Winter Slowdown

Paul Burns

Now that we have a shop in a year round warm climate (FL Keys) I feel it's my duty to let others know about it.

Growing up and operating a paint business in Northern VA for 25 years, I often wondered what it would be like if I had grown up in a year round warm climate and subsequently started a paint business in the same type of place.

So far, my advice to anyone that is wondering about making the move; Just Do It! I mean we are hardly even trying, and our business in FL has been on steady upward climb through the winter. We didn't even start marketing it until last hurricane season, and even then it was a half hearted attempt. Mostly because we did not want to grow very fast down there. I have been in VA since Wednesday, to help rev-up this business again this spring, and have at least 4 RFP's to go back to already in FL! Oh, and our closings are much easier and higher than VA.

It kind of ticks me off that I listened to other peoples advice in the last 10-15 years about starting in the FL Keys. Of course it was ultimately MY decision, so I really don't have anyone to blame besides myself, but why EVERY person that I asked told me "NO" or you "can't", about going down there is sort of strange. I mean I asked all of the so called "experts" as far as paint and other trade consultants that I could find go, and they all had the "Can't be done" type of advice. They were especially against the idea because of me wanting to be in the Keys. They said it was too small, and everyone knew each other, and they didn't like newcombers, and ..........

Lemme put it like this. If you could visualize our company in VA on a graph and watch it's growth rate year after year, it would look like an upside down bell curve almost EVERY winter. So, although every April might be 20% higher than the year before, we still had to go through the big dip every year from December through February, at least. And every fall when everything really got rolling well, we really couldn't enjoy it because we KNEW that the slowdown that starts in December was just around the corner.

But what happens if there is NOT an upside down bell curve that happens EVERY winter? What if you have a business that started on an uphill climb and almost never has an upside down bell curve in the graph of growth? That could be REAL good thing! So far, that is what is happening in FL. I don't know what will happen when hurricane and the hot weather hits down there, but I cannot imagine that the summertime graph will look anywhere near like it does for VA's winter's. I have afeeling that it might go flat for a while, but that is a BIG difference from falling by 25-50% in the winter months.

I know that winters can stay flat and even increase in the winter in VA. But that is usually the exception and the way it is for companies that do not care about growth. But if you care about growing 20% or so per year, your business almost HAS TO fall off in the winter time, simply because you cannot do exteriors in the winter, which is USUALY at least half of a residential repaint contractor's business.

I am not trying to brag or complain with this post. I am just trying to enlighten other painters or whoever, that it is more than possible to move to a warmer climate and get business going. So far, it is actually much EASIER than having to deal with 3 months of bad weather. So for anyone that has been sitting on the fence about trying something like that, my experience tells me to say, "go for it!"

Of course the ideal thing IMO is to find people to run your current business in the north, while you move south and start a new one. Double your pleasure!

I wish that I had of made this move 20 years ago. So if this helps one person to make up their mind, or at least hear some positive news about such things instead of a bunch of "Cant's", then I have done my good deed for the day.

Regards,
Paul

Mike Finley

Paul that's because people give advice based on their own abilities and sprinkle that with the more common trait of "People don't mind if you do well, just as long as it's not too well or at least not better then them."

I've experienced this sort of thing all my life, I constantly poll people about a subject I am investigating and compare the answers to what I know of the person giving them, their successes and failures in life, their personal standings (successfully married or on 4th divorce)... ect...

You're simply a victim of all this. Somebody like yourself who is way out in front of the majority of your peers runs into this problem all the time. You don't really have many peers on your level so you don't have a valid pool of people to get accurate information from.

I've found that most really successful people are as successful as they are because they have a different outlook then the herd, they look at things differently or have a twist in everything they do. The herd will ridicule or try to defend the status quo because it's the old - kill what you don't understand mentality.

I went through the same thing over 10 years ago, I lived on the dreary, depressing east coast for way too long and always dreamed of a better place. I can't tell you the number of close friends and family members who warned against leaving what I had. I had worked hard to build up a decent lifestyle, above aveage for how young I was and most people looked at me like I was a fool to think of risking what I had by moving away... I too look back and see how stupid I was to have listened to any of it and I also many times wonder how much even farther ahead I would be now if I had done it 20 years earlier instead of waiting so long.

slickshift

Glad you guys are happy
I for one like it here
I did go down to FLA for work last winter and enjoyed it
It was weird trying to rent a sprayer for exterior in Feb and being told they were all out! lol
In Feb!!!

I was considering going again this winter, but I ended up moving to a new place up here

If you do find an area dreary and depressing then by all means you should relocate

Don't let the fact that you worked hard to build a business in an area stop you
I'm running into that right now
I've got to start all over again
It's tough
Damn it's tough
But I've learned a little from before, so there's some traps/mistakes I'll stay clear of, and many things I've thought "If I could do it over again, I'd..."
Well, now I am

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Exroadog

Born in FL., lived there a couple times, (panhandle) dont like it. Not moving anywhere for business that i'm not happy!! I am offerring to paint a church for free though to hurricane damage and guess that is snow birding! My business is busiest in winter as most my clients live in Bermuda, FL. NJ. ect. Paint there second homes.

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AAPaint

I did the same thing, sorta. This was before I was a contractor myself, but I was living in Ohio right on Lake Erie. Talk about Erie when it's cold 6 months of the year, and winter stays around indefinitely with a foot of lake effect snow on the ground. I was born in Florida, and moved back about 6 years ago. Now, I'm happier than I've ever been. I chose where I want to live my life and have dug in and started making my own roots here. I don't get out and meet a lot of people, I have a good circle of friends, but I'm not mister popular. Regardless of all of this, I have still been able to build a decent business for myself on mostly word of mouth.

I say follow your heart. If there is somewhere in the world you want to be...GO THERE NOW. Don't wait for anyone. I picked up and moved us and our children on less than a shoestring budget which was not easy at all....and I'd do it twice more if it meant happiness.

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