PRO PAINTER SPRING 2015 by Annex Business Media

S P R I N G 2015

Residential

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Commercial

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Institutional

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VO LU M E 12, #1

Industrial

CALGARY

Success Story Jon and David Bryant, The Urban Painter

acebook see page 6

Deck Refinishing

7 Hiring Tips

New Products

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rustoleum.ca

Oct. 24, 2013

inside

F E AT U R E S

Deck Refinishing for Painters

Regret-Resistant Hiring

Cover photo: KlixPix/Charles Hope Photography

It can be a great sideline to your painting business – and lucrative. As long as you are aware of the techniques and tips we show you here.

The 7 steps you need to take before you take on another mouth to feed in your paint and decorating business.

COVER STORY:

Smart and Strong in Calgary A profile of Jon and David Bryant, The Urban Painter. Read how this company uses focus, training and technology to succeed.

D E PA R T M E N T S 04 Editorial

Good things happen slowly – like the new standards in latex paint.

06 Facebook Conversation

Honest opinions about the cash economy and underground painting work.

07 New Products

Dynamic Tight Lock Roller Frame, Dynamic Sanding Sponge Holder and more…

26 News

Pro painters in a mobile world. Pressure washer prices decline. Canada vows cash crackdown.

28 Tattoowall

An update on the powerful role that Tattoowall has had in beautifying Queen Street West, Toronto.

30 Brag Page

A chance to show the world the painting work you’re most proud of.

www.professionalpainter.ca PUBLICATION MANAGER: Steve Payne Email: spayne@canadiancontractor.ca

SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscribe@professionalpainter.ca

EDITOR: Steve Maxwell Email: steve@stevemaxwell.ca

Professional Painter magazine is published by Dynamic Paint Products Inc., Mississauga, Ont. Canadian publication mail agreement PM# 40069240. Professional Painter magazine and Dynamic Paint Products Inc. do not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed herein.

CONTRIBUTORS: Agnes von Mehren, Robert Walton AD SALES: Steve Payne Email: spayne@canadiancontractor.ca Phone: (416) 219-9949 Professional Painter • Spring 2015

acebook

“Pro Painter Magazine”

SPRING 2015

VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1

prime coat

By Steve Maxwell

Good things happen slowly

All the great latex paint that’s now the industry standard proves it

was twelve years old when I took on my first commercial painting job, and a poster of a dolphin swimming in clear, blue water is one of two memories I have of that time. My grandfather was my first client, and he drove me to a small paint manufacturing plant in Etobicoke, Ontario that also sold paint over

the counter. As I walked out with the wire paint can handles cutting into my young, tender fingers, I saw that dolphin poster on the plant wall above a slogan about how environmentally sound the company’s paint was. I can’t remember the wording, but the idea was about purity, safety and all things natural. The strong solvent smell in the plant left me wondering about the truth of that poster, and cleaning up brushes, rollers and hands with turpentine after each day’s work confirmed my suspicions. The only thing this paint could do to dolphins was kill them. It was vile. Without thinking much about the matter, that first painting job and the over-ambitious marine poster snuffed out my hope that paint could ever be anything more than nasty and toxic. Fast forward 40 years and it shows how premature my conclusions were. The reality of house paint today is much closer to that over-ambitious dolphin poster than I ever imagined. Sure, it’s taken a while for us to get where we are, but today’s latex paint is about as pure, wholesome and harmless as anyone could ever expect. It even smells good, at least to my nose. Anyone who paints for a living owes a lot to this long-wave trend. The whole safe paint phenomena has also got me thinking I need to take a look at my biases. While it’s true that real environmental improvements take much more than just choosing recycled paper, eating a hundred-mile diet or using cloth shopping bags, this doesn’t mean massive gains aren’t possible in time. And the next time you wash up after a day’s painting with nothing more than tap water instead of some horrible, dolphin-killing solvent, remember something. Just because good things happen slowly, doesn’t mean that they won’t make a big difference in time. All the great latex paint that’s now the industry standard proves it.

Steve

4 24

steve@stevemaxwell.ca

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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acebook

A FACEBOOK CONVERSATION

Pro Painter magazine’s Facebook group page has attracted a loyal following in the last year. The conversation below is a small part of what our Facebook painters are talking about while they help each other learn and grow professionally.

WE ASKED

How many clients want to pay cash? What about the federal government’s plan to crack down on the underground economy? They say 2.3% of the economy is under the table.

Marcelo Cruz

I think it’s a lot more than that, especially since the WSIB made extremely high rates. If the government wants to lower the underground market they should stop gouging money from the small guys.

Kevin Haner

When the GST was 5% (here in Ontario) 1 of 10 clients wanted to pay cash. Now that we have 13% HST the numbers are reversed – 9 of 10 are asking to pay cash and avoid the taxes. Small companies like mine are struggling to compete with the larger ones.

Craig Estey

The New Brunswick government got smart a few years back. Someone noticed there was only a dozen painting companies listed with business numbers in the Moncton area. The government introduced a no-interest loan of $20,000 repayable in 10 years. The catch was you had to be a registered business to qualify. All of a sudden more than double the number of paint companies popped up. A good idea for once.

Tanya Edison Cash = Not getting paid nearly enough. Tanya Edison

Rick Fowler

I believe the government sees it like this: We can lower taxes and make people more willing to pay, costing us billions in the end, or we can just tax the crap out of everyone and take some of those resources to hunt down as many cheaters as possible and come out with more. Governments have been doing this for many years. It’s all about numbers.

Join the conversation on Facebook: “Pro Painter Magazine”

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

new products

DuPont Caulk and Sealants Almost every painter uses caulk, but not all caulk is made for painters. Dupont offers one of the most painter-friendly caulking lines, including 25-year painter’s caulk, paintable silicone, low VOC siliconized acrylic and an acrylic urethane window & door sealant made with the same Kevlar used in bullet-proof vests. DuPont Painter’s Caulk with Speed Dry might just turn out to be your favourite. You can brush on paint as quickly as 30 minutes after application, or you can spray paint immediately after this caulk goes on. Painter’s Caulk doesn’t crack or shine through paint like other caulks can, either. Soap and water clean up. Mold and mildew resistant. Proven effective around windows and doors, trim, crown, sinks, counters and siding. DuPont has been in business for 200 years, so they’ve got a lot of things figured out.

Dynamic Tight Lock Roller Frame There are three reasons this Dynamic product may just be the best professional paint roller frame ever designed. Besides the smoothly finished hardwood handle with all-metal ferrule, and the beefy, bend-resistant 5/16” diameter chrome-plated roller arm, there’s the fact that refills never work their way off the frame. They can’t and the central plastic bulkhead is the reason why. It acts as a pivot point for four steel support arms that grip the inside of the roller refill. Constant internal pressure from these arms keeps the refill in place, guaranteed. No more hassles forcing a paintsaturated refill back onto roller frames again. You’ve got better things to do during your day. Available this Summer!

Dynamic Sanding Sponge Holder Nobody goes into professional painting because their first love is patching and sanding drywall, so why not make this necessary prep step as painless as possible? This sanding sponge holder makes the work less tiring because the raised handle brings your whole hand into the operation. It’s not just your finger tips holding the edges of the sponge any more. Great corner sanding is another advantage. The holder is narrow enough that the edges of sanding sponges remain available to work both sides of a corner at once. The sponge holder also has internal teeth at each end that grip any sanding sponge you want to install, and swapping sponges literally takes two seconds. The holder comes with a high quality abrasive sponge made in England.

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

new products Dynamic Bonus Trim Roller Refills Besides saving time and boosting results by reducing the amount of brush work required, Dynamic’s trim rollers deliver a lot of value for the money. And this good deal has just become better: Dynamic’s 4” foam refills and the 4” fiber refills now come packaged with a bonus. Five refills for the price of four from now on. The foam mini refills are made for stains and thin coatings. The fiber refills are shaggier and designed for both latex and oil paints. They create a surface that’s identical to full size rollers of the same type.

Dynamic Professional Painting Gloves These new tough and comfortable gloves keep paint off your hands while also letting them breathe, too. No more wet, clammy skin like you get from latex gloves. That’s the big benefit of this professional-grade product. Form fitting, long enough to cover your watch, surprisingly tough, while also offering a high-friction grip. The palm itself is coated in clear polyurethane for more wear resistance and greater protection against liquid. Destined to become a favourite of professional painters who value products with good design. You can even pull these Dynamic gloves off without turning them inside out.

Wooster Sherlock Professional Extension Poles With their two-part hexagonal design, Wooster Sherlock extension poles prevent slipping and twisting, eliminate top-end sway. Thumb lever changes length in 6-inch increments. Sherlock GT Convertible poles feature a bayonet tip that locks Wooster tools in place; a threaded conversion tip stores in the handgrip. Original Sherlock poles have standard threads. www.woosterbrush.com

Wooster Sherlock Quick-Release Roller Frame To keep your hands clean, the Wooster Sherlock frame quick-release spring prevents the sleeve from slipping, yet allows one-rap removal. Durable nylon cage and chrome-plated shank provide power and consistency. Internal bearings always spin smoothly. Comfortable threaded grip, Sherlock GT pole compatible. Available in 4-, 7-, 9½-, and 14-inch sizes. www.woosterbrush.com

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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tech savvy

Deck Refinishing

for Painters

ccording to a 2014 survey by American Painting Contractor, 70% of professional painters offer deck refinishing services. At first that number surprised me, but then it made sense. For decades there’s been a steady downtrend in the amount of home improvement work people do themselves, and since decks get ratty regardless of whether their owner feels handy and ambitious or not, someone’s got to refinish those decks. Painters are stepping up to the plate because there’s money to be made. Just be careful. Deck refinishing involves more potential pitfalls than most other painting work because it’s fundamen-

By Steve Maxwell

tally different. Understand the key deck refinishing essentials I’ve discovered over 25 years of finishing outdoor wood and it could save you from that sinking feeling you get when a job goes wrong. Choose Clients Carefully Since there’s more to go wrong technically with deck refinishing than regular painting, it means you have to be pickier about the clients you choose to work with. And not only pickier, but also more clear about what you can and cannot accomplish with an old deck. Most interior walls can be made

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

1. WASH DECK

tech savvy

2. SAND DECK

to look great if enough time is put into patching them before painting. Not so with an old deck. There really is no way you can turn an old barn board deck surface into something that looks like a dining room table. Be clear about what you can do, and even understate your case while sizing up the job. Better to delight the client with more than they expected, rather than disappoint them with less. See The Five Deck Refinishing Clients (page 13) for insights on the kind of people you’ll be dealing with. Wash Before Sanding Every ratty deck needs basic cleaning work before any new finish can go on, and the combination of pressure washing and sanding is very powerful. Apply a water soluble stripper if there’s any remaining finish, pressure wash the deck, then let it dry for a couple of good days. No matter how careful you were with the pressure washer, some fuzzy surface fibers will have been raised. These dried fibers are easy to knock off with the right kind of sander. One pass and they’re history, leaving behind a surface that’s perfect for refinishing. A washed and sanded surface imparts the greatest absorbency of anything you can do to wood. And all else being equal, deck finish life is directly proportional to wood absorbency.

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

Make Surface Wood Absorbent and Strong Most wood is a poor candidate for outdoor finishing. New, planed lumber is especially bad because it’s not absorbent enough because the planer that milled the wood burnished the surface. Finishing liquids can’t penetrate deeply enough into the fibers to resist premature peeling. Old wood is absorbent, but it’s surface fibers are already partially loose. New wood finishes will peel prematurely as they pull surface fibers off with them. According to a five year study conducted by Akzo Nobel across North America, the most absorbent wood surface is bright surface that’s been sanded with a 60-grit abrasive. That’s pretty coarse for most homeowners, but an 80-grit is almost as absorbent and more practical for real-world decks. A walk-behind pad-style floor sander does a good job on large areas. My favourite hand-held sander for deck work is a 6” random orbit sander with an angle grinder style motor. I’m still using my venerable Porter Cable 7336 after 20 years, but any similar model will work great. Educate Clients About Deck Finish Choice There are four main types of deck refinishing products out there, each with strengths and weaknesses. Explain the pros and cons with your clients to help them choose:

tech savvy

EDUCATE CLIENTS 1. TRANSLUCENT, VARNISH-TYPE FINISHES The best of these make decks look like a piece of furniture, but usually require complete stripping and re-application every 3 years. Looks great, but challenging to keep up long term.

2. OPAQUE, PAINT-LIKE DECK FINISHES These last the longest – about 5 years – but they hide wood grain. Tough and durable, but eliminates wood character.

3. SOAK-IN, COLOURED DECK STAINS These offer no surface film, but they’re ideal for old decks that have started to develop weathering cracks.

4. CLEAR WATER REPELLANTS ONE-TIME DECK TREATMENTS

The best of these offer “new wood looks” for about 12 to 18 months. Stripping, lightening and reapplication is required to maintain bright, new wood appearance.

– ONE-TIME DECK TREATMENTS These impart a weathered wood look to new lumber, evenly and quickly. They require no further applications. Easy to live with, but more of a barnboard appearance than some people like.

Don’t Undercut Yourself If you don’t have a lot of experience refinishing decks, build more time into your estimate than you think. Prep takes a long time, but so do the little deck things that might creep up: loose boards needs to be reattached; rain shuts you down before lunch; it got windy so you couldn’t brush anything on because of dust. Refinishing decks isn’t for every painter, but it can yield good money if you get good at it. And besides, one of the benefits is that you get some fresh air and sunshine in your life. pp

TRANSLUCENT, VARNISH-TYPE FINISHES

COMPOSITE DECKS

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

! The

tech savvy

5 Deck Refinishing Clients

Most prospective deck clients fall into one of five main personality types. Know who you’re dealing with and it can help you decide if you should take them on or not: 1. The Deck-O-Condriac: “Will that mold make me sick?” “I don’t want splinters! I’m terrified of splinters.” “I had a dream last night there was lead paint on my deck. Is that a sign?” “My poodle is allergic to VOCs. Only use organic finishes made with spring water.” Deck-o-condriacs are fear driven. Take them on only if you’re starving.

2. The Hopeful This deck owner somehow doesn’t see that their deck has a terminal case of rot, and somehow believes that a refinishing job is all that’s needed. Be honest and hand them the business card of your carpenter friend. Don’t finish a dead deck. AFTER

3. The Newbie First time homeowners are often amazingly uninformed about decks, but that can be a good thing. It gives you the chance to explain the different options for deck refinishing and the different ongoing maintenance regimes required. Deck newbies often make great clients.

4. The Veteran This deck owner has probably been refinishing their own deck for years, they’re tired of the work, they know the challenges and they don’t expect miracles. Veteran deck owners like this typically make excellent clients.

5. The Sick-and-Tired

BEFORE

These deck owners have had enough of deck maintenance – either DIY or hired out. Offer them something simple like a bare-deck option, or suggest they have deck boards replaced with composite lumber.

Stack the Deck in Your Favour The problem with deck refinishing is that it’s a high stakes game. At least it is compared with most other parts of the professional painting world. Unless something very unusual happens, you’ll never get a call-back from a client because the paint you put on their dining room walls is peeling off in sheets. Newly painted bedroom walls are unlikely to develop mold two months after you gathered the drop cloths. Deck refinishing jobs, on the other hand, can and do blow up in many different ways. That’s

because there are so many more variables at work when it comes to application; sun, temperature, moisture, abrasion, wood types and product choice. They can all be make-or-break issues when it comes to deck refinishing success. And if all this wasn’t enough, getting a serious call back on a deck can easily eat up all your profit on the job and then some. That’s because the scope of work is so large. All this is why getting the details right is so important if you take on deck refinishing. pp

DECKS

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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Regret-Resistant

Hiring 4

The 7 steps you need to take before taking the plunge

B y R o b e r t Wa l t o n

t’s not easy being an employer, especially a painting employer. If the only challenge was complying with government paperwork, submitting employee taxes and contributions, and providing workplace health coverage, that would be one thing. But the biggest challenge is finding the kind of painters who will actually earn their keep and then some. After all, unless you’re hiring a painter out of the goodness of your heart, you need someone who’s productivity exceeds the amount you pay them. Making money is why you hire, and productivity has to support that. But you can’t aim for productivity directly. You need to look for other things to get it. Underneath painter productivity are a whole bunch of qualities and experiences you need to determine ahead of time: How honest is this person? Will they show up on time? Are they humble enough to be teachable? Do they have decent manners? Can they paint like a pro? All these things need to be determined, beginning with an interview that might last less than 20 minutes. That’s a tall order, but you can turn the tables in your favour with these hiring tips.

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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Don’t Be Fooled By a Nice Person One of the best painters I know might only say 10 words each work day. He’s quiet, humble and shy enough to make you think he’s snooty. But the fact is, he’s a GREAT painter. His genius is in his brush hand, not his mouth. Not everyone on your crew needs to be the resident talk show host. Smiles, witty conversation, a quick sense of humor and overall likability can often seem to be more important then they are. It’s not that these things are always irrelevant. Sometimes these do matter to an extent. It’s just that personality can be deceptive. A crew leader or a solo painter who goes into people’s homes needs decent social skills, sure. Just don’t over-rate them. The fact is, many people endowed with outstanding manual skills don’t always have the social abilities of a diplomat. It’s just the way it is and you’re wise to remember it.

Good Attitude is King Assuming that you’re planning to remain in business for more than six months, in many cases you should be hiring for the inner person, not necessarily painting skills. This is especially true as the overall level of skills in young people is in steady decline. You simply won’t always be able to find ready-formed painters just because you place a Help Wanted ad. Ask any long-time shop

teacher and they’ll all tell you some variation of the same story: “We used to be able to teach kids things that we can’t teach them today. Not even the bright ones automatically know which way to turn a screwdriver to tighten a screw.” As a society we’re getting less skilled, and as the supply of experienced painters decline, you’ll need to grow your own. Or at least take them from the seedling stage to productive, full-grown painters. This is where attitude is everything. A wise person listens to advice, but a fool is always right in his own eyes. You need to develop your ability to spot fools and send them packing before you’re “married” to them in an employee/employer relationship. The government and the courts have tilted the playing field heavily in favour of employees. Hiring a bad attitude could cost you your business, even if your only legitimate crime is hiring a fool.

Build an Interview Plan The danger with any interview is that it degenerates into a nice conversational dance where both parties are trying to be as polite as possible at the expense Interview Plan of forgetting what an interview is really all about. You’re the boss, and the livelihood of yourself and your family depends on determining if this prospect has that rather rare set of personal and professional qualities needed to make you more money than you’ll pay them. To have any hope of determining this crucial detail you need hard answers. Do you expect this new person to work under an experienced employee, or will they work on their own? Do they need to be able to patch

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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and repair walls flawlessly? Do you need a flexible set of skills or will this be interior roller and cutting-in work only? What work do you really need them to do? Write things down and get a sense of the kinds of end points you need to arrive at by the time the interview is done. Determine how long the interview will take ahead of time, tell the prospect when it will be over, then stick to your time. Resist the temptation to go off on personal tangents and be especially alert to any such tendencies in the prospect. Remember, it’s a business meeting, not a tea party.

Check References This sounds like such a no-brainer, but asking for and checking references is easy to overlook – especially with people who come across well in an interview. But it’s just these kind of painters you want to check up on. Charm may be pleasant, but it’s also deceiving. That’s why checking references before the interview makes so much sense. Not only will it give you a more honest impression of the prospect, but it will also give you a chance to gather more of those open-ended questions that are so important for any successful interview. When you call references, ask about these five issues: Was the person a competent painter (or crew leader or office admin or whatever); did they get along with others; did this person show an interest in the business or were they an early-to-leave clock puncher; did the person do anything to harm their reputation for honesty; would the old employer hire this person again if given the chance.

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

Seek Detailed Answers Every employment interview involves questions, but how you ask those questions can matter even more than the questions themselves. You need to ask questions so a detailed answer is required. Don’t say “did you like your last job”, say, “tell me about your last job.” Ask things like “why did you get into painting? Tell me about troublesome bosses you’ve had. What kind of painting client bugs you?” Sit back and listen to the long answers like Sherlock Holmes examines a case.

Understand Probationary Employment Periods Even the very best interview is by definition something of a crap shoot. That’s why you might be tempted to hire employees on a trial basis. After all, people always put their best foot forward during interviews, and it’s entirely possible that this best foot could hide unpleasant realities. The problem is “probationary” employment periods are not what they seem. Employment law varies from province to province, but no matter where you live you’ll need to know something about the following issues: a probationary employment period doesn’t happen automatically upon hiring someone new – it needs to be spelled out in a contract. And even when probationary employment is spelled out, it doesn’t eliminate the need to give reasonable notice of termination or pay in lieu of

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notice. It also doesn’t let you fire for no reason. There are advantages to the probationary approach, you just need to find out what they are where you live.

foundation of painters you can trust, and you could join the ranks of professional painters who’ve morphed into successful business owners. pp

Consider Hiring Contractors

Ask any long-time shop teacher and they will tell you: The smaller your painting business is, the more trouble and risk it is to hire an actual employee. When you’re not large enough to justify the expense of office staff to handle the government paperwork, it can be enough of a burden to kill your business before it even gets off the ground. And what would it do to your balance sheet if you found yourself involved in a wrongful dismissal suit, a big severance package judgement, or some other employee-related trouble? One way to reduce the hassles and risks of getting help with your business is to structure it to make use of contractors instead of employees. The Canada Revenue Agency certainly has something to say about whether a person really is an employee or a contractor, and detailed information is available from the CRA. There are rules to follow, but simply writing a cheque to your contracted painters instead of filling out bi-weekly remittance slips, T4s and other paperwork for your employees might be well worth the trouble of this new mindset. Contractors also enjoy tax deduction advantages, too. Business growth isn’t easy, but it can work. Build a solid

“We used to be able to teach kids things that we can’t teach them today. Not even the bright ones automatically know which way to turn a screwdriver to tighten a screw.”

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

cover story

Jon and David Bryant The Urban Painter

SMARTand STRONG in Calgary

How The Urban Painter uses focus, training and technology to succeed By Steve Maxwell

All photos: KlixPix/Charles Hope Photography

Professional Painter â&#x20AC;˘ Spring 2015

cover story

“As a kid I started a number of small businesses,” explains Jon, “but made a promise to myself to start a real business by the time I was 20.”

If you want to see how a small, young, nimble and successful 21st century painting business operates, you won’t find a better example than Calgary’s The Urban Painter. Founded by college painter and natural-born entrepreneur Jon Bryant in 2005, and now run along with his brother Dave as director of operations and a core team of employees, this business is doing a lot of things you won’t see other painters do. Their recipe comes down to things that are often talked about but not always delivered: consistently high-quality results, treatment of clients with exceptional politeness and respect, professional financial analysis, and the use of 21st century information and promotional tools to make the most of every opportunity. It’s a recipe that proves running a painting company can be a smooth, sustainable and profitable business, especially in niche markets. It also shows that every business is an extension of its owner. “As a kid I started a number of small businesses,” explains Jon, “but made a promise to myself to start a real business by the time I was 20. I’d painted a fence for my grandparents and I’d seen other university students running painting companies and saw a lot of potential. I ran my business seasonally for several years before my brother

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

Dave and I went full-time 2 years ago. Since then we’ve ‘taken things seriously’, and we’ve exceeded many of our goals and we’re having fun doing it. We’re excited to see where our team can take the business, but there’s still so much to learn.”

Five Nuggets of Wisdom from Jon There are no short cuts to good quality or reputation. Personal bonding matters in a crew. . . A lot! Hire for attitude, train for skill. Stick to work you’re really good at and say no to the rest. Bring great value to every project.

Simplicity, Reliability, Courtesy and Quality The Urban Painter does 50 per cent residential and 50 per cent commercial jobs, “with the odd new construction project if we like the contractor,” smiles Jon. “A total crew of 8 keeps up with work in the winter, with about 25 painters employed during busy summer months.” The company structure revolves around key crew leaders who manage 2 or 3 people in each crew. “We’ve had crew leaders manage up to three crews at once on simple jobs,” says Jon. On the surface, all this sounds fairly typical for any small painting business, but there’s more than a few things that are quite different about The Urban Painter. And most of them spring from the fact that Jon isn’t your average “painter-turned-business owner”. “It’s never crossed my mind to paint on my own,” says Jon. “I believe strongly that a good team will always outperform me or any other single person. A great parable taught to me by a

cover story

The Urban Painter crew members wear company clothes and aim for exceptional neatness and polite customer relations.

Three Ways The Urban Painter Boosts Business We host Urban Painting Parties where we donate our services to non-profits and have a bit of fun in the process with as many volunteers as we can round up. We always aim to use eco-friendly products. We provide a professional design consultation with every job.

business mentor is this: one man alone will be killed by a lion, but several men working together can kill that lion.” Jon earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce in finance from the University of Calgary, and he’s carried this experience through to The Urban Painter. “The main thing I learned at school is that an understanding of the finances of a business matters a lot,” explains Jon. “Especially cash flow. But even with my background, starting out was hard. It took us 3 years of work to be profitable. No major financial problems, it just took time.” It’s no surprise that an ongoing challenge for The Urban Painter is the same challenge faced by any painting company: finding and keeping good painters. But for a company that prides itself in consistently high quality results, this challenge simply has to be met. “The second question we always ask when interviewing prospective painters is ‘how they handle patching’,” says Dave. “The answer is useful because it gives a clear indication of whether the candidate knows anything about quality painting and the prep behind it. Quality craftsmanship is of utmost importance to us.” So what kind of wall patching answers does Dave like to hear? For large cracks he likes to see painters use fibre tape followed by 3 or 4 coats of mud feathered out and sanded. For holes, we use either metal backing plates or install new pieces of drywall followed by mud. Dings and nicks receive

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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The Urban Painter never subs out work, instead using only trained staff for all jobs. Dave Bryant (below) takes payment from a client using an on-site credit card reader.

mud and sanding.” What’s the first question asked of new painters? “What do you enjoy about painting?”

Training and Focus Calgary has had a hot labour market for more than a decade, and this means workers tend to be more mobile and less loyal. And while you might think this would reduce the incentive to train, that’s not what happens at The Urban Painter. “We do a lot of onsite training,” says Jon “and we even follow a training manual that we’ve created. When I consider the possibility of trained painters leaving us after we’ve trained them in The Urban Painter system, I ask myself ‘what happens if we don’t train and the person stays?’ That’s far more costly for us than someone leaving after they have been trained.” “Every so often we lose a team member, because they’re offered a higher wage by another company, but that’s not the norm. Our priority has always been to be a great place to work with competitive wages. Part of this is that we make every effort possible to provide consistent work, a great working environment, and opportunities to advance. We’re an all-employee company and do not sub work. This allows us to have a strong team and achieve consistent results, not to mention that we feel safe having people we know in our customers homes.”

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

Logos, company uniforms and a widely-advertised website are part of the Urban Painter recipe.

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Little things add up to make a big difference. Hand-delivered out-reach door cards (left) and lawn signs at client homes are two examples of how the Urban Painter keeps its name in view.

Despite training and a commitment to provide consistent work, Jon finds great painters increasingly harder to find. “We generally follow the logic that great attitudes can be trained,” says Jon. “That being said, it takes a lot of work to find great painters .” “The biggest personal challenge for me is staying focused,” says Jon. “As an entrepreneur I can easily get side tracked by other ‘interesting’ business prospects. I’ve been involved in other businesses in the tech industry and medical insurance while trying to maintain the painting business and I wasn’t able to stay focused well on any of them.”

Urban Painter Marketing One of the things about The Urban Painter is the way it’s website – www.theurbanpainter.com – stands out. It’s simple, professional, attractive and it includes an important call to action: a simple, online opportunity to get quotes. “Although I have a passion for design and web development,” says Jon. “Our website was built with the help of a designer and a local developer. It’s that focus thing again.” “Overall marketing efforts are very important to us, as we only work in specific areas to keep our crews close and effective. In fact, we intentionally limit our work area to achieve this. We do a lot of online search engine optimization and are always actively sending out post cards, door hangers and posting signs in the areas we want to work. On the commer-

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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Jobsite Payment

cial side we get a lot of work through word of mouth from our clients who appreciate what we do for them.” “The most challenging part of running our painting business has been to stay focused,” says Jon. “There are always so many ‘bright and shiny’ opportunities everywhere that we could follow, but that would dilute our focus. The only way we have been able to grow is to stay true to our target clients and give them excellent service every day. You need to be focused for this, and focus means saying ‘no’ sometimes.” “Currently we have enough work to keep our crews busy, so we get to pick and choose a little on the type of jobs we do. With the current economic climate in Calgary, we’ll see if this persists, as summer is our busy season. My father always told me, ‘Getting the work is hard, but doing the work is easy.’ There’s a lot of truth in this, but we’ve been fortunate to have plenty of work over the years. That said, it has been challenging to achieve consistent, timely results and maintain our brand experience.” Every business has it’s doom and gloom commentators, and the painting business is no different. While some people will tell you how hard it is to make a go of it as a professional painter these days, that’s obviously not true for everyone. And that means it’s not true at all. Focus, attention to details and making use of new marketing opportunities still pays off. The Urban Painter proves it. pp

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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In a world where most painting jobs are paid for with some form of paper – either cheques or cash – more than half of The Urban Painter customers are now paying with plastic immediately after the job is finished, right on site. “We’ve struggled to get paid in a timely way in the past,” says Jon, “but we’ve solved this problem now. All our crew leads carry a small credit card reader that plugs into their smartphone. When customers agree that the job is complete, they have the option to swipe their credit card and payment goes immediately into our business account.” The device that makes this possible is called Square. Just like the name suggests, it’s a 1” x 1” white plastic reader with a card slot. Jon has been using Square with The Urban Painter since January 2014 and he loves it. “About 50% to 60% of our customers choose to pay immediately with a credit card when we offer the option,” explains Jon. “We originally looked at a bunch of onsite payment systems, but this one is simple, reliable and affordable. There’s no ongoing subscription fee and no cost for the device. Just 2.75% taken off the top for transactions that get swipe through; 3.5% plus 0.15 cents for transactions where we need to type in the card number. It works wherever there’s a cell signal.” Square has been available in the US since 2010 and in Canada since 2013. “We find the technology reliable. Just about the only thing that goes wrong is that we misplace a reader. Square just sends us another one for free.” Besides prompt payments and reduced overdue accounts payable, Jon has found a surprise advantage to using onsite payment. “Our callback rate for touch-ups has gone way down since we’ve been taking payment with Square. People just seem happier and more satisfied when the job is done and paid for.”

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affairs, matching receipts and other documents submitted by third parties to verify information, and using undisclosed specialized software intelligence tools to find unreported and under-reported income. “We have developed a three-year strategic framework proposing new measures to encourage greater levels of tax compliance,” says Finlay, “particularly in sectors of the economy where cash transactions are common, and there is real risk of participation in the underground economy.

Pressure Washer Prices Decline

Pro Painters in a Mobile World You’re not imagining it. Everyone really is holding a mobile device these days. At least most people are, and this matters for painters looking to compete in a world where an online presence is more and more important. Ever since 2011, global shipments for PCs have been in a steady decline, while sales of mobile devices exceeded desktop computer sales for the first time in history in 2013. This means three things for painters. The first is that any web presence you create today must be “responsive” in order for it to be of use to mobile users. This means the site is designed to change size, shape and orientation, depending on the hand-held it appears on. Second, video content will continue to gain prominence as a sales tool. Mobile screens are small. Who wouldn’t rather see and hear a message instead of reading it on a tiny screen? And finally, mobile payment options are poised to take off. Swipe-on-site technology is a reality now, and it makes sense for anyone with a service to sell, including painters.

Canada Vows Cash Crackdown Last fall the federal government stepped up its measures to fight informal cash business dealings with the creation of the Underground Economy Advisory Committee. According to a speech delivered by Kerry-Lynne D. Finlay, federal Minister of National Revenue, Canadians are among the most tax-compliant people on the planet. 92 per cent of us file our tax returns on time, and 95 per cent pay taxes in full. In 2011, 2.3 per cent of our overall economy was estimated to be underground, which is lower than most developed nations. Nevertheless, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will be stepping up spot visits by officers to verify business

Like every other power tool category on the planet, pressure washer prices have been in a slow and significant decline for years. And in the case of pressure washers, you actually get more psi and flow rate output for much less money than you did 10 years ago. The trend is present across all brands and across the two main technologies: gas and electric. Pressure washers make sense for preprep work on decks and other outdoor jobs, but there are a couple of things to think about if you’re in the market. Most pressure washers retain at least a little water in the pump, which means they either need to be drained before winter (not always easy), or stored indoors. Electric models are easier to store inside, but less powerful.

Dulux Opens 250th Paint Store in Canada How many Canadian consumers and paint contractors knew about the Dulux brand, as recently as five years ago? Not too many, it seems. But since that time, the brand awareness of Dulux has shot up, according to a recent study, from 8th in 2013, to 4th (last year), to a reported 3rd, at last report. The change in Dulux’s fortunes as a Canadian brand began in 2011, when former well-known brands such as ICI Paints, Glidden, Color Your World and Betonel (in Quebec), were rebranded as Dulux. On April 1st, Dulux opened its 250th paint store in Canada, Vaughan, Ont., north of Toronto. It’s an open plan concept with good sightlines and a clutter free, clean feel. “Every year, we’re gaining ground in the industry,” said Vince Rea, who runs the Dulux stores across Canada. “We were almost non-existent in 2011, and now our goal is to be No. 1,” he said. Rea said that target is definitely within reach, with seven more Dulux stores set to open in different provinces this year. “Our stores are thriving – we’re the fastest-growing paint store brand in Canada, averaging 12 new stores per year since 2010,” he said. pp

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decorative techniques

Graffiti Gone,

Beautifully By Agnes von Mehren

n 2013, the City of Toronto got interested in removing graffiti and we were approached by the Queen Street West Business Improvement Association to provide a solution with Tattoowall. This patented technology from Italy applies images to almost any substrate. Whether rough or smooth it becomes a fresco. There’s no distortion of images, there’s no limitation to image size, and the invisible joint line technique means every image appears as a seamless whole. Our work with Toronto doesn’t remove graffiti, but covers it up with beautiful artwork and a protective sealant to shield the art from vandalism. Through a severe winter in 2013, and even a more severe winter in 2014, Tattoowall images have remained intact and graffiti-free on the planters that were chosen. Rob Sysak, the Queen Street West BIA’s executive director, says that City initiatives have transformed “the war on graffiti” into a collaboration with graffiti artists. The City of Toronto’s Graffiti Management Plan is now supporting and funding street art to bring vibrancy to City’s streets, alleyways and underpasses, but cracks down on vandalism that impacts homes and business owners with an entirely new approach. Toronto City Hall has brought about 100 street artists on board and will be providing these artists with the tools to create murals. Street art has now popped up in many places, from Scarborough to Etobicoke in the Toronto and surrounding areas.

The beauty of Tattoowall is that we’re able to work with these artists and use their work and expand it to any size required. The artist provides a small image and then it is scanned by our team and enlarged to full size, and then our installers seal the planters and install the art work. This year we’re addressing bullying and cyber-bullying. This subject has been chosen as cyber-bullying has become such a major problem online, not only in Canada but world wide. The artwork plan is to bring attention to this problem by having the artists create images that depict bullying and provides a message of “don’t be a bystander”. We will be providing more information on this initiative in the coming weeks and prior to the Pan Am games this summer in Toronto. According to Sysak, “The application of Tattoowall was done in the summer months and even with two severe winters, they’re still vibrant and engaging. The the Queen Street West BIA is very impressed with the possibilities of this technology, and we look forward to using Tattoowall again helping the community complete its outdoor art gallery on remaining planters.” pp

This is a very exciting program for Tattoowall and we will be bringing you updates shortly. www.mada-arts.com mastersTattoowall@gmail.com 647 346 3870

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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A Painter’s Own Home

hen Mark Maines created his painting business Any Color You Like (www. anycoloryoulike.com), his ideas about paint and color didn’t just stop with the homes of his clients. He’s made it part of his own place, too. “Our house was built in the 50’s, and the basement was always a utility space – a catch-all zone for us over the years. It was relatively unattractive, and though I’d painted it a couple of times during the 18 years we’ve lived here, something was always missing. I knew that if we were to reclaim this space it was going to take a huge departure from the usual. Bright colors were the departure we needed, and that’s what we got. Wall color is SW6920 Center Stage – Sherwin Williams Duration satin interior; floor color is SW6959 Blue Chip – Sherwin Williams Armorseal Tread-Plex. The stairs and table are SW6891 Mandarin – Sherwin Williams Armorseal Tread-Plex. pp

Show the world your best work right here. Send photos and tell us about them at steve@stevemaxwell.ca

Professional Painter • Spring 2015

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