You will get more painting contract jobs when you improve your entrepreneurial skills. It’s not enough just to be a good painter.
There are many good painters in every corner of Australia. To set yourself apart, you need to become the best businessman among the painters from your area.
In that way, people will learn about you and want to hire you. You will build your reputation and improve your exposure. Take a look at this list of tips that will help you get more painting contract jobs in your area.
Ask people what they want from their painter. Words like ‘skills’ and ‘reliability’ will be near the top of the list. One of the best ways to prove you are a reliable and skilled painter is to get licenced.
There are some licenses and certificates you can obtain which are necessary Australia-wide. In some states, there are preconditions for becoming a licensed painter. Two of such credentials are:
The process of obtaining your painting licence can be different across Australian states. In some states, the license is not needed. Here is the list of authorities to contact in your state. They will give you the most accurate and relevant information about licensing.
| Do You Need Qualifications to Be a Painter? | |
|---|---|
| State | Authority to Contact |
| New South Wales | Department of Fair Trading, NSW |
| Western Australia | Building Services Board, WA |
| Queensland | Building Services Authority, Queensland |
| South Australia | Consumer and Business Services, SA |
| Victoria | Victorian Building Authority |
| Tasmania | Consumer, Building and Occupational Services |
This means – if you want to find painting contract jobs in Sydney, you need a licence issued by the Department of Fair Trading, NSW.
Painting contract jobs in Brisbane are reserved for those who got their licence from the Building Services Authority, Queensland.
For painting contract jobs in Melbourne, you should check with the Victorian Building Authority. This is what their website says:
You must be registered with the Victorian Building Authority in Victoria to [:…..] provide more than one type of building work (such as plastering and painting) that costs more than $10,000 (including labour and materials). Victorian Building Authority
The market for painting contract jobs is huge. Every house, apartment or business venue needs to be painted sooner or later. That sounds like a lot of work. And it is! On the other hand, there are a lot of painters, as well.
If you try and land all the painting contract jobs in general – you are less likely to get them. Don’t be a generalist. There are hundreds of those. Be a specialist.
In that way, you will narrow down your market, but everybody in that market will look for a painter with your skills. It is much better to explain this with an example.
Let’s say there are currently 10,000 painting contract jobs in Australia. These jobs include interiors, exteriors, private buildings, office buildings and other paint jobs. There are around 19,000 registered painters in Australia.
Now, let’s say you choose a painting niche. You specialise in painting vintage houses. There may be as little as 1,000 jobs available on this market. But, there will not be more than a couple of businesses that deal with this type of painting contract work in your area. So, the odds of being hired are on your side, particularly if you do some research and pick a niche that is growing in popularity or trending in your working region.
There are situations when painting businesses cooperate on big projects. A company gets a painting contract job that is too big for them. They approach another painting business and offer to share the project. These situations are rare, and you should not wait for them to happen.
But you can and should look for similar arrangements with other types of businesses. Reach out to companies that are in a similar industry but not the same business. Here are some ideas:
Image from INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS MELBOURNE
Image from after-hours creative
Passive ways of approaching potential customers are not effective anymore. Giving away pens and baseball hats will not get you very far. Old-school leaflets in the mailbox are more likely to get you decent prospects. For best results, go for the personal approach.
Go door-to-door.
While you are working on a project, put up a sign with your contact details on the lawn. That’s just the first step. Take a couple of your leaflets and knock on the doors in the same street you are doing your project. Introduce yourself and give them a leaflet.
An even better idea is to do a quick assessment of a couple of houses in the street. Target homes in good areas that look like they would really benefit from a new coat of paint – properties that would gain a lot in market value simply from a new paint job.
Knock on their doors and say that you have noticed their exterior paint is chipped. Give them a leaflet with your estimate about what it would cost them for you to fix it. Maybe even suggest a colour scheme. This is an excellent way to increase your chances of winning more painting contract jobs.
Face-to-face marketing is efficient, but don’t forget about the Internet. Advertising online asks for investment. You can either invest your time or your money to build your internet presence. Either way, it will pay off. Here is what you need to do.
List your business on Service Seeking. Your business will have a professional profile that is ideal for your needs. You can add a couple of photos and write about your business.
The best part is – you get to send your quotes for painting contract jobs that you like. Customers post the description of their projects and the budget that they have for them. You bid only on those that you want. You are in complete control of which projects you take and pass. Start today by listing your business and quoting on your first painting contract job.