Thinking Skills
Out of the Bucket recently interviewed Jean Moroney, the owner of ThinkingDirections.com. Jean discusses the importance of improving thinking skills, some steps for thinking through a problem, and more. Listen to the interview by clicking here.

 

 

Business Coaching
Out of the Bucket.com now offers Business Coaching for painting contractors. Click here to learn more.

 

Getting Out of the Bucket: Business Building Manual
Getting Out of the Bucket: A Business Manual for Painting Contractors covers everything from accounting to marketing, from sales to hiring. This manual comes complete with sample forms, work sheets, action steps, and exercises. During our July 4th sale you can save $70. Click here for more information.

 

 
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What Kind of Business do You Want?

Are you tired of working 60, 70, or more hours a week? Are you tired of saying "next year will be better"? Are you tired of feast or famine? Are you thinking of starting your own painting business, but you don't know where to begin?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you came to the right place.

According to the Small Business Administration, more than 90% of small businesses fail within 5 years. Of those that survive 5 years, another 90% will fail within another 5 years. After 10 years, less than 1 out of 100 small businesses remain open.

Operating a successful business does not need to be complicated. It simply takes good business practices. However, a skilled craftsman does not necessarily make a good business owner. The skill sets are much different.

For years I voiced many of the complaints common to contractors. I wondered why my employees didn't do things the way I would. I worked 60 hour weeks and made less money than my lead painters. I was stressed, confused, and disgusted. And then I looked in the mirror and found the problem.

The problem wasn't my employees, or my customers, or my marketing. I was the problem. I kept doing the same things and expecting different results. So I changed how I operated my business. I developed systems with help from my employees. Then I got out of their way.

The difference was remarkable. I reduced my work hours. I increased my prices. I quit baby sitting my crews. And I started making money.

In retrospect, the changes we made were relatively simple. We developed a marketing plan that focused on customer retention, proximity marketing, and brand development. We developed forms and checklists to help the crews operate more efficiently and improve customer satisfaction. We learned to sell at increased prices so we had more money coming into the business. In short, we adopted sound business practices.

There is no shortage of information on how to run a successful business. But much of this information is either general in nature, or pertains to a specific industry. The challenge is to identify how this information applies to a contracting business.

Out of the Bucket.com has "contractorized" general business principles. We offer sound business practices in a format that you can easily apply to your business. You don't need to reinvent the wheel.

We offer workshops on sales, production management, systems development, and more. These workshops come with forms, sample procedures, and other tools that you can easily adapt to fit your particular business.

Our Operations Manual Templates can save you hundreds of hours in developing operating procedures for your business. These templates are easily modified and will help you systematize your business.

Getting Out of the Bucket provides a complete resource for implementing sound business practices and systematizing your business. This 220-page manual comes with forms, worksheets, and exercises designed to help you improve operations in every aspect of your business.

Our Members Area contains sample forms, spreadsheets, articles, sample procedures, marketing materials, and much, much more. It is update monthly to provide you with a growing resource of information and tools to build your business.

Out of the Bucket.com is your complete resource for developing and implementing systems and procedures. Our products and information do more than tell you what to do-- they provide practical, easy to implement tools to help you create the business you want to own.

Brian Phillips

 

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