Starting a Painting Business In a Bad Economy

Starting a painting business in a bad economy can be done. Lets face it folks it will require effort and serious planning. This article will discuss what efforts you will need to put forth to start and run a successful painting business.

Just a couple of years ago you could place an ad in the newspaper and off you go the clients poured in, this is no longer so. To start a painting business in a bad economy is going to require much more effort and tactical thinking to get clients knocking on your door. The good news is there are clients out there that need painting. However, they know this is a bad economy which poses another issue. Clients looking to get painting done will get multiple estimates and will choose the ones with the lowest estimates. Competition among Painting contractors and competitive painting estimates and pricing will also be briefly covered in this article.

You have purchased all your equipment that you will need and obtained the proper licensing and insurances for your Paint contacting business, placed two ads and you are now ready to go. A month has gone by and your phone is quiet, you have recieved one call for an estimate on painting the entire inside of a house. You do the estimate and the potential client has called you back to thank you for the estimate, unfortunately they have chosen someone else that had a much lower price and did not want to call you to ask if you would lower your price because your price was so much higher than the other estimate. The talk of a bad economy is everywhere and you are becoming discouraged and wonder why you decided to start a painting business in a bad economy.

Yes a few years ago there would be so many calls on the phone that you could not physically return every call and book estimates for all of them. Clients would have trouble getting someone to come do an estimate let alone the job so when they received a price they would jump on it whatever the price was.

Just because the economy is bad does not mean you cannot increase your phone calls and secure painting contracts in a bad economy. We just need to take some different approaches to get clients to call and accept our painting contract prices.

We need to increase calls for estimates if our painting business is going to succeed. There are a number of ways to do this.


Advertising

The most obvious is advertising - You need to research what is available to you as far as advertising is concerned. When researching advertising you must keep in mind your budget and the target market you are trying to reach. When keeping budget in mind there will be decisions to make such as one ad for one month that covers an entire page or a smaller ad that runs for a year.

Here is what is known about advertising. You need to brand yourself so you are recognizable and seen often. When an individual decides they need painting there are a couple of things they will do to start looking for a painting contractor. They will go to friends family and coworkers for a referral first, look in the newspapers or local home improvement monthly magazine that sits in stores (not all towns have these), or jot down a number from a sign out front of a house that has been recently painted. Not all folks can get a referral or see a sign and must rely on an ad of some sort or may want more estimates and will draw from multiple sources.

In the beginning we are stuck with advertising. I feel when it comes to advertising that yes you need to be seen but you will be seen if you are consistent in multiple areas of advertising. I believe it is better to spread yourself about than to get one big ad. Place your Painting truck or vehicle with your branded company name and logo on it where it can be seen a lot. Get some signs made up and see if friends and family will allow you to place them in their front lawns. Advertise in multiple places such as newspapers ( get your branded logo in the ad as the least smallest and not just a classified), home improvement magazines (the local ones they have in the supermarkets), place mats, local mailers an so on. Try to be seen as much as possible everywhere you can and consistently. This will help increase your chances of a potential client to call YOU and give your Painting Business an edge in a bad economy.


Networking

Networking is a powerful tool in promoting your painting business in a bad economy. Not all individuals are good at networking or just do not know how. You need to practice chatting with other individuals. The best thing to do to do this is by placing yourself in a position where there are many people to chat with. If you belong to a church then start getting invilved with your church or other place of worship. Volunteering to help out is one way to get involved, but once you begin to get involved everyone will begin to get to know you and will be coming up to you to chat. Everyone will know who you are and that you are a painting contractor. Should they need painting they will come to you or they may refer you to others they know that need painting. Be consistent with getting involved with your church or other place of worship.

Looking for other volunteering opportunities is also a good idea as well. Getting involved with your community will help your business grow, it just works.

There is one last tool I would like to mention that will enhance your business. It is also very powerful and will definitely bring you clients.

Local Business Re feral Marketing Groups

These groups recruit a couple of individuals from each profession category such as lawyers, plumbers, dentists, carpenters and so on. These groups have a small nominal membership fee and usually have weekly or biweekly meetings. The members strive to hand out as many referrals as they can for the week This means your business card will be handed out regularly and targeted to folks who really need your services. That is very powerful because referrals have more weight than someone who is in a newspaper ad ( of course your pricing must be correct to).

With these tools implemented you WILL receive plenty of calls looking for your services. Now you must deal with competitive pricing. In a bad economy people will be seeking the lowest price and everyone has lowered their pricing all around except material. I used to charge a daily rate of 350 to 400 dollars, now it is 250 to 300. Other painters may divuldge thier daily rate if you ask. Just keep yourself in range. I also tell the client that no matter how many bids they get and whatever the prices are to please give me a call I may adjust my price.

With all these tools you should be able to start a painting business in a bad economy. Good Luck!

Green Home Design - Paint

Paint is leading the expansion of the green home design building movement. Manufactures are being forced to produce paints with less dangerous and smog-producing compounds as regulations become tighter, increases in consumer demand for eco-friendly products and pressure mounting from environmental groups who closely monitor the green home design building movement.

Not everyone is happy about the changes paint manufacturers have had to make over the past few years towards the green home design movement. Many designers, painters and consumers who are for the green home design movement are becoming worried about increasing restrictions on oil-based paints (which contain high levels of harmful volatile organic compounds), and even on less hazardous water-based latex paints.

Some are arguing that with current products moving towards the green home design building movement it is impossible to replicate the integrity of an oil-based paint especially for the use on cabinetry, trim and other specialty jobs. In addition, painting walls and ceilings can require additional applications of the newer paints made with low volatile organic compounds or V.O.C. 's than the traditional latex blends.

VOLATILE organic compounds, or V.O.C.’s, are gases emitted by products like paint, lacquer, cleaning supplies and pesticides.

Over the past decade, many regulations have been enacted by the state and federally to reduce V.O.C.'s that are in paint and other products as part of a movement towards green home design. Federal V.O.C. limitations are 250 grams per liter for flat finishes and 380 grams for other finishes such as semi-gloss. An advisory group created under the Clean Air Act of 1990 (The Ozone Transport Commission), has recommendations limiting V.O.C.'s even further to 100 grams per liter for flat paint and 150 for other finishes. States that are in the process of adopting these limits or already have are: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Southern California has the most stringent rules in the country in which the South Coast Air Quality Management District requires all paints sold to contain less than 50 grams of V.O.C.'s per Liter. Many of today's new paints on the market have already been manufactured to comply with this so that they will not have to reformulate their products in the future as the regulations change and the movement towards green home design grows. Meeting these standards are Benjamin Moore's Aura, Home depot's Freshaire Choice and Sherwin-William's Harmony. Some other companies like Yolo Colorhouse and AFM Safecoat produce only low or "zero" V.O.C. paints.

Green Seal a nonprofit environmental organization are the ones who certify products as eco-friendly. They have listed 21 brands that have passed their environmental saftey and performance tests. Coming in third is Benjamin Moore's Aura with Sherwin-William's zero V.O.C. line Harmony, did not hold up to the performance test well along with several other brands. As the movement towards green home design continues to grow products through research will eventual increase their integrity and become standard among building products.

Curb Painting Business

A curb painting business is extremely lucrative and easy to start business that can make money fast. What might you be painting a curb for, you may ask yourself. Well, in many places people have their house number painted on the curb which is a necessity. This type of business requires only a small investment that anyone can afford. It is also extremely easy to learn. At a hundred dollars a pop you could be making very good money curb painting.

In order to start your business you will need some materials to start with. You will need stencils to produce the numbers on the curb along with the proper paint. You will want your numbers to be highly reflective so that night time viewing is possible. This will be your catch! Most numbers are painted cannot be seen at night. You will have a much better response for work if you do something or provide something most others are not. So when thinking of starting this type of opportunity you must make sure you have the correct materials.

Now in order to make money people will have to know you exist. You need to get the word out. You will need to make up some flyers and get them out there. Advertising in cheap places is also good just keep your advertising to a minimum. You can easily make around 200 to 300 per day with this opportunity. In areas that folks have their house number on the curb it is necessary for them to have it so there is a lot of potential for money here. You may also use internet advertising to spread the word of your business.

Good luck with this extremely low investment business opportunity that anyone can start. Curb painting is becoming evermore popular. You may want to also remove fading numbers as well for even more money. Just have fun curb painting and make some dollars. I would love to here from those that have done this and are making money!

Painting Business Property Insurance for Equipment

When getting general liability insurance for your painting business you may want to consider insuring your equipment by purchasing extra Painting Business Property Insurance Equipment you may own. Typically your home insurance may cover the equipment up to 3,000 dollars, so if you have more than that you should look into getting the extra Painting Business property insurance for equipment when you are away from home with your equipment.

You may ask yourself, “Should I get insurance to cover my painting equipment?”. The answer is; Yes! It would not cost too much more for having Painting Business Property Insurance for equipment. Ladders, sprayers, power washers and tools can run thousands of dollars and to have them stolen or destroyed could be very costly.


The premium is usually calculated per 100 dollars of equipment, but at a low amount. What if you were on the job and a fire broke out burning the house and your equipment to the ground. You would be out of luck if you did not have painting business property insurance. There are so many things that can happen. You should also have commercial insurance on the vehicle that you are using for business. Checking with various agents and insurance companies I am sure you will find a reasonably decent quote for your painting business property insurance.

Once you have found a few good quotes it is very important to read the document and understand all that is covered. You may find subtle differences between the policies. You must decide which is more important or which fits your needs closer. Once you have done that you will then compare the premiums and choose the one you like best.

You should have many local agencies in your area that you can get quotes from. Usually it will be the larger well known companies that will have larger quotes and more stringent rules. The larger companies will also make it difficult for the new business owners to get coverage by having strict qualifying rules that you will need to comply with. You will probably be better off finding a broker.

Never make an uninformed decision when getting insurance, and do not allow the agent to push you into making a quick decision either. Take your time and really investigate all the policies for what and how much each specific category covers. Good luck in getting your painting business property insurance for equipment.

Wood Deck Maintenance Tips

Wood deck maintenance tips does fall under interior painting for the fact that some decks have enclosures leading to exterior parts of the home. For this reason I will publish this article. You may head over to Exterior Home Painting blog to read more about Wood Deck Maintenance

• Mill Glaze – Is when the surface of the wood is new and has a sheen on the surface from the mill that hiders penetration of stain A shiny surface on the wood which comes from the mill when the wood is cut.

• Stripping a Wood Deck- This when you remove any old finish that is on the surface of a wood deck. Best done by sanding but can also be done with or without chemical solutions but with a pressure washer.

• Sanding a Wood Deck - This is done with a comercial sander and it completely strips the deck of it's finish. When sanding a wood deck you should not use any wood brighteners or chemical cleaning solutions.

• Power Washing After Sanding - Once the wood deck has been sanded you will need to wash the deck off with a pressure washer that is 1000-1200 psi, a wide 40 degree spray nozzle, and the nozzle should be held at least 12 inches from the surface.

• Power Washing with Brighteners and Cleaners - This is where wood brighteners and cleaning solutions are used to clean the deck. The chemicals will strip most stains but will not strip solid stains or paint, for that you will need do sanding. A power washer between 1500-1800 psi will work and a 25 degree spray nozzle held at 12 inches from the surface will work.

• Power Washing without Brighteners or Cleaners - a strong pressure washer between 2000 and 2500 psi and a spray nozzle of 15 to 25 degrees held at about 8 to 10 inches from the surface of the wood should work. There may need to be some sanding and then a repeated wash. You must be careful with this method because you can easily damage the wood.