Every Painting business has one of four problems, they may switch throughout time and at times multiple problems may be occurring, but there is always one of four problems halting the growth of the business.
The goal of any painting business is to grow productively while increasing profit, as any painting contractor knows this is not an easy task and requires daily effort. However, sometimes from the inside of the business it can become confusing or unclear why the business is not growing at all or as fast as we would like it to. Always, and every single time, it can be pointed towards one of four problems. Marketing, Sales, Production, or HR.
Marketing:
Every other aspect of the business becomes completely irrelevant if you have nobody calling you regarding work. Your systems can be perfect and you can be a top salesman/saleswoman but if nobody’s calling you to sell to them, I can guarantee you will not sell anything. So a simple solution, address your marketing. Marketing does not only encompass the traditional thoughts of marketing Ex. Magazine ads, Billboards, etc., Marketing encompasses the full brand of your business. What do people think when they see your trucks/vans, what do people think when they see your employees pull up to a job site? Are they clean? Are they professional? Your brand is what you leave in the customer and potential customers eye, It’s how you gain respect and most importantly word-of-mouth business. So yes, marketing encompasses brand, your business must have an established brand. But marketing also encompasses every way in which the word of your business is put out to the public. So assess your business, how is the name of your business put out to the public? And once it is out to the public, what does it look like and how does it establish you?
Sales:
Every other aspect of your business becomes completely irrelevant if you cannot close on a job. What systems do you have in place for selling? The sales process and Painting business is just the same as the sales process in any other business. You have to excite the buyer, demonstrate why you are the right choice, And then continue to keep the buyer excited until they put a down payment down for the work. Many contractors make the mistake of showing up to sell Job friendly and exciting the client, but then when they leave the house, they send over a horrible estimate 48 hours later and don’t even follow up. When I say “horrible estimate”, I don’t mean a poorly priced estimate, I mean an estimate which is boring and unexciting. Your estimate should re-excite the buyer, re-remind them why you are the right choice, and easily allow them to submit a down payment. If you don’t hear back from the buyer right away, always follow up. Don’t follow up once, but follow up in progressively larger time periods until you get a sale from that lead.
Production and HR:
The next two problems that could be going on in your business are far less common however, either one can deeply inhibit growth. Once you have a lead and you close that lead, the next step, of course, is to complete the work. Most painting contractors, do not struggle with completing the work and completing the work to a decent quality, but the problem comes with scaling. If you do not have systems in place for the production throughout the business, as you become more busy, then you cannot grow. So assess what systems are in your business, what automations and rules are put in place so that everything from the accounting side to the materials management side is accounted for and easily accessible. The final of the four problems that could be inhibiting growth, Is HR management. Tightly related to production, however, distinctly separate, HR management is the management of your teams. As mentioned prior, most painting contractors know how to do a decent job, but with scale comes the acquisition and management of teams. You cannot grow your business without trustworthy teams, whom you can depend on and provide your business with further word-of-mouth leads.
Every painting business has one of these problems inhibiting their growth. It is possible to have multiple, but impossible to have zero. So assess your business and tackle the main problems head on. At Precision Painting Advisors, we understand and specialize in each of these four areas. We offer Free Business Checkups to dive into your business with you and find out where you have room to grow!