to not be a putty bitch for a few years? Or do you think I'm better off just working on my own?

Workaholic

Well it sounds like college pro taught you some bad habits, in this job you can be told and showed how to do things properly, but as far as you doing them properly it takes practice. As far as hiring on with another company if you are that slack right now i say go for it. Do you not normaly do interior work? The reason i ask is a 10 mil cottage job surely prepaired you enough for a 1800 sqft interior job.
So how much experience do you really have? If you have five years then you should'nt wind up as a putty slave. You should be able to do most things that painters do. Is your 5 years off and on? If i hire a painter with 5 years i would feel i was getting ripped off using him only to fill holes, i would try you out doing mutiple tasks to see what skill level you are.
Your confidence level must be down right now a 5 year painter should be able to do it on their own.

__________________
Sean

KellyPainting

There are only 2 ways to learn.

I think my way was the best....


I started painting in High school... for a few company's.... mostly new construction. Thought I knew it all.

After graduation I moved to the beach (Misquamicut R.I) and painted there
mostly beach houses... had an old timer foreman. Thought I knew everything.

From there I painted for a number of company's.... but while living in Conn. I was introduced to a guy with a large company. Began working for him doing high end residential. Leaned even more..... but still I thought I new everything...

Now my second year on my own... still haven't advertized.. And am booked a few months in advance... I still go to sleep sometimes thinking I know allot.

Then I wake up, go to work and learn something again.



The moral is that I wouldn't change the way I learned for anything.... some of the old timers taught me stuff you would have never learned today... But as every day goes by... I still learn stuff... sometimes over and over again until
I get it right.... kinda like life I guess.... I wish you the best... and ask us whatever.. I too have learned allot from here... just don't take it personal when we have a little fun... were only painters ya know..lol

Da Vinci

Blow and go companies are not designed for quality so you have a lot of bad habits to unlearn. But you have some business sense and the basics, that's a good start.

You need to determine what market share you're going after. If you want to go after high end- you got lots to learn...

If you want to go after volume repaints you can use some of your production methods and combine it with some quality prep and produce a good product at competitive rates- uuh, just don't paint right after rain, use a bloody sander, and let caulk set up before painting, or it will shrink on you...

Good luck!
Bay Area Painting Company

MarvinWilleyJr

I think I got lucky, if you can call learning to paint lucky......

Got a job thru a friend in a Union, and learned from the ground up. As a go'fer, a prep beatch, all the crap jobs. But it teaches you alot.

Then after painting for a year or so on industrial, I got an assignment on a big project where I was a helper for a spray man. A month into that he had showed me how to do his job and found me a helper.......so he could screw the pooch all day while I did his job. Another month in the big boss comes by and watches me spray a few units.....then calls me outside. He asks where the other guy was, and then tells me I have his job now and his pay. So I go from 11.00 to 17.00.......and he tells me if ya screw up your fired. Then I never looked backed!

You have to have an open mind for learning things, cause I don't care how long ya painted........you can never know it all!

__________________
A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.

jtomin

It is great that you have chosen to continue in the painting industry. I was a college pro franchisee for 4 years, then became a general manager for CPP. I feel that I learned a lot about the business side of the industry but lacked the knowledge on how to paint houses. I think that the education of the business side that cpp provides is great. For the technical side I would recommend learning more on the trade side of house painting. Basically they teach most of the necessary aspect of how to paint a house but leave the details to the franchisee to learn on their own. If I can help you in any way let me know, I currently own a painting business with 7 full time painters and an annual revenue of over 400K per year.

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Summit Painting LLC
http://www.summitpdx.com

Any Season

I too was a CPP franchisee for a few years. I passed up the opportunity to be a GM in two different regions bc I saw a couple of good friends get bigtime screwed by them at the corporate level. The training in actual painting is everything that has already been outlined...not much. The business training however, is something I think gives someone with no experience a leg up on many 'veteran' painting contractors. I still go up against 'reputable' and 'experienced' painters whose proposals are laughable, jobsites are a mess, have no technical/computer skills, and most importantly, HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ANY OF THEIR COSTS ARE. College Pro does a good job of pounding into your head knowing your overhead costs inside and out so you can charge properly. Also, they have been around for almost 30 years, so they have perfected estimating and do a very good job training their franchisees. Then to the marketing. The marketing training is priceless, especially in this economy when alot of people aren't busy or are wasting dollars on advertising avenues that net very little sales.

I agree that I would not be where I am had I not had painting experience before I did college pro, but I do get a kick out the guys that talk **** bc I would put a 3rd or 4th year College Pro franchisee up against most residential contractors any day of the week.

jtomin

Any seasons I completly agree with your post. CPP is a great learning experience if the zee takes it as that. It is unfortunately sold to college students as a money making experience which it really is not. The point you have made that a ex CPP person compared to a seasoned painter in the eyes of a consumer is right on. The strategic advantage that CPP teaches their franchisees is running a professional business in an unprofessional industry (which is my tag line now). Good luck with your business!

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Summit Painting LLC
http://www.summitpdx.com

Clev Contractor

I'm considering purchasing a paint sprayer however I am not sure if I should purchase a Graco paint sprayer or a Titan paint sprayer. Anyone have any suggestions?


Thank you.

CaptainAmerica

I started going to work with my grandfather painting houses at 4 yr old. I started professionally at around 14. I have my own business, and my jobs are alway's 100% topnotch in the cleanliness dpt, and everything is done 100% proffessionaly. I found this site yesterday, and it's pretty cool...

But I have never heard of and have no idea what "College Pro" is.

George Z

College Pro is low wage slave drivers, hiring young kids to work in dangerous situations (Safety program? very funny!)
for some fun in the sun (sunscreen not included)
At the same time downgrading our trade and business into convincing
consumers, they are helping students pay their tuition.
You can help a McDonalds kid pay her tuition too!

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Any Season

George,

Haven't we already been here before?

George Z

We have and it's cool,
it just feels good to vent

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Steve Richards

George is a sh*t stirrer.

But that's why we love him.

MakDeco

I couldn't agree with you any more George and couldn't say it any better...

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MAK Deco