Meet Eric Barstow

You don't have to sacrifice a great life to build a great business.

Our founder, Eric Barstow, didn't set out to build a coaching company. He set out to avoid getting a real job.

In 2010, he started Foothills Painting in Fort Collins, Colorado. It doubled. Then doubled again. By 2012, Eric had spent eight years teaching painters how to build real businesses, and they were getting real results. So he opened it up to the world and Painting Business Pro was born.

VIEW THE PROGRAMS

The Lost Years

He didn't stop at one company. In 2014, he and his business partner, Ben, set out to build a whole portfolio of painting companies, fast. In 2015 they opened four. In 2016 they opened nine and closed eight of them by August. They worked themselves into the ground, made every mistake there was to make, and had almost nothing to show for it. Worse, the companies they already had suffered while they chased new ones.

So, in 2017, they stopped chasing. They slowed down and focused on building a few companies the right way. That was the turn. Everything that came after traces back to that decision: solve the right problem, in the right order, before you move to the next one.

A note from eric

You don’t have to choose between building a successful business and living a great life—you can have it all at once.

From day one, my motivation wasn't just about business. It was about building a life I could be proud of, and giving my family the kind of freedom and opportunity I had growing up. I wanted to be a great dad. That meant being home in the mornings, being home at night, taking weekends off, and actually living my life—not just working all the time.

WHAT WE’VE BUILT

We built this company on a promise: do honest work, keep family first, and never sacrifice the life we were building it for. We still run it that way.

Most painting contractors are extraordinary at their craft and underserved when it comes to the business side. Sales, marketing, hiring, systems, leadership—none of it is taught in trade school. Most owners learn it the hard way, if they learn it at all. We don't think that's how it has to be.

WATCH ERIC'S STORY

We believe the path from a one-truck operation to a multi-million-dollar company is teachable.

We believe a painting business should make great money, run on great systems, and give the owner a great life.

And we believe the owner you have to become along the way is the most valuable part of the journey.

Work with Painting Business Pro

We've been doing this longer than anyone. We've built our own painting companies, and we've helped thousands of others build theirs. Come discover what's possible.

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