photo credit: Steffens-Colmer Studio; Vancouver Archives
Painting is a good way to make an honest living, especially so if you have your own business. You learn all sorts of real world skills that help you create value for your clients and your family. When it's hot, you work indoors or in the shade. When it's cold, you work inside. There is plenty of work available and there is no danger of the trade becoming obsolete anytime soon. The barrier to entry is quote low, as you don't need a lot of tools and equipment, nor do you need much schooling and ticketing. And the sky is the limit if you want to grow your business. The main problem with painting is that it can consume your two greatest assets. Assets that are far more valuable than mere dollars. If you let it, painting will soak up most of your time and the best of your health. It may come for your family too. Once these critical assets to your well being are gone, they are irreplaceable. The moment you stop applying liquified colour with a fuzzy-tipped stick, that's the moment you stop making a nickel...
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WHY: PROFITING FROM THE RIGHT APPROACH
This week I met a new colleague, a fellow painter and business owner. He mentioned that he has been busy working 7 days/week in order to catch up on work prior to an upcoming family vacation. He is midstream on a small housing development of 10 homes that is progressing quickly. His phone is ringing with more work from the install department of a big box retailer. He was in the paint store at dinner time waiting for colour matches for the next day so he could keep his crew of seven guys running steady and keep the client's project moving forward. Then he said it... 'I've got 3 estimates waiting for me when I get home.' Boy do I know that feeling. There goes the rest of his evening. A whole day dedicated to his painting business. A whole week. A whole month... I've had a love, hate, love relationship with estimates... If you operate your micro contracting business as a sole-proprietor or a partner in a partnership, one challenge you might face is remitting your personal income taxes in a timely manner.
One of the most effective business strategies was gifted to me about five years ago by a close friend who operated several micro businesses. It is an extremely simple solution, but very powerful. Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth says: 'the system is the solution'. This system might work as well for you as it has for me... So a few years ago I took my daughter to see a particular show that was on tour. One of the take-aways for her was the chorus to one of the songs. She would sing that line for months afterward. I think she may have actually learned something pretty important that day.
Around that time I learned the same lesson, but I came to it from a different route. The summer lake house had about 4 feet of water in it... Today is moving day.
10 years after starting my painting business it was time to sell it and move on to another opportunity. Change is complicated, both emotionally and logistically. And it got me thinking about how things like moving away or starting a new business require you to be 'all in', because everything is about to change. There is a sink or swim urgency that awakens your senses and forces you to rise to the challenge. Feels like the opposite of being in a rut. But it requires a lot of dedication and hard work. Lots of hard work. It's almost always easier to avoid change and see it is a threat. What does this have to do with you?... As an entrepreneur, you will enter into negotiations on a regular basis with suppliers, employees, prospects or clients.
There are times people just need you to go the extra mile in order to keep a project moving forward toward the goal. It's OK to trust your gut and make someone happy, making an investment in goodwill. Other times, people may be out to squeeze the profit out of you, or pressure you to meet unreasonable expectations. Their demands are a way of gaining control of the transaction and taking your power away. This is a critical stage in a business relationship. Will you blink first? There is a lot of information available out there on negotiating. But one simple, easy to remember principle that I picked up along the way has served me well over the years... WHY: PROBLEM = OPPORTUNITY
Too often we think of opportunity as 'our ship coming in' (winning the lottery, getting an inheritance) or a door being opened for us (a promotion, an introduction, admittance to an institution, etc) But what does opportunity really look like? In my life opportunity often starts with a problem. The best opportunities are presented as problems because our aversion to pain is greater than our inertia. We often resist change until the pain and fear of change is less than the cost of maintaining the status quo. Looking for opportunity? Look for problems... |
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