First of all, when you walk up to someone's door, you want to look like you own your own painting business. You want to have your painters pants on and even your estimating tools. It's also good business to be clean shaven and neat in appearance.
Also having your own painting vehicle helps but it is not necessary when first starting out. When I first started painting I worked out of my beater Oldsmobile that was a big old boat. A 1979 98 Regency. People didn't seem to care or even notice what I drove. They just wanted painting done and my prices back then were cheaper which they loved.
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That's all you really have to do to get established is to look like you're ready to do some painting with your painter's pants on and some basic painting tools to get started with. You don't need any specialize literature or forms.
In time you'll have your own painting truck and and the most important part of all you will have some good quality referrals from satisfied customers. This is what will get you a lot of work plus instant credibility. Don't forget that you'll also get repeat business from your existing customers.
Some will like you to think that you need a lot of special paper work or forms to run a painting business. I basically use one special form and that is for estimating. I use this form to do commercial and residential painting. I like to keep it all simple.
Painting is just like any other small service business. You learn as you go. There are speed tips and tricks to the trade just like any other trade. There are painters that shouldn't be painters because their work is really bad.
One secret to a successful painting business is to develop a reliable painting business partnership and then do quality work for people together. You can work alone but there are many advantages to having a partner of two like turning your jobs faster.
If you enjoy your work you'll never work a day in your life. I remember looking forward to Monday mornings sitting in Sunday school before church. I could hardly wait to get started on Monday morning on that new project I just got a down payment on.
I love to paint I love doing restoration work and every day goes by super fast because I love what I do. There's is nothing that beats being self-employed. You don't have to worry about being laid off, you can make as much money as you dare to dream and there is no boundaries or ceilings on your abilities or opportunities.
There are a lot of great additional service to add to a painting business also like faux painting, window washing, drywall repair, bathtub refinishing, light carpentry work, etc. These can all be added on a little bit at a time if need be.
Again you'll instantly have credibility if you just look like you are a painter. You don't need a fancy paint truck in the beginning although it does help tool-wise. It will all fit together in time. Just a few basic tools and a desire to own your own business is the big issue here.
When I first started painting I did not know how to estimate. My first commercial job scared me to death and it was a simple job. One thing that really helps you to gain instant credibility is to have your confidence up. You can do this by knowing how to estimate your painting jobs.
I can go in and estimate an interior or exterior job in a relatively short period of time and I look like I know what I am doing. And when I walk away I have confidence and I know that I did a good painting estimate and that I will make money.
Getting all the techniques and tricks of the trade down is something you learn a little bit from each job. In time you will be able to master things like drywall repair, the fastest ways to get your prep work done, your own quick system for painting a room, painting windows and doors, etc.
Many people make starting a painting business look difficult because they get a case of what is called "detail-itis" (the failures disease). When a project comes along and I am uncertain how I am going to get it done I don't worry about it because the answers fall in place as I do the work.
Painting Business - How to Get Confidence and Credibility Quickly
Lee Cusano has operated his own successful painting business since 1991. He has also helped many others to start their own painting business with his "Paint Like a Pro Estimating and Advertising CD-ROM". Lee has a new site where you can get a lot of free tips and advice plus his painting course is available on almost every page. Please go here: http://www.betterpaintingtips.com
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