Is Fear of Failure Holding You Back from Starting Your Own Painting Business?

- By Andy Thompson

It's a known fact among house painters that over 90% of new painting businesses never make it past the first year.  

But did you also know that one of the main reasons so many good painters never get started is due to fear of failure?   

Fear of failure paralyzes painters into remaining in dead-end jobs painting for bosses who don't appreciate them and who barely pay them enough to survive. 

Although our industry desperately needs better customer service oriented painters in the field, there is a right and wrong way to go about getting started. 

The thought process for most house painters considering starting their own painting business is “I know how to paint so I will start my own painting business” but it quickly becomes clear that there is more to owning a painting business then the ability to apply paint well. 

Don't get me wrong good painting skills are a very important part of the process, but there are two other skill sets that must be developed also. 

Having a grasp of these two skill sets practically eliminates the fear of failure and will put you on a firm foundation to grow your painting business. 

The first skill set is marketing, which is the ability to get your phone ringing and consistently bring in new work.   

The second skill set is bidding and estimating, which is the ability to come up with the right price and land jobs on a consistent basis. 

There are really only two ways to develop these two areas of specialized knowledge. 

You can take the frustrating, costly and time-consuming route of trying to figure it out on your own through trial and error, or you can research study and apply proven techniques found in a quality painting business building home study course. 

My point is that the information gathering phase is arguably the most important first step, but unfortunately it's also the most overlooked. 

The good news is there's one sure fire way to overcome the fear of failure and that is to gather information and educate yourself about what it takes to start, profit and succeed before you jump right in.   

Spend some time searching the Internet looking for websites and gathering information such as articles and interviews, presented by people who are already experiencing the type of success that you would like to achieve. 

Decide what type of paint jobs you would like to target (for example, interior residential repaints). Speak to your local professional paint store manager and ask questions about your local market. 

The funny thing about the fear of failure is that it only exists because of “lack of knowledge”. 

So if you spend some time gathering information from credible sources about how to develop a cost effective marketing system and how to competitively and profitably bid and estimate paint jobs you will quickly gain the confidence to finally take the step and be your own boss. 

The more knowledge you gain before you get started, the greater your chance for long-term predictable success.