painting/remodeling/contracting

man · #1 10-15-2006, 04:25 PM

I'm putting together a plan for a remodeling business. I've wanted to do this for a while, and since moving to the boston area I've met up with some old friends who have experience and they've given me some ideas to get going on it again.

at the moment it's a buyer's market in the area so homeowners who are looking to sell are getting work done on their homes to jack up the prices. a trim job might improve the value of their house by a few thousand, so a figure like $500 looks like nothing to them. this is what my friends tell me, so I'm gonna put my faith in it. the market should be like this for another few years. that's about as long as I'm planning on doing this before moving on to more awesome things.

my plan is to be able to do this while working 40+ hours a week at a full-time job. I'd begin by getting back into construction/remodeling at night or on the weekends, whenever it's possible to for me to work. I anticipate taking on some painting jobs on my own after a month or so just to get some money (obv it won't be a lot to start) and to build a network. (hopefully I'll be able to break out of the painter mold, because after a few jobs painting [censored] sucks.)

at the moment I've laid out a general business plan, but I really don't know exactly how to get started. a friend of mine said he can put me in touch with some realtors, and I think that's as good a place as any to start.

there are a lot of things I don't know, and a lot of things I probably don't know I have to know, but here are a few specific questions for anyone who has experience in this area:

1. do I need a truck immediately? my friend's brother began contracting out of a VW jetta, but that does beat my tercel.
2. what kind of insurance do I need? fwiw I probably won't be hiring people for quite a while.
3. can I reasonably expect to get jobs in the evening or on weekends? (aside from it being tough on me, I can probably handle it.)

anything will help. honestly. I'm a complete noob.

BradleyT · #2 10-15-2006, 04:41 PM

I don't want you in my house painting at 6pm during the week when I'm trying to make supper, read the days mail and get the kids to do their homework etc. And I certainly don't want you staying in my house till 10-11pm every night so you can finish the job in a somewhat timely manner.

elus2 · #3 10-15-2006, 05:50 PM

i have friends that get contracts from local retail flooring materials companies. they all have their own trucks and depending on how busy they get will hire 1 or 2 extra people to get the job done faster. they get to jobsites by 7 or 8 in the morning and stay until the mid afternoon depending on scheduling.

try to get a light truck with a flatbed, having to leave in the middle of the job to get more materials sounds like a waste of time.

man · #4 10-16-2006, 09:22 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I don't want you in my house painting at 6pm during the week when I'm trying to make supper, read the days mail and get the kids to do their homework etc. And I certainly don't want you staying in my house till 10-11pm every night so you can finish the job in a somewhat timely manner.

[/ QUOTE ]
would you mind if I came by on the weekends?