So one day about 8 years ago I went to a client's summer home to continue an exterior painting project. It was mid morning and the homeowner meets me at the front door with a serious look on her face and a glass of wine in her hand.
"Simon," she says, as she pulls me inside her house by the arm, "today you won't be doing any painting." Uh, OK...?...
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Have you thought about starting a small business but are afraid of either the challenges, or the thought of quitting your job? Or maybe you are already in business but are looking to transition into a different type of business - one that is more creatively fulfilling, is easier on your body, or that can provide a side income for travelling or savings. If you are ready for a new challenge, Chris Guillebeau just launched a project today that might just be for you...
This article is a guest post by Steve Maxwell, one of Canada's most read home improvement journalists and editor of Pro Painter magazine. Pro Painter has been an excellent source of support to my business over the years with technical tips, business advice and industry trends. Look for a re-vamped Pro Painter debuting in 2017.
Every painter wants a schedule full of great jobs, serving clients who appreciate good work and pay good money. But whether or not you actually get this kind of work depends on more than just your skill with a brush, a roller and your estimating book. All these things are critical, but success in painting, as in life, ultimately depends on deeper qualities like energy, honesty, selflessness and humility. Please forgive me if this sounds like a Sunday school lesson, but reality backs me up. A painter I know named Gary Walchuk reminds me how true it all is... With a new year just around the corner, you as a business owner may be thinking about your sales numbers - what they were like this year compared to last year, what next year should look like, etc.
Like the economy, everyone assumes that a healthy business is a growing business. Progress and increase are quick validation that we are working hard and things are going well. If you are not growing you are shrinking, contracting, losing market share, in a recession...all negative sounding things we have been conditioned to have an aversion to. Let's assume for the sake of this blog post that growth is good, necessary even, for your micro-business. We want to measure our efforts and see fine results: higher sales, and more importantly - higher profit... At this time of the year many people begin thinking about what goals they may want to set for the coming year. I've always appreciated the importance of having goals, but have always struggled with the achieving of them. Here are a few things I have learned about goals over the years, as I have begun to use them as an important tool in feeling like I'm moving forward in my life...
As a former high school drop out, it is not my place to say that getting a degree is a bad idea. However, it is clear that education is changing fast and that the cost:value ratio of traditional post-secondary institutions is becoming more of a burden than an asset for many students. Technology, industry and economic shifts are developing so fast that a 4-year program is sometimes obsolete by the time you graduate. The skills that seem to be valued in the current job market are adaptability, life-long learning, working with others, project management, entrepreneurial skills, value creation (rather than getting paid to 'show up'), problem solving, social influence and so on. It is a dynamic work-scape out there, with few guarantees or long term commitments on both sides of the employer/employee divide. I'm definitely not an expert on any of these issues. And there is no question that some types of post-secondary training can lead to higher paying work. Having a basic high-school education these days doesn't open a lot of career doors. I just thought it would be practical to think about whether starting a painting business is a viable option for a young person, as opposed to pursuing 'higher education'. The cover story on the August 2016 issue of Consumer Reports stated that 42 million people owe $1,300,000,000,000 in student debt. While many countries around the world offer free education, in North America adult students are drowning in deep pools of debt. Is it a wise investment? Jackie Crowen, aged 32, from Portland Oregon, with $152,000 in student debt is quoted as saying "I kind of ruined my life by going to college." Let's play with some numbers... If she attended school for 10 years, that is an average of $15,000/year in debt. If she had worked instead of attending school during those years, lets assume she could have earned an extra $15,000/year in earnings. That is $300,000 over 10 years that she is behind someone who didn't attend school and started painting full time, earning $30,000/year. How many years will it take her to catch up? If she gets a job paying 50% more because of her education, it would take 20 years! But that is assuming she doesn't end up working at Starbucks, as many highly educated people do. You sometimes end up over-qualified for entry-level professional jobs while lacking experience required for middle-tier professional positions. And that is assuming her skills and education are even still relevant after all that. Now there are other factors to consider... So about 8 years ago my brother-in-law and I requested a meeting with my business mentor. He kindly granted us a 20 minute meeting so we could run our latest idea by him. In our enthusiasm we never expected to receive the advice he gave us that day.
My brother-in-law Andre and I get along amazingly well. We both paint for a living. We have very different but complementary strengths and skills. We both recognized that painting is better with 2 people, and we had a lot of fun whenever we worked together. So it seemed logical that maybe we should consider a corporate merger and blend our businesses into one. Let me give you the short version of Mr. Mentor's advice... 1. It is unethical. It indicates that you are willing to sell your integrity and honesty for the privelege of working on a project. You don't pay sales tax - it doesn't come out of your pocket, you simply collect it for the governement. So there is little incentive for you to rip off the government. You may feel pressured in order to win the bid, but consider whether you want to work for someone with such ethics. Interestingly, I've had teachers, police officers, Christian clergy and devout Muslims, among others all ask me over the years to 'work for cash', hoping to save 5 - 12% in sales tax. Either you are honest, or your not, simple as that.
2. It is illegal. Do you want audits, fines, assessments, bank accounts frozen, customers contacted by CRA, interest charges, jail time, legal fees, a criminal record? All these are possible consequences of fraud. 3. You never know if it is a test - to see if you are an honest person. Clients are trying to determine if they can trust you with thier most valuable possessions and working around their precious family. Trust is the only thing you are selling. People assume you are a proficient painter...what they want to know is if they can trust you. Trust and honesty go hand in hand. Best to have a solid policy and stick to it firmly and respectfully. You may even be talking to CRA/IRS auditor... I just watched a few really interesting talks that contained some good take-aways for me and my business...thought I'd share the links in case you might be interested in some positive psychology...
After 10 years of operating a painting business in the Okanagan Valley I had a nice client base of about 300 customers, which I had worked very hard to acquire and service.
It felt good to have so many happy customers...it gave me a sense of security. The problem is that I couldn't service so many customers well. Sometimes my best, most loyal customers had to wait 6 or more months for me to fit their project in. I wasn't delivering top level service to my best customers and I was often over-booked and stressed. So when I opened another painting business here on Vancouver Island in 2015, I decided that I would try to get to 100 customers as soon as possible. This, I thought, would give my business a solid base, while giving me a more manageable number of customers, hopefully leading to less stress and better service. We may think we need a lot of customers to have a successful business. So it was interesting when last week I looked at a report of my sales by customer for 2016 thus far. You know what?... Greetings from Reykjavik! What a cool place!
We often hear about or strive for 'balance' in our lives. The idea of balance has always kind of stressed me out because I picture myself as a juggler trying to focus equally on multiple machetes in the air coming down on me and me panicking to keep it together and keep it all going while not dying a bloody death. Balance has always felt unattainable, and thus the pursuit a little discouraging. Lately I've been more interested in the concept of focus... Little things can make a big difference.
About 4 years ago my brother-in-law gave me a little device called Square that plugs into your smart phone and allows you to accept credit cards. It was a thoughtful little gift. I doubt that I would have tried it out on my own, at least not at that time. Since he bought it for me I felt obligated to set it up. Turns out it was very easy to set up, the device is free to obtain and it is a huge asset to your business if you don't currently accept credit cards. Accepting credit cards helps your business look more professional. Being more profssional leads to closing more deals, at higher margins. Accepting credit cards will help your sales and your cash flow... Being self employed comes with the dream of having the freedom to take time off whenever we want, without having to ask permission.
The reality can sometimes be quite different. For the first 5+ years of being in business for myself I found it very difficult to take off anymore than a long weekend here and there. When I had a few extra dollars I didn't have the time, I was too busy. When I had some spare time in my schedule I didn't have the funds to go on a vacation. Forcing a holiday when you don't have much work or money isn't very enjoyable. Taking time off can also be tough because you can do it anytime you want...which means it can always be deferred to when the timing is right. The risk is that it never happens. So over the years I had to develop a strategy to try and get some time off... One of the key benefits of self-employment is the ability to have more control over our work life.
What control do you have? You can respond to an opportunity you see in the market by creating something of value. You can set objectives for your business. You can set boundaries for your customers and yourself. You can make many of the day to day decisions. So many factors conspire to restrict our freedom and impose stress on our projects and lives. This is where we must push back... An observation from the last 12 years of self-employment: The more you charge, the better you are treated. How does that work? I'm not sure, but I would guess a couple things are at play...
Living life, truly living - not just surviving or existing, involves risk. One of the biggest risks is failure. It can be be so scary that it keeps us stuck. So if you are thinking of quiting your job to start your own business, or are thinking of taking a sabatical from your business to pursue an adventure or project, or are thinking of simplfying your life and cutting back on work in order to free up time and resources to pursue something more meaningful, there is likely an element of fear trying to hold you back. You will find the following article relevant...
A few days ago I texted a long time friend, who happens to also run a painting business, to see if I could borrow a piece of equipment. I was surprised to hear back from him that he was in Mexico on a volunteer mission to help people in need. I don't know any details about the work he is doing there, but I know that he is donating his time during peak season for his business, travelling at his expense, while leaving his young famiy at home. I shouldn't really have been surprised because my friend is involved with HeroWork and other volunteer projects in his town.
Also this past week, I attended a talk that brought out some interesting stats about vounteering that I had never heard before. So I did a little bit of research... Just wanted to share a couple of things I read last week that re-enforced what is becoming a repeating theme in life...
'The primary predictor of success and happiness in life is our ability to get along with others.' - Simplicity Parenting, by Kim John Payne And... A good friend of mine likes to reply to the question:
'How are you bud?' with 'I'm on the right side of the dirt!' I love that response because it puts everything in perspective. If you are alive, it can be a great day. But these days Busy has become the new Good. Everyday you can hear a conversation go something like this... 'How are you Jim?' 'BUSY!' 'Really eh?' 'Oh yah, crazy busy. Can't keep up!' or... Just a couple of observations about caring I've noticed over the years...
1. When you meet someone who really cares about their work, about people and about helping their customers, well, that experience is usually very remarkable. It is infectious and you can't get enough - it keeps you coming back and telling others about your experience. There is almost nothing I can think of that is better for your customers than genuinely caring about them and the work you do. Not a sale price, not a bonus offer, not branding or packaging. Caring about another human and caring about your work is a very difficult thing to compete against. At best, there may be a company that could care as much as you do, but the deck is stacked heavily in your favour as a micro business owner. On the other hand... This post has nothing to do with painting in particular. It contains a simple piece of advice that I received from a real good friend who worked with me for a couple of years. I learned a lot from him, and one of the sticky-est principles is this...
Some people think that self employment is very risky, and that it takes special powers to be able to run a small business.
Others think that working for yourself involves driving a new truck, writing off your lunches, golf every Thursday, and working when you feel like it. The truth is somewhere in the middle... In our society we are conditioned from early days to ask for permission for everything and wait expectantly for others to provide our opportunities. This mindset is something that has to be deprogrammed when we take the step of self employment.
You can't just do whatever you want whenever you want - that is a distorted illusion of what being an entrepreneur is all about. However, waiting passively for customers to seek you out, to present you with opportunities, to hire you, is going to be a frustrating and discouraging approach...continued... Part of the process of quickly moving from surviving to thriving in your painting business requires that you be selective in who you work for.
Not all customers are created equal. Learning this principle was a 'light bulb' moment for me, after years of trying to give every customer my best, every time. With a bias towards wanting to be a perfectionist, combined with a desire to treat everyone equally, it was a tough process for me to let go and recognize the need to optimize the service I provided according to the quality of the customer. It is easier to change yourself than to try and change your prospects and clients to fit what you want to provide. Focus on what you can control. Focus on your strengths. Focus on results. A little backstory... Just wanted to share a few positive and inspiring talks I've enjoyed recently that might open some new lines of thinking about business and life...
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