Contractor Secrets
If I Started a Painting Business From $0, I’d Do This... | Contractor Secrets Business Breakthrough
How to start a painting business, get painting leads, win your first jobs, and grow without a huge marketing budget — Tanner Mullen breaks down what he would do starting a painting company from scratch. Lauren recently launched Wild Grain Painting and joins Tanner for a Business Breakthrough session to figure out exactly what she should focus on next. They cover everything from positioning and sales to organic marketing, reviews, Facebook Ads, hiring painters, and getting off the tools. In this episode, you'll learn: • How to look more professional on estimates • Why perceived value matters when you're brand new • How to use your personal story to differentiate your company • How to find your company's real value proposition • How to generate leads when you have almost no marketing budget • How Tanner would use local Facebook groups • Why every new painting company needs reviews • When to start investing in Facebook Ads • Why you shouldn't wait to build your CRM • How to avoid getting trapped doing all the painting yourself • How to sell the job first and find production second • What Tanner would do if he started over from $0 CHAPTERS: 00:00 Starting a Painting Business 01:18 Meet Lauren & Wild Grain Painting 02:27 What Should the Owner Actually Do? 04:13 Building Confidence as a New Contractor 05:18 Look Like a Professional Estimator 06:03 Perceived Value Matters 07:46 Lauren's First Commercial Estimate 08:39 Avoiding the Commercial & GC Trap 09:39 Marketing With Almost No Money 10:23 Your Biggest Competitive Advantage 11:30 Building a Story People Care About 14:17 What Makes Your Company Different? 17:28 Turning Your Story Into Marketing 19:55 Get Clear on the Mission 20:20 Why Marketing Means Being "Annoying" 20:48 Free Local Facebook Marketing 21:51 Build the Systems Before You Need Them 22:09 Setting Up a CRM 22:15 DripJobs Startup Program 23:33 When to Invest in Facebook Ads 24:21 Building Google Reviews 25:27 The Paint Trap 26:13 Why Tanner Wouldn't Pick Up a Paintbrush 27:07 Subcontractors vs Employees 27:57 Where Lauren Should Start 28:18 The Final Game Plan One of Tanner's biggest lessons: If you're starting a painting business, your highest-value job may not be painting. Sell a job. Schedule it. Find someone to produce it. Then go sell another one. At the beginning, you need to become resourceful. Tell your story. Build your reputation. Get reviews. Post locally. Sell. Build systems. Then reinvest your profits into marketing. If you're starting a painting company or trying to get your first consistent painting jobs, this episode gives you a practical roadmap to follow. Subscribe to Contractor Secrets with Tanner Mullen for more painting business growth, contractor marketing, sales, systems, and scaling. Free 14 Day Trial for Routemize - https://routemize.com/ Coaching Session Signup: https://calendly.com/dripjobs/breakthrough Purchase the 31 Days of Value and build an EMPIRE: https://www.amazon.com/31-Days-Value-home-service-businesses/dp/B0FQSH32X7 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2v0D0SNSBofqJJE6zApEE1 DripJobs Demo: https://calendly.com/dripjobsteam/dripjobsdemo Gusto: https://gusto.com/i/tanner269 OpenPhone: https://openph.one/referral/8Kc17aq Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173750747824373/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: http://Instagram.com/officialtannermullen #PaintingBusiness #PaintingContractor #PaintingBusinessOwner #ContractorMarketing #PaintingLeads #ContractorSecrets
