Why the primer you use really doesn’t matter

Brian Phillips

As a long time participant on various forums for painting contractors, there seems to be no shortage of questions and discussions regarding the right primer to use, the best caulk, or how much everyone is paying for paint. While technical issues certainly have some merit and can be helpful, they seldom matter in the long-term.

It is a statistical fact that 90% of small businesses fail within 5 years. Painting contractors don’t fail because of the primer they use or what they pay for a gallon of paint. They fail because they don’t know how to run a business.

Forgive me for being blunt, but the odds are that you will be out of business within 5 years. If I made a $100 bet with everyone reading this that they would close their business within 5 years, I would make a fair amount of money. And it’s a bet I would be willing to make, except it would be hard to collect.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The painting forums can be a great resource for technical issues. I occasionally run into something that is new, and being able to tap into the experience and knowledge of other members is incredibly helpful. But solving an occasional technical issue isn’t going to make or break my business.

However, if I don’t generate enough leads, I’m going to have serious problems. If I don’t sell jobs at the right price, I’m going to have serious problems. If I can’t manage my crews and run my office, I’m going to have serious problems. In other words, if I don’t take care of every piece of the puzzle, I won’t be around to worry about Mr. Smith’s door peeling.

I realize that each of us has different goals and defines success differently. But whatever your goals are, your business is the means to that end. And your business will not succeed if you don’t have a good handle on the business side of the operation. If you don’t market and sell you will be a statistic.

Building a business is not easy. Statistics prove it. But it can be done, and statistics prove that as well. Building a business requires focusing on the right things—business things. Things like marketing, sales, and administration. In the end, business isn’t about primer or caulk. It’s about business.

September 16th, 2010 | Tags: | Category: Systems | Comments are closed

Learn from the successful

Brian Phillips

It is often said that a smart man learns from his mistakes, while a wise man learns from the mistakes of others. I’d suggest that a truly wise man learns from the success of others. Mistakes only tell us what doesn’t work. Success tells us what does work.

It is inevitable that we will make mistakes. And certainly we should learn from them. We should also the experiences of others as a learning tool. But those experiences are both positive and negative—successful and not so successful. The positive is far more significant and powerful than the failures.

While there are multiple paths to success in a paint contracting company, there are far more roads that lead to failure. Identifying what doesn’t work is only a part of struggle. We are still left with many choices, many of which will not help our cause.

There are many ways to learn from other’s success. Reading biographies of successful businessmen is powerful and inspiring. Networking with successful contractors is another effective means. Perhaps the most effective is to have a mentor—someone who has been successful and will work with you one-on-one to address your specific problems and issues.

Climbing a mountain is hard work. It can be done alone, but the dangers increase. Taking a guide along for the journey helps us identify the dangers. And the chances for success increase tremendously.

August 24th, 2010 | Tags: | Category: Systems | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)

Considerations in a family business

Brian Phillips

Many paint contracting businesses are family affairs. This can add to the complexity of the business, as the lines between our personal and professional lives get blurred. Unfortunately, many such businesses do not have clearly defined roles for each family member and the business is operated like a democracy.

While input from family members can be a good thing, too many chefs can spoil the soup. If each person is adding a pinch of this and a pinch of that, you can wind up with a rather nasty tasting soup.

As Erin Duckhorn writes on the E-Myth blog,

If you tell a child one thing, and your spouse tells them another, how does the child know what they are supposed to do? Mixed messages lead to trouble. The same thing goes for an employee, and it’s especially important when the employee is reporting into a family situation. It’s vital to have a clear management structure so your employees know exactly who they report to and what’s expected of them.

A family business is no different from any other business, except that it can be more difficult to operate. A business should not be a democracy. Clear lines of responsibility should be drawn, as in any business.

Certainly, the emotions involved and the personal knowledge of family members can complicate matters. But family members must realize that when they enter the business door personal issues must be pushed aside. The success of the business demands it.

August 18th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: Systems | Comments are closed

Do you want to go to Disneyland?

Brian Phillips

I no longer recall where I first heard this: “If you want to go to Disneyland, would you prefer to talk to someone who has been there, or someone who hasn’t?” The point of the question does not refer to a theme park, but to any goal you might have. In other words, if you want to accomplish something, will you do better by talking with someone who has accomplished this goal or someone who hasn’t?

The answer, I think, is pretty clear. The person who has accomplished the goal knows what is required to accomplish it and can offer a great deal more advice than the person who hasn’t.

I frequently hear painting contractors claim that some idea is inherently bad and won’t work. Certain forms of advertising, such as yellow pages or door hangers, are often talked of in this fashion. Others may direct similar comments towards decorators or general contractors (I’ll admit a certain level of guilt to this).

Such comments imply that yellow page ads or door hangers are never a good investment, or that working with decorators or GCs is always a mistake. Such generalizations are seldom, if ever, true. For example, it may be true that few decorators have any clue regarding paint contracting, but that tells us nothing about a particular decorator. In other words, if something is true 99 times out of 100, we do not know if we are dealing with the rare exception until we get further information.

So what does this have to do with Disneyland, you might wonder. Comments such as “X never works” are simply an admission that X has never worked for the speaker. The speaker has never been to Disneyland, and from his perspective Disneyland is a mere fantasy. In effect, he is saying that you can’t go to Disneyland because he has never been there.

Most of us would recognize such a statement as silly. But when it is delivered with an air of authority it contains more power. And for those who are seeking the path to Disneyland, that authority can be convincing.

Admittedly, a lot of people have been to Disneyland, and there are many different paths that one can take. There is not necessarily a “right” way to travel, but there are certainly many paths that won’t get you close to Disneyland.

Only you can decide what goals to pursue. But many others can help you get there. No matter what form Disneyland takes for you, it is always best to talk to someone who has been there.

August 14th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: Systems | One comment - (Comments are closed)
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