The painting business

The painting business

When you think of the painting business you think about the painters who are fly by night, the drinking and the horror stories you hear from your friends and some of those things are true to say the least.

But there are also great people in this industry who are business people, have great families and are awesome to be around so in this blog we will focus on that.

I have the luxury each day to be able to meet all types of people from all walks of life, small business owners, large facility managers, potential clients, and the great ones always stand out.

Just yesterday I was able to meet a former fireman/ crime scene investigator, I noticed his pictures on a shelf and asked and he was nice enough to share his stories with me and you could see him open up as soon as we began talking about it. I could have stayed there all day had I not had other estimates to get to.

New business owners

Last week I had the chance to talk with two painters who just started their own business and to see their excitement in that was awesome, I love to see other people who are inspired and striving hard towards a goal.

Typically I am fending of salespeople who others who are trying to get something from us but even there you have to realize they are just doing their job, it's similar to what we do while trying to find clients and salespeople are some of the best people to talk to, they always have great stories and I do appreciate their hustle, frankly, we are in the same business.

It's not you, it's them

The podcasts and blogs I am able to do I created just so I would be able to talk with people I am interested in and it has been simply awesome, each one has had a uniques story however they all related to one another. Every day remember we all have our goals, struggles, and successes and failures, yes you may run into the occasional nasty, grumpy person, the easiest way to push them aside is to feel sorry for them, they must be very sad to be so nasty to other people,l it's not you, it's them.

Appreciate your daily meetings

Take a moment to realize the great people you meet each day, have gratitude, talk to them, put your phone down and listen to their story. There are so many people that can bring value to your life just by opening up your ears and really listening

Proper planning of a painting project

Proper planning of jobs

Proper planning of a painting project takes the previous experience with all types of projects, a detailed written plan that was accepted by the client and reviewed with the painter.

When something seemingly goes wrong with any painting project you can usually go back to this plan or the expectations of the client being too high or not being met.

Be Home

On that initial estimate, this is why it is very important to be there as a client, this is your chance to explain in detail what you would like done and how you want it to look when it's completed.

You may say that every job should be done the same way be each company but that is just not the case, there are many levels of quality and ones to meet every budget, you wouldn't want to pay top of the line price and get a rental quality paint job and vice versa.

Let the professionals be

We sometimes have clients who feel they should be managing the project, we understand why they feel this way however they have no experience doing this or working with paint coatings, timelines, dry time, weather conditions and the list goes on and on.

It is always an issue when a client feel they need to be the project manager, it makes the painters uncomfortable, it delays the project because they have them jumping around doing things in order that we would not normally do, this is where added charges can occur. Let th professionals take care of the project, a project may not look good until the last day, remember any project is a work in progress until it's complete.

Even with all this planning things happen

Even with all the right planning, excitement of the project and all the best intentions mistakes do happen, no one can say they never have any issues with their work or home life, but the true character of anyone is correcting them, it sometimes amazes me people expect everything to be perfect, well I hate to tell everyone but we are just like you, not perfect. It's certainly possible someone drops something, spills paint, misses a spot, forgets something etc. Again judge at the final result, that is where everything will shine

I am the easiest client to deal with

I must be the easiest client to deal with because I simply let people do their job, no matter what they look like, what language they speak, how old they are I let them do their thing and i have been lucky to have great projects done at our home and met some awesome contractors.

yes I have had things go wrong, i didn't call up and yell and scream or fire off a nasty email, I asked how I could fix it myself and you know what they came right back out and corrected it without any questions.

Hint: Be Nice

Here is a great tip when working with a contractor: BE NICE

You would be surprised what you may get if your nice, you may get that small extra done with no charge, you may get your garbage cans brought in or the contractor going above and beyond in many other ways, but as soon as someone is nasty, demanding what do you think happens? That all stops and no one wants to interact with them, even the painters just want to get the job done and get out

Amato Painting Films With Benjamin Moore

Amato Painting films with Benjamin Moore

This week was a fun week, we filmed with Benjamin Moore discussing and applying their Notable dry erase product. 

It all started when someone from Benjamin Moore saw a YouTube video I did comparing Benjamin Moore's Notable dry erase against a competitor.  We all know I like to test out all the products that the company uses on our projects and dry erase was always one we just could not find a suitable product.

So I gave it one last try using a product from Benjamin Moore on a few walls in our office, immediately we knew this was a different product,it was easily applied, immediately two coats can be put on and the best part is it does what it says and erases over and over with no issues at all.

So I received a call from someone in the marketing department from Benjamin Moore asking if I would like to be part of a series of videos they are doing promoting Notable, as I already knew the quality and performance of it I was glad to be a part of it. So we set up the date, I secured a location to apply it and we were all set. 

On the day of filming a funny note, we all forgot the paint so Gleco Paint to the rescue, I called and luckily the area sales rep ran a kit right over.

Gina from Benjamin Moore, the film crew Tag from our office and myself were all involved.

Gina was so much fun, it felt like being at home with her cracking jokes about my instruction reading ability and the film crew was very accommodating and very nice to be around and of course professional.

As we forgot the paint we decided to start filming my interview first, that went great, I had no idea what the questions would be so it was an honest review of the product and other products I have used.

This took about an hour once we set up, did the interview and cleaned up and then it was on to the application of the Notable.

Tag took over here, mixing art A and B together for a few minutes making sure we followed the instruction sheet.

I had already visited the day before to prepare the wall and mask it out.

Once mixed and ready Tag rolled on two coats back to back, we let it dry just a bit and removed the paper. 

It does take 7 days for the product to cure before anyone can write on it, but once it's ready you have a very large surface to write and collaborate on. You would not be able to purchase a dry erase board for the price it would be for Notable. We all know how expensive those boards can be.

It was great to be involved in this project, meet Gina and the crew, we love to support great products and introduce them to our clients. We will have another blog as we have a visit to Benjamin Moore's headquarters next week to speak with their marketing team. Stay Tuned:

Your price is too high, too low and just right?

Your price is too high, too low and just right?

We hear it all the time, your price is too high, we also hear your price was the lowest as well as it was right in the middle? How can this be?

The simple answer is we estimate everything, for the most part, the same way with the same prices and known production rates so what is the one difference on each project? The client is the unknown on each estimate.

Why the gap?

Everyone has their own idea of what something will cost, when you go to buy a car and look at a new BMW vs a used car from another lot, of course, there is a price difference. When you go to a fancy restaurant vs a Tgi Friday's you are aware there will be a price difference, it's expected.

But when you hire any contractor you expect all the pricing to come in around the same amount?

What's the difference?

Unless each contractor is on the estimate at the same time, using the same paint and has spoken to the same person on the site you will not have a chance of getting the same pricing from the contractors and even then it will all be different as each contractor runs their business a completely different way.

• One may use all subcontractors and gamble they won't get caught by the Irs misclassifying their painters
• One may have insurance but no workman's compensation
• One may not have a training program for their employees and just gambles each job goes well
• Do they treat their employees well? Are they happy? One secret in the painting industry is painters are migrants, they go from company to company once they burn their bridges from the other companies or anytime they can make an extra dollar. This is one reason we take recruiting very seriously and don't necessarily look for the 10,20-year experienced painters.

So what's the deal

What I am saying is we one price someone thinks seems high may actually below to someone else and it has nothing to do with how much money they have.

We hear all the time our cabinet refinishing prices are high, however, we are doing 5 cabinet projects a week and are always busy. Not every contractor is for every person, the same as not every store in the mall is for everyone, some may shop at WalMart and be thrilled and others prefer Macy's. That doesn't make you cheap or snobby at all.

It's also not a reason to get angry at the contractor, if a contractor is a low baller and that is their business model so be it, on the other hand, if they charge a price for what they give and it is loaded with value a price can be attached to that and it may seem high upfront.

here is a video we recently did on this subject.