Things are daunting for everyone; most notably for painting contractors. It is not merely one factor making it this way. It is a bunch of stuff that have occurred in concert with each other to produce the picture perfect tempest to rub out the entire painting industry. Lets look at some of the reasons, why things are the way they are, as a result, we will be able to have a better understanding of the problems.
. Unemployment figure: 10 % and growing. This puts the clients we go to work for, out of a job and affords them further time at their house to accomplish things such as house painting. Additionally they aren’t able to meet the expenses on their homes, therefore they paint their houses personal in order to try to sell them.
. Foreclosures: Banks are taking monumental numbers of homes back and they aren’t to willing to invest any cash into these homes to get highest dollar for them.
. First Time Home Buyers: They aren’t incredibly enthusiastic about dole out cash to get their houses painted because of job concerns and the fact that most have exhausted almost all their cash just buying there home.
. Long Term Investment Buyers: Fine group of clients to know but the majority of the time they produce their own employees that perform this variety of work for ten percent of what you need to charge as a painting contractor.
. Brand New Homes: This particular category has nearly all but stopped and I’ve witnessed interior painting companies that relied on nothing else, other than contacts with housing developers and did not know how to make their own jobs, now become bankrupt.
. Refinancing: When all of the refinancing was up for grabs, our patrons held heaps of ready capital. At this point the banks do not want to refinance anyone giving our regulars a negative cash flow.
. Over Inundated Housing Market: If there is a bunch of houses on the street around the neighborhood that are foreclosed, they probably are bringing the house values lower and the emotional impact of the “Superior to the Average Effect” is also affected. That is the exact phenomenon that pushed them to dart out and purchase a new Lexus because the neighbors got one. It’s at this moment working in contradiction of your company.
. Contractors Are Not Busy: Once general contractors get slow they cease sub contracting work and start to carry out all the work from start to finish including the house painting.
. Painters Unemployed: That’s right, you did what you needed to do as a painting contractor, you chopped down your painting team to just you and perhaps one other. Lets examine what happened to the individual employees your business fired? Several may have went back to their place of birth but a few remained and nowadays these house painters without insurance or a license became your direct rival. They need to make a living and surely they can do it for a smaller amount cause they do not have all the over head you carry. Tuesday my wife put an quote in for $7001, a different guy placed one in for $6501 and that is all right and then a house painter, that painted a house down the street and had a personal refs from the owners friend came down and bid $3900!! What the heck! The painter could have bid $6499 and yet received the job but he was only the employee of the company that painted the friends house at the end of the street. He got laid off, came back to every one the houses he had painted underneath his bosses company and handed out his card. He had no idea how to bid house painting so he bid way to little. This is happening all the time, right now.
. HGTV: Unemployed clients have extra time to watch Television and they pay attention to this TV show and think they can do anything.
In closing I’d like to state that it is easy to put our tribulations in the painting industry on one group but as you have seen it’s much more than merely that. Only the strongest will survive this and I’m set on being one of them. I for one maintain the advantage on most just because me and my wife are painters and I am great at marketing. The painting price war has begun and I am going to win!
