How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Painting, Faux Painting, or Mural Business: With Companion CD-ROM
Author
Melissa Kay Bishop
Publisher
Atlantic Publishing Group Inc.
4 Review Copies Left
The painting, faux painting, and mural business is one of the most lucrative small business opportunities around, with more than $100 billion spent annually according to the International Franchise Association. The need for skilled, qualified painters for everything from the family home to other businesses or the side of a new building has made those with the right skill set highly sought after. For anyone seeking to start their own painting or mural painting business, it is only a matter of knowing where and how to get started and what is needed by them to both open a business and be financially successful in running it. This book was written with all of those expert painters in mind, ensuring that everyone who has ever been interested in starting their own painting business gets every possible resource they need to successfully run that business. You will learn what the basics of the career entail and how to go about running your business. You will learn the fundamentals of what equipment you will need and how to go about acquiring it for a decent rate. Learn how to find partners to help you or hire employees. Also learn the basics of your recordkeeping and how you will keep track of your finances. Additionally, you will learn about how to find and maintain professional contacts and build a portfolio that will help you find new work in the future. You will learn how to meet clients and dress properly and how to scope out the walls at your potential work sites so you can bid and work effectively. You will learn how to bid on a job and get paid for your work and finally how to start painting the walls, including the types of wall surfaces you may have, the paints you might use, how to load up and setup, and how to finalize a project. Dozens of the top faux and mural painters in the nation were contacted and interviewed for this book, their expertise compiled into a series of tips and tricks that will help you both understand how to run a business and be a successful painter. Everything you need to become a faux painter, from the first clients to the expansion of your business is included in this guide; the beginner s only needed resource.
Reviews
“How to Open and Operate a Financially Successful Painting, Faux Painting, or Mural Business” is a step by step guide to turning a hobby or part time job into a booming money-making company. Author Melissa Kay Bishop presents this how to guide for the would-be business owner in hopes that it will ease their transition from ‘casual painter’ to ‘professional artist’.
For the artist, most efforts are centered on the creative aspects of painting. However, Bishop ensures that the potentially mundane but important business aspects are not overlooked. Her advice could be effectively used by anyone looking to start a business but her recommendations are tailored specifically to the needs of a painting company. For example, she covers insurance but then gives the various considerations and options which would best serve painters. Bonding, permits, licenses, and ethics are only some of the many subjects included. She also includes a helpful companion CD which includes applicable business forms discussed in her book as well as a business plan model which can be adapted for a variety of needs.
I was especially pleased that a color section was included in this book. The black and white pictures didn’t clearly show textures or paint techniques so the color pages really made a difference. Not all of the black and white pictures were replicated in color but that didn’t deter at all from the section’s effectiveness. I did find several editing errors; the most glaring was in the section on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Bishop refers to them as ‘spiders’ on page 162 but four pages later calls them ‘octopi’. Having read (and reviewed) several website building books, I’ve yet to see SEOs referred to as ‘octopi’. Further, this can cause confusion for those readers with no previous SEO knowledge. I also thought the basic painting techniques included towards the end of the book seemed almost like an afterthought and didn’t really belong in this book. Not only were the instructions vague, a person interested in setting up a painting business would already know the basics and not need this information. This section would be better served in a ‘faux finish 101’ how-to book.
Reviewed on 07/12/2011 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Vicki Landes
