Hi everyone, I have a fun story to share – so, I bid and won my second ever residential painting job.
What follows is where I messed up and ended up losing money (but read to the end, there’s a HUGE silver lining.)
Rookie mistake #1: I bid the job sight unseen. Also, after I had sent the homeowner the bid, she excitedly started texting me the colors that she was considering and asking my opinion. That’s when I first discovered that she wanted two colors instead of one in two of the three rooms we would be painting. At that point, I SHOULD have let her know that my bid was for a single color (we were painting walls and ceilings white, according to my first conversation with her). But I wanted the job so badly that I didn’t say anything.
Then I arrived that first day – I had forgotten to ask her the ceiling height. 12 feet. In all the rooms. Oh, and a coffered ceiling in the master with exposed wood beams. And she wanted us to take down a ceiling fan and window treatments. No big deal. Just a little more time and labor costs.
I made other rookie mistakes too: I underestimated how much paint we would need, by almost half. I hired people I knew and others off of Craigslist. The first hire could paint, but was not a painter. The second two are GOLD. But the first guy cost me a full day, and dripped so much on the baseboards and floors (even with taping off and dropcloths) that he created hours of cleanup work.
So, I bid the job at $1,800 (painting 3 rooms and a bathroom ceiling and walls white), but so far, I’ve spent $2,100 and counting – we should finish up today. I’m guestimating that I will be in the red about $400 when this project is finished, not counting my time. (postscript – it was over $600 in the red, not counting about 20 hours of my time & labor)
Here’s silver lining #1 – not monetary at all. Two days ago, a custom car hauler pulls up. The owner is outside watching it. I asked him about it – he said they were his cars, being delivered from California. I asked him if he collects antique cars; he replied, “No, I build them.” That’s it. Very low-key.
Well, as they unload the cars, even as someone who is not into cars, I can tell they are nice. So I called my 17 year old son out from working (he’s our blue tape and prep guy) – and he actually gets to help push a $1.5 million dollar modified Porsche to the garage and is beyond excited. He asks the guy, “Why do you have so many Saleens?” The guy says, “We help build them.”
Later, as we eat lunch, my son relates this to me – he is a huge fan of Saleens, and excitedly tells me all about the business and the cars they build. Then a light bulb goes off in my head and I open my folder and pull out the invoice – yep, the last name of the woman is Saleen. I begin to say to my son, “Her name is Molly–“, but he excitedly cuts me off, “Molly Pop Pink!” Sure enough, it turned out it was that Molly.
This experience was gold for me – I’m still not into cars, but to have my son be able to see people who are uber successful and yet so down to earth, doing something they love – that was worth the monetary loss I took on this job. As a homeschooling mom, I seek out these experiences for my children and it was such a blessing to have this happen spontaneously.
As a homeschooling mom, I seek out these experiences for my children and it was such a blessing to have this happen spontaneously.
Silver lining #2 – My client wanted to pay me early before the job was finished, because her husband and she are leaving town for the weekend. I give her the invoice, she pays it. Then she asks me how much it would cost to paint the rest of her house. It’s at that point that I let her know that I actually lost money on this job, so my next bid will have to be higher. She told me she was glad that I honored my original bid, that it meant a lot to her. So, I may have another paint job from her – one that will be profitable this time. (postscript 2 months later – that hasn’t happened yet, but she did refer me to a friend of hers and we painted her house already. )
So, that’s it. Hope this was entertaining!
