[cps4540]

Hi everyone! I am a young buck with a couple years of painting experience under my belt. Last year I have recently started my own painting business CURRAN'S PAINTING SERVICE " we color inside the lines" I have been mainly doing residential but my dreams are to one day take it possibly to the commercial level and I would love to get connected with a general contractor who would love my work and keep throwing more work at me the problem is I know how to advertise and have been successful in the residential market but how can I take it that one step up? any advice from some experts would be great!

 

[JR Murphy]

Get your name out there! attend a trade show, find local contractors and set up a coffee meeting, hang out at the building supply store, etc. The important thing to accomplish after the initial contact is to provide them with value above and beyond what they are currently getting from their currents subs. What can you bring to the table? Write down a list of all the things you believe separate your company from the others. Insurance (do you have any?), Pricing, Cleanliness, Professionalism, Work experience, etc. this is your competitive advantage. If you can show (not sell) the contractors and property managers that you have the knowledge skills and abilities to complete the work, they will definitely allow you to start bidding on their projects. PM me if you have any other questions!

 

[cps4540]

thanks jr murphy

Thank you for the advice so your saying pretty much start keeping a portfolio so from here on out every time I do a job maybe ask them if I could use them for a reference? I'm not really sure how I can seperate myself though because painting is basically painting I know you mean to do a great job of course and pricing I try to be cheaper but If you go to cheap people dont take you seriously and you dont make any money so you hate doing the job lol and if your bid with the rest I guess thats were the years of experience kill me, maybe I was just meant for the residential game still good money but I want to go bigger, I was even thinking how would I go about finding how to get jobs in disaster areas like hurricane katrina? I know after floods or natural disasters there are probably tons of jobs that need done, but i will start keeping track of all my jobs and asking for references.

 

[Metro M & L]

Honeymoon will be over next year, imo.

 

[JR Murphy]

haha, I would not recommend pursuing natural disasters to be part of your painting revenue stream.

 

[JBM]

Have business cards made, dont order them from vista print. Have some yard signs made from someone who understands how to get a message across to someone while they are driving. Letter your truck or van. Always do a great job, never ever argue with anyone just fix it and move on. Be on time, always invoice for what the estimate is unless there is a discussion and agreement upon changes., be honest always, humble and work will come your way.

 

[LeeFowler]

I liked Shearer paintings facebook page, as a result of another thread here. I believe he was a member here. You should check our their page if you are interested in setting yourself apart. You will quickly realize it's not only possible to set yourself apart but paramount if you really do want to grow a solid company. They do a great job with marketing.

 

[THINKPAINTING]

Most GC"s have long term relationships with there subs but others will give ya a shot so long as your low bid. Commerical work is not paid right away can take 30-60-90 days after project is compete to get paid. In my area most GC"s are noted for burying subs it can be a real crap shoot finding a good one.

 

[huggytree]

I send fliers to GC's every 3-4 months...been doing it for 7 years now

they all call me eventually

hand address each envelope and put attention to whoever is in charge

I keep a database of every builder out there...I take notes on all of them.....find out who they are using for their painter...this may help you if 1 goes out of business...then you can look at your database and call all their builders

finding customers isn't easy...its a long process..its taken me years to build a great bunch of Gç's...you have to work your way through the bad ones to find the gold

my theory is eventually every GC will have a problem with their long term sub.....you need to keep sending fliers and keep putting your name in front of him....maybe he will give you a chance some day

 

[THINKPAINTING]

I liked Shearer paintings facebook page, as a result of another thread here. I believe he was a member here. You should check our their page if you are interested in setting yourself apart. You will quickly realize it's not only possible to set yourself apart but paramount if you really do want to grow a solid company. They do a great job with marketing.

John does do a great job of marketing...

 

[LeeFowler]

John does do a great job of marketing...

I was hoping you guys wouldn't take that as a dig against anyone else here. I see his post in my newsfeed all the time and think they are great. Some of our plans for training and marketing are taken from his post. I think he presents a very professional image.

 

[vividpainting]

Have business cards made, dont order them from vista print. Have some yard signs made from someone who understands how to get a message across to someone while they are driving. Letter your truck or van. Always do a great job, never ever argue with anyone just fix it and move on. Be on time, always invoice for what the estimate is unless there is a discussion and agreement upon changes., be honest always, humble and work will come your way.

This is good advice here. It sounds very basic but you will find many of your competitors are not following a few if not all of these steps. As Nick mentioned with a GC you are lucky to get paid monthly, so be sure to have a line of credit to pay those working for you.

 

[gastek]

Be on time,

Being on time, answering your phone, and letting your customers know if you are going to be late is great info. I hear all the time from customers about other companies they called and they either never answered their phone or even called the person back from their voice mail message. Or they tell me that they never showed up or they were three hours late to the appointment. Homeowners want to know you care about them. That's probably 50% of getting the job. Here in FL you would be surprised at the number of "contractors" never show up or even call people back. I'm sure its similar else where as well.

Just yesterday I was going to be 15 minutes late for an appointment and I called to let them know. When I got there they thanked me for calling to tell them and that meant a lot to them. It's the little things that can make a difference.

 

[kevjob]

Being on time, answering your phone, and letting your customers know if you are going to be late is great info. I hear all the time from customers about other companies they called and they either never answered their phone or even called the person back from their voice mail message. Or they tell me that they never showed up or they were three hours late to the appointment. Homeowners want to know you care about them. That's probably 50% of getting the job. Here in FL you would be surprised at the number of "contractors" never show up or even call people back. I'm sure its similar else where as well.

Just yesterday I was going to be 15 minutes late for an appointment and I called to let them know. When I got there they thanked me for calling to tell them and that meant a lot to them. It's the little things that can make a difference.

shhh... keep that on the low down.....:jester: