As many states began to shelter-in-place a week ago, we offered some ideas on what painting contractors could be doing right now if they are running low on painting jobs.
Here are seven more:
Target the Exceptions – Most people and businesses are less likely to want painting services right now. But for a few, it’s a great time. For example, retail locations are rarely empty, but in many places they are right now. For those businesses, it’s a great time to get a facelift without interrupting their business.
Request Payment for Completed Work – Asking for money from people who owe it to you is never fun. But if you’re not able to work enough new jobs, it’s one of the easiest ways to bring cash into the door.
Touch Up Job Resumes – If you are planning to hire a painter (or an estimator) in the future, it’s a good time to research job descriptions that other painting contractors have placed online to see what is required in a competitive job description.
Update Your Portfolio – Have you recently done great exterior work on houses, but forgotten to take photos? Now is a great time to revisit those houses and take some photos (if the houses are still in good shape, of course). Nothing makes a painting contractor’s website, flyer or postcard shine like a well painted house.
Update Your Online Presence – Are you active on social media? Is your Google My Business page set up and updated with recent photos? Does your website have up-to-date content, pictures, and a list of the services you offer? These things are all great for getting new customers, but they take a while to start working. If you want to be ready when America opens again for business, now is the time to be working on these things.
Build a Pricing Strategy – There are many aspects to building a profitable business, but one of the most important (and most overlooked) ones is a pricing strategy. How much money does it take to complete a 2,000 square foot house? How much of your time does it take? How much profit would you like to make on each job, and how can you reach that profit ratio?
Build a Budget – Once you have a pricing strategy and a goal for number of jobs each month, you can build a monthly budget. How much money do you plan to leave in the business each month? What will you spend that extra money on? More employees? Better business services or software to make managing your business more efficient? New equipment to allow you to do more types of jobs, or to do jobs more efficiently?
To learn how ProPainter Websites can help you earn more business, call us at 919-424-6121 or email us at Team_PPW@ProPainterWebsites.com.