During our time in the painting industry, we’ve encountered hundreds of business owners that want to know the secrets behind building a million-dollar painting company by growing a painting business. So we decided to sit down and figure out the general business characteristics that made the greatest impact on our ability to grow up to & beyond a million dollars in annual painting revenue.
On paper, going from zero to a million dollars seems impossible. However, when we boiled down our business model, we found that we can factor out 3 major components that set us apart from the bulk of the competition.
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The benefits that come as a result of building a professional painting business are some of the most understated in the industry. We say understated rather than underrated because those who capitalize from professional business practices know, very well, just how valuable they are. Fortunately, for business owners such as yourselves, this equates to an easy method with which to gain a leg up over the competition.
But what really separates a professional painting business from the standard?
We broke it down into 3 categories:
The first two can seem exactly the same, and “following through” can be ambiguous and confusing to some.
So we’ll explain further.
“How you appear” refers to the physical, outward appearance of your employees. While you don’t want to bother sending your paint estimators to a house in a suit & a tie, your business would absolutely benefit from them being dressed in clean slacks & a polo shirt.
Establishing yourself as a clean & professional on the outside is one of the easiest ways to separate yourself from the competition.
How you represent your company is an X-factor that comes through in a variety of ways during client interactions. These can include how detailed your contract forms are, as well as how thoroughly your sales reps know the products & services your company offers.
The manner in which you “follow-through” boils down to how jobs are handled. It’s one thing to send a paint crew out to work a job, it’s another to have a highly trained production manager that handles every step of the process. This includes following up with the customer to ensure they’re satisfied with the work your company performed, as well as addressing any complaints they may have in a courteous, professional manner.
Anyone who is ambitious enough to build a million-dollar painting company, undoubtedly, understands the importance of ongoing education. Entrepreneurship is dynamic, customers are dynamic, even this industry changes over time.
As such, personal growth and development is 100% necessary in order to keep growing year after year. Furthermore, you’d be surprised by how many improvements can be made, in your business, with regular trainings & accountability checkups.
To illustrate this point, we’ll use one of our own painting companies. If we only take into account our local painting business, we hold meetings every Monday. During these meetings, we review productivity reports from the previous week, propose new strategies or how to tweak old strategies to yield better results, as well as discuss changes in business practices.
These meetings are crucial to setting our team members up for success on the job. What we gain, as a company, is an opportunity to guide less experienced members through difficult topics, in addition to gaining feedback on how we run our business.
We create a safe environment for everyone to speak their minds, and we encourage a candid discussion regarding the struggles each team member is facing. Team members leave each meeting with plans to help them reach their goals, as well as constructive criticism on their current performance.
Using these, we are always able to keep track of where we are as a company, and we ensure that our team has the tools they need to succeed.
It’s important to note, that these meetings are never used to break team members down. Providing constructive feedback strengthens everyone in the room. Not just the recipient. While destructive feedback creates barriers for your team members to grow, and discourages them from being open about what they are currently struggling with.
Your average Joe businessman probably doesn’t like to take the time to consider missed opportunities. In fact, most small businessmen don’t even realize that they’re leaving money on the table at all. However, analyzing just this ONE thing could tack on several hundred thousands of dollars worth of painting revenue.
“What is this one thing” you ask?
It’s simple: Repeat business.
Some of you may be thinking… why should I care about repeat business? There are houses that need to be painted right now.
Well, think about it.
Let’s say you, as a startup painting company, book 1 job a week. You have one team of painters, and they can produce one job a week. For simplicity sake, we’ll say that you book interior jobs through the winter, and your team takes only 2 weeks off the entire year. That’s 50 jobs EACH YEAR. Now let’s assume that 100% of your customers are 100% satisfied with the work performed.
And they leave a 5-star review.
Statistics show that people repaint their homes once every 7-10 years.
What are the odds that they’ll call your company up right at the 7 year mark?
Fun fact: the odds are not in your favor.
Fact is, people forget. They have short-term memories, and little to no voluntary brand loyalty. In the end, that’s money they spent on a task to be performed. They’re not going to voluntarily seek you out to pay you another large sum, just to have the job done again.
Given how information is disbursed, today, they’ll likely do a Google search of “Best painting companies near me” (or something like that). And fact is, they’re going to go with whichever painting company seems to fit their needs at the time.
BUT!!!
If you keep a system in place that allows you to track customers (this kind of accounting software is available), you can preemptively contact previous customers and ask for their business again. Bring up the positive experience they had last time, and all of a sudden you become a sure-fire bet.
So, even if you’re STILL only booking 1 job/week (after 7 years of being in business), if you begin to proactively seek out repeat customers, you can dramatically increase your annual revenue stream.
Following these three steps are sure-fire bets on building a million-dollar painting company. But, they’re only a piece of the puzzle. For more free business training, follow the links below, and you’ll be well on your way to building the painting company of your dreams!
Want to learn more on building a million-dollar painting business? Check out our course by following this link. We’ve helped over 1000 painting business owners build & grow their million-dollar painting company… and we’re only getting started!
We want you to be our next Painting Business Pro
Christiaana, our member success manager, will schedule a kick off call with you to make a custom game plan to get further faster.
With this business plan, you’ll see the gaps in your business and know exactly what steps to take and how to utilize the program.
We’ll give specific-to-you feedback on your business plan so you can get the most out of the training, on demand coaching, and community.
We have multiple webinars every month. Submit topics and show up to get 1:1 coaching. This alone will pay for your program if you use it.
Check in, ask questions, get support, reply to our check-in emails and you’ll get the results you’re looking for.
We have an amazing community of people. This group will inspire you, contribute to you, and help you be better. Use it for questions or help.
If you’re committed to using this program to build a business people love and gives you the lifestyle you want, we’re here for you. If you follow the steps above and don’t get a return, you can cancel your membership for a full refund. Guaranteed.
