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Business Development

Starting a painting business?
How can you improve your painting business to become more professional and avoid problems?
Starting and operating a painting contracting business is very different to being a painter. Most painters have never been taught business skills, even if they completed an apprenticeship or got qualified.
This skills you need to think like a business person are very different to the technical skills you might already have. Just because you have excellent technical knowledge about your trade doesn't mean you are ready to start and run a business. Many painters find this out the hard way when they try to start a business.
The fact is that deciding to start a business means you will have to learn to act and think like a business person. It doesn't come naturally. You will be negotiating contracts and liasing with people who are already business people, and have been trained in business strategies. For example, most builders are trained in business management in order to get licensed and operate building companies. Your clients might be businesses too. And even if your clients are members of the general public, they will expect you to act like a professional business.
So, how do you get the skills you need to start and operate a business professionally?
Some painters just dive in, and hope for the best. They often learn the hard way. They lose money, they make bad mistakes, they increase their stress. It often would have been better if they simply continued as employees working for someone else.
Some painters ask other painters for advice. They might join groups on social media, hoping that they can pick up tips from other contractors. This is very risky, because often times they are asking for help from painters who are just as clueless as they are. You are sure to get bad business advice from other untrained or unprofessional painters.
Smart painters educate themselves first, so they can avoid mistakes, and reduce the stress involved in starting and running a painting contracting business.
Click on the pages on the left for tips, and free expert advice. Watch a video below on tips for managing a painting business.
The National Institute of Painting and Decorating offers on-line training and mentoring for painters planning to start a business, and for painters who need help to grow their business. More