Painting and Decorating business

rags_to_rich

Hi All

i have a full time job already in an office, but i would love to set my own business up as an extra, and if it took off in a few years i may do that as a full time job

i prefer manual labour, than using a computer, even tho im very good in an office, i prefer to be on my feet and grafting

im hoping to start with evening and weekend jobs to begin with

im enrolling on a painting and decorating course, that the local council also use and send there maintence staff on.
it teaches you everythink to know to work in this trade , ive done my research and they are very well known and reperable company

i know lot of people who get people in to decorate there homes and are happy to pay prices i wouldnt lol so i would like to capitalise in this

i was just wondering, if anyone can give me advise in setting a business up? or if you have any throughts about this and negative and positive thoughts, as i would like to hear , so i know ive covered them in my own head

ive looked on business link and ive look at designing business cards and flyers ect

comments and thoughts please people :T

steve1980

First rule. Spelling and grammar.

oldtoolie

In the distant past I did this. I worked for small contractors, large companies and for myself.

The course would be a good start. After that, the best would be a job with a professional painter decorator. Learn as much as you can in a year. Then you might be ready to go on your own.

What you might not learn in the course or on the job is the business and marketing side of things. How to promote yourself, how to advertise. How to manage customer relations. How to establish a business and keep the books. How to price and bid a job. Where to buy quality materials at reasonable prices.

It takes some investment for the tools. Ladders, high quality brushes, rollers and other handtools. Drop cloths -- lots of them. A vehicle to haul it around in.

Anyone can paint and decorate. But it takes skill to do it really fast and really clean. And you have to do that to make money.

Evening and weekend work might supplement your income but you will have to turn down bigger jobs. Customers generally want a painter to work fast due to the mess and disruption.

If you like it and catch on to the technical and the business side of things it can be good profession. No doubt in these harsh economic times there's lots of competition but if you know how to keep customers smiling you might succeed.

rags_to_rich

steve1980 wrote: »

First rule. Spelling and grammar.

yea cheers for that :T

rags_to_rich

oldtoolie wrote: »

In the distant past I did this. I worked for small contractors, large companies and for myself.

The course would be a good start. After that, the best would be a job with a professional painter decorator. Learn as much as you can in a year. Then you might be ready to go on your own.

What you might not learn in the course or on the job is the business and marketing side of things. How to promote yourself, how to advertise. How to manage customer relations. How to establish a business and keep the books. How to price and bid a job. Where to buy quality materials at reasonable prices.

It takes some investment for the tools. Ladders, high quality brushes, rollers and other handtools. Drop cloths -- lots of them. A vehicle to haul it around in.

Anyone can paint and decorate. But it takes skill to do it really fast and really clean. And you have to do that to make money.

Evening and weekend work might supplement your income but you will have to turn down bigger jobs. Customers generally want a painter to work fast due to the mess and disruption.

If you like it and catch on to the technical and the business side of things it can be good profession. No doubt in these harsh economic times there's lots of competition but if you know how to keep customers smiling you might succeed.

cheers for your advise hun

we have a van already, to carry all the stuff which helps as my partner has one for his tools
The course does teach you about the business side of things and how to market your self and the average prices to charge ect as well as the actual painting

with me working full time already, i wont be able to work with a profesional painter unfortunately
so after my course, im going to re do my house, my sister and my mums, so hopefully i will be able to improve and put what ive learnt into that, and then be ready to do the odd job ect, im not in a mega rush to make loads of money ( but would be nice) , i want to learn and make a business work....thats my aim :j

Slinky

When you get set up make certain you have insurance, and always ask the customer exactly what they want. One of my customers is a decorator, he told me he did a big job at a house which was being refurbished. There was a manky carpet in the room he was painting (which had a gap where the hearth for a fireplace had been, which no longer existed, so it was obvious they couldn't reuse the carpet). Before he painted the skirtings, he cut an inch off the carpet all the way round so the carpet wouldn't ruin the paintwork. The customer went ape. Claimed they were keeping the carpet, why had he done this without asking?

He knew he was being scammed, he told his insurance company the same thing, but they paid out anyway cos it was cheaper to pay rather than get involved in a fight.

He said the lesson he learned from this was never assume anything.

The cheeky customers invited him back to do other work for them. He declined.

rags_to_rich

Slinky wrote: »

When you get set up make certain you have insurance, and always ask the customer exactly what they want. One of my customers is a decorator, he told me he did a big job at a house which was being refurbished. There was a manky carpet in the room he was painting (which had a gap where the hearth for a fireplace had been, which no longer existed, so it was obvious they couldn't reuse the carpet). Before he painted the skirtings, he cut an inch off the carpet all the way round so the carpet wouldn't ruin the paintwork. The customer went ape. Claimed they were keeping the carpet, why had he done this without asking?

He knew he was being scammed, he told his insurance company the same thing, but they paid out anyway cos it was cheaper to pay rather than get involved in a fight.

He said the lesson he learned from this was never assume anything.

The cheeky customers invited him back to do other work for them. He declined.

wow, just shows you how funny people can be and how important it is to have insurance

i will definalty have insurance on my list to have in place , thankyou for your advise :A

jexygirl

Hi,
I would agree about the training and time in the buisness, and i would also be wary about how honest your family will truly be with you when you practice on them.
We have done lot of property "doing up" and selling at profit, i would not take it up as a paid profession for someone else - even when helping friends out, the pressure is more than in your own home.
People have really high expectations when paying an "expert". The things you accept in your own home or "put a plant in front of" doesnt work for paying customers. Getting gloss perfect with no orange peel is an art of several coats and sanding between, wallpaper bubbling or not "quite" perfectly aligned, slightly overlapped or whatever, a man on a galloping horse wouldn't notice, but a paying customer will. The paint drip down the coving or the not quite stained properly skirting because the masking tape wasnt properly done etc. You make mistakes and you learn for next time, but you cant do that with a paying customer, especially if you are hoping to build a good rep and buisness.
Time served in the buisness, is time well spent to learn the trade and help you profit longterm, because you will know the proper way to get the best results in the shortest time possible. That goes for pretty much any buisness imho.
And yep, insurance!
Jex

burtons

rags_to_rich wrote: »

im enrolling on a painting and decorating course, that the local council also use and send there maintence staff on.
it teaches you everythink to know to work in this trade

Don't come knocking on my door for work as i have seen the councils work and it's crap.

Pennywise

You have to decide whether you want to be quick/cheap or quality - you can't be both.

Larger firms/contractors, such as commercial buildings, new housing estates, social housing contracts, etc., just want a quick/cheap job to a reasonable standard - i.e. as little as they can get away with.

Householders will expect a better quality, and certainly better than they can do themselves, and should expect to pay more.

I've used 4 so-called "time served" or "qualified" decorators and only 1 has been given repeat work. The first 3 were not to a good standard at all. The wallpapering around corners was dire (I'd done a better job myself when I first moved in years ago!). They didn't bother taking light switches and sockets off the wall - just cut around them. There was no "straight line" between walls and ceilings. Worse though, even basic things like matching pieces of wallpaper was generally poor. The 4th I tried has been back 4 or 5 times now for repeat business of other rooms, exterior, etc., and is completely different - does the job properly but he does cost a little more - it's well worth it!

You have to decide what you want to do. If you want the domestic market, in order to get the valuable repeat business, you have to do a quality job for a reasonable price. If you have to do it too quickly and compromise on quality to be the lowest price, you'll not get repeat business. Whatever trade you're in, if you want the domestic market, it's repeats and referrals you need - that way you can charge a proper rate as people pay more for quality service. If you don't have the repeats, you'll have to compete by advertising in the papers, shop windows, leaflets, etc., and will have to be cheap to get the work because the customer doesn't know you and won't pay a premium for unknown quality.

david69_2

I seen both sides as working on sites and thinking I could do a better job than them and on the other side a friend of the family is a decorator and his paint finish is superb.
Like anything its all in the preparation poorly prepared means prepare to fail or something like that.