I am a new home painting contractor and find bidding jobs to be difficult, especially exterior work. Suggestions?

I am a new home painting contractor and find bidding jobs to be difficult, especially exterior work. Suggestions? Although a very experienced residential painter, I`m having trouble bidding the jobs at the right price.

I am licensed, bonded, insured, use journeyman help and have many other expenses but also need to be competitive. Asked by D2 52 months ago Similar questions: home painting contractor find bidding jobs difficult exterior work Suggestions Business.

Similar questions: home painting contractor find bidding jobs difficult exterior work Suggestions.

Estimating software idea As an experienced painter, you probably have a good idea of what it costs you (in total) to paint a house. Im sure you know your margins, timeframes, etc. If you are winging it (or inaccurate) with any of those, you might try estimating software to see if you are on target or not. There will always be those guys who undercut you by cutting corners somewhere.

If you haven't already, look at something like this, as a benchmark. cprsoft.com/paintcost.htm .

What are the 1.7% of at home jobs that work.

I am a new home painting contractor and find bidding jobs to be difficult, especially exterior work. Suggestions? Although a very experienced residential painter, I`m having trouble bidding the jobs at the right price.

I am licensed, bonded, insured, use journeyman help and have many other expenses but also need to be competitive. Asked by D2 55 months ago Similar Questions: home painting contractor find bidding jobs difficult exterior work Suggestions Recent Questions About: home painting contractor find bidding jobs difficult exterior work Suggestions Business.

Similar Questions: home painting contractor find bidding jobs difficult exterior work Suggestions Recent Questions About: home painting contractor find bidding jobs difficult exterior work Suggestions.

Estimating software idea As an experienced painter, you probably have a good idea of what it costs you (in total) to paint a house. Im sure you know your margins, timeframes, etc. if you are winging it (or inaccurate) with any of those, you might try estimating software to see if you are on target or not. There will always be those guys who undercut you by cutting corners somewhere.

If you haven't already, look at something like this, as a benchmark. cprsoft.com/paintcost.htm .

I have developed a spreadsheet to help me. It has tasks and how long they take - and how much an hour that costs and what materials are required. Then after catching all the costs (don't forget jobwalks and management), I add my percentage increase.

I can then decide what my price is. Sources: My answer .

The estimation process can be difficult-- you have to look over the job, decide if the surfaces need scraping or pre-treatment, the difficulty of access, the danger of access, the dangers of wind, traffic, and heat. The costs of primers, paints, pressure-washer rental and repair, permits, scaffolding, tarps, runoff shields, and lead-abatement. The cost of labor.

The cost of maybe passing up other more lucrative jobs. The costs of transportation, union dues, training, spiffs, promotion, advertising, parties, retreats, recruiting, layoffs, slow times, winters, and insurance. And how much overhead costs you have for office space, storage space, disposal costs, bookeeping, taxes, insurance, misc tools and supplies, and health insurance.

Not to mention an allowance for bad debts, slow payers, negotiated down final bills, losses, theft, employee pilferage, legal bills, payoffs, bribes, back-scratching, and probbably more. I'd either myself or with the help of an accountant, make up a spreadsheet where you can model all these costs and come up with a way to plug in some numbers, such as square feet, type of paint, primer, need for pre-treatment, overhead costs per hour and per job, etc, etc, etc, and have the spre4adsheet add and subtract and multiply all the items and come up with a bottom-line number that you can then adjust for the client's ability to pay. Plus other considerations, such as the local wages, how busy you already are, and your gut sense of how hard the job will be and how many painters will show up sober.

Whew! That's a lot of things to consider.

1 It might help those responding to you to know what you have already done to try to figure out why you're losing bids. A couple of things I would do in your position if you haven't already. I'd find out who you're losing the bids to.

How much are they undercutting you? Are they still pulling off a quality job? It may be that they don't have all the responsible things you have (licensed, bonded, insured).

Maybe they're using cut rate materials or cheap labor. Knowing these things will help you decide what to do to win bids. You don't want to sacrifice your integrity, but you have to have work, too.

Get to know contractors working on the other parts of the job. This isn't necessarily applicable if you're just changing the colors on a house, but it is on new construction and remodel. Once those contractors know you do quality work, they may choose you over a lower bidder that they don't know the quality of their work (or especially if they know their quality to be less than yours).

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

It might help those responding to you to know what you have already done to try to figure out why you're losing bids. A couple of things I would do in your position if you haven't already. I'd find out who you're losing the bids to.

How much are they undercutting you? Are they still pulling off a quality job? It may be that they don't have all the responsible things you have (licensed, bonded, insured).

Maybe they're using cut rate materials or cheap labor. Knowing these things will help you decide what to do to win bids. You don't want to sacrifice your integrity, but you have to have work, too.

Get to know contractors working on the other parts of the job. This isn't necessarily applicable if you're just changing the colors on a house, but it is on new construction and remodel. Once those contractors know you do quality work, they may choose you over a lower bidder that they don't know the quality of their work (or especially if they know their quality to be less than yours).

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

": Thanks Ancient, I did recently buy some software to help come up with bids, and I also walk the job and estimate by calculating just time and material needed, then multiplying by my hourly rate. My problem is that I`m constantly being underbid. I live in the Sacramento, CA.

Area. Apparently there are too many painters who aren`t licensed, paying taxes and using illegal aliens which cost them very little. They`ll do a lousy job with cheap paint, get paid and never to be seen again.

It`s tough for the legit small businessman to compete with the illegal contractors. As long as the Joe Smith`s continue to hire them, it will always be a problem.

I am looking for legitimate work at home jobs.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.