In 1980, following a 2 year period moonlighting as a painter-decorator (weekends and evenings) for a firm run by my brother-in law, I decided to strike out on my own.

Well, my young wife placed the add in the local paper and said that I should strike out on my own.

My first job was a flat in Kensington Square, London W2, for £300, including materials.

The client chose Sanderson’s paints (4 colours to each room) and the paint bill was £165.00 which was four times the materials budget and my first lesson in quoting.

Next, I went door knocking in Belgravia, seeking window-cleaning work. I found no window cleaning but did find a woman wanting her basement painted and so I set off to Pimlico on my bicycle to buy paint and do the job which was smaller but more financially successful than the first job.

Bigger jobs soon came along and I began employing others, often choosing choosing the wrong person, as most applicants weren’t painters. I was saved by stumbling upon an Australian who had learnt his skills painting yachts and knew his stuff. What I learnt was that with even only one good employee one can begin to build a company.

Many consider painting to be semi-skilled at best and often the work is only that. But then there is exterior work. This is where experience is most needed. For example: what to do with a window, badly battered by the sun and rain over fifteen years. Whether to advise the client to replace it or repair it.

I have heard it said that if you can piss you can paint but if you were to visit a building site toilet, you would see there are painters without either skill.

But more on personnel later.

And speaking of building sites, these were the scenes of my biggest early mistakes.

Badly organised building projects most severely affect the painter as he is the last contractor (or should be) on the site.

When, for example, a light switch, and sockets are moved on a newly painted wall on the whim of the inexperienced project-manager, the cost of repainting that wall is not in anyone’s budget.

In this building site scenario it’s impossible for a decorator to have sole access to an area, and therefore control of the area. Yet, as the last trade on site, this is exactly what the painter does need. Being the last trade the decorator is affected by any, and all, bad organisation.

Neither can a painter wait until the other trades are finished, as they are never finished. There is always something for one of the many trades to return to.

Painters are pressured by the main contractor to start work before it is practical as the painters arrival allows the main contractor to claim the second fix done, and a further stage payment. It took me some time to learn this.

So my advice is: Don’t sub contract to builders unless you can negotiate an hourly rate.

And get yourself the Penguin Dictionary of Building. The cost was £1.95 in 1982 and it explains a lot. Many in the construction industry use the wrong terms and this dictionary will sort out confusions. Terminology is important in communication. You cannot understand a specification or instruction without knowing what the words mean. Misunderstood words make you feel dull and this leads to mistakes. Mistakes lead to disputes.

Use of Time and The Numbers Game

I remember reading about a famous industrialist who was in despair because he could not teach his staff priorities.

In business there is always something to do, but knowing the priorities is the difference between success and failure.

When there are no sales for the week it is not the time to be looking at accounts or doing anything other than selling.

The successful self-employed know about priorities. But some staff don’t know when to empty the garbage, and when to do follow up calls.

Each day, one should have a plan of things to do, numbered into priorities. You might be willing to work sixteen hours a day but you will have the option of going home after eight hours if the important things are not left till last.

One can also prioritise quotes. Some are only worth doing if you are in that area.

It might be said that quoting is a numbers game; “The more quotes done the greater the sales.”- maybe true, but beware also of time-wasters. The householder who has already lined up the unemployed brother-in-law, but wants to see how much money they are saving.

Don’t be afraid to vet the caller especially if the lead means a dedicated trip to the outer suburbs. Try to gauge a potential client’s budget. Are they likely to want to pay VAT or would it be against their mores to do so?

Selling

If you show interest, you will sell.

Be interested at the time of the survey- ask questions, make notes of the client’s answers and show those answers in your specification. When the client receives the quote and can see you have mentioned specifically what was asked for they will feel understood and acknowledged. This builds the communication you will need for your follow up call. Your follow up call, a few days after the quote has arrived, will not then be a brush off by either yourself or your potential client.

There are many books on selling. Get a good one, read it and apply it.