Something shifted after I stopped saying yes to every project

For the first five years of running my painting crew in Portland, I took any job that came my way. Commercial, residential, new builds, touch ups, it didn't matter. About a year ago I started turning down small interior jobs under $2,000 and focusing on exterior repaints and larger remodels. My net profit last quarter was up 30% and I'm working less hours per week. Has anyone else seen a real jump after narrowing down what you offer?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyd366d ago

30% profit jump from just ditching the small jobs under 2k? That's wild, I honestly didn't think the math would work out that clean. Most guys I know who try this end up scrambling for work after a slow month or two and go right back to taking everything. Sounds like you found the sweet spot in your market, which is pretty rare to pull off without hurting your cash flow.

tessa_hill866d ago

Wait, have you actually seen guys try this and fail because they couldn't handle the downtime? Cause that's exactly what I was thinking reading that post. It's tough because you get that initial rush of freedom from dropping the small stuff, but then the slow weeks hit and your brain starts screaming at you to take anything that comes along. I really feel for the guys who try this and end up back where they started, it's not like they didn't want it to work, they just didn't have the cushion to ride out the quiet months. Your point about the sweet spot in the market is spot on too, it's not a one size fits all thing, it really depends on what kind of demand you have in your area. Solidarity to anyone trying to make this shift, it's harder than people give it credit for.

bennett.claire6d ago

That "sweet spot" you mentioned is really about the type of clients, not just the job size. @abbyd36, I've seen guys succeed with this because they also stopped dealing with the cheapest customers who always haggled and never referred anyone. When you cut the small jobs, you're often cutting the most demanding people too, and that can free up time to find better clients.

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