Notes

An Interview with Derek from Roman Paint Pros
Derek, who runs Roman Paint Pros, was kind enough to to answer several questions we had about the details of running a service business. We talk about why he decided to restart the family business, online marketing, and more.


We got in touch with Derek from Roman Paint Pros to ask him a few questions about being a business owner and a painting contractor. The business, located in Murrysville, PA, was originally started back in the 1970s and is still locally owned and operated. They’re focused on bringing professionalism to the painting industry and providing top notch painting services.
When did you start your business, and why?

I took over my Grandfather and Fathers Business in 2012 due to lack of Professionals in the Painting Industry.

Were you working as a painter before you took over your dad and granddad’s business? What drew you to being a painter in the first place?

No, I was VP of Medical Consulting Firm East Region, Prior to that I owned a Health Club.

It’s actually a funny story, I had a Medical Device Business that was very successful prior to Obamacare crushing our Reimbursements. We just purchased a new Home and called 6 Painting Companies to come out and Re-Paint our base trim white throughout our home. 1 of the 6 got back to me, he came out, charged us almost $5,000 to Paint the Base trim only in our 3600 sq ft home… I guess that price was the going rate because he was the only guy who I could even speak with.

So we booked the job, 2 random kids came out to do the work (I ended up re-cutting their lines straight in most of the home), and I said to my Wife, with things going down hill with my Med Business “I could do this better.” She said “Anyone could.” So I saw an opening in a highly unprofessional Industry, for a real, legit clean cut top quality company to come in and dominate.

After that, I re-established my family company in 2011. I was sick of corporate America, having bosses dictating my life… and there was obviously a shortage on good quality Painting Professionals, because I couldn’t find one… In an affluent area.
What were the initial expenses for starting your business? What Painters Westmoreland County, Pa of things did you need to purchase?

We spent about $15,000.00 on Website, Marketing, Seo, Logo, Leads purchasing, etc

You said that one of your initial costs for the business was purchasing leads. Which services did you use? Did you find them effective? I’ve read a lot of negative opinions on those kinda things (Thumbtack, Porch, etc), so I’m interested in hearing your experience with them.

I used a lead service called “Painter Choice” out of Colorado, they ran mostly Google Adwords and SEO’d traffic to their site, captured the lead and sold it to me directly. I spent $4500 and did over $100k in business. I no longer have to use any “Pay for Lead” service as our company dominates local search engines in Organic and Maps, to the point where we’ve been turning jobs away since June… I have also heard bad things about those companies, selling multiple leads and recycled leads to multiple companies.
How did you get your first customer?

We drew traffic to the website, they filled out the online lead form, I ran the Estimate, booked the job and completed the work to a 5 Star Review Level.
How do you price your jobs?

Each job is different depending on prep, labor, materials, size and scope.
How much do you spend on advertising a year, and what have you tried?

$3500 roughly. We only do SEO.

Your marketing approach seems to be concentrated on using your website to bring in new customers. What made you choose that as a focus over more traditional types of advertising?

So, we are not interested in “Pay now, maybe get leads later” type of advertising. If we pay, we want a hot live lead so I can convert it. Although, we are considering TV Commercial or Billboard Ads next year to tie the Branding into our online presence.
Do you have a slow season, and if so, how do you overcome it?

Sure, it starts slowing down in December, we overcome it by Painting new home construction.
How many employees do you have, and what do they help with? Do you have any partners or people that help run the business?

1 Employee, 2 Subs, no Partners.
How do you deal with customers that don’t pay on time?

We have procedures we follow.
What’s been your biggest challenge?

Finding help
What do you hate most about running a business?

Being taken advantage of by Homeowners, Subs, General Contractors
What advice would you give to someone starting a service business like yours?

You will have to outwork everybody. You will have to suffer through the slow times. Stay professional at all times (Even when Clients are not).
What would you say is unique about running your type of business compared to other service businesses?

We separate ourselves by the Owner of the Company doing the Estimating, and Completing the Project. Very few Painting Contractors (If any) operating at our amount of jobs completed annually operate this way.
Thank you to Derek and Roman Paint Pros

A big thanks to Derek for taking the time to talk with us about his business and answer our questions. His business’s website is located here. It has more info about all the painting services they offer, and it also has lots of photos of their impressive work. If you’re in the Murrysville, PA area and need a painter, be sure to check them out.
Website: https://www.romanpaintpros.com/