A Poor Painters EYE’s are Always BIGGER than his Stomach

The older we get, the more we realize our eyes can be bigger than our stomachs. Brandon Lewis starts with that exact thought – comparing a Thanksgiving plate piled too high to how many painting business owners approach marketing. It’s easy to chase more leads and bigger sales, but if you don’t have the team to handle the work, all that demand ends up wasted.

Once your painting company reaches its production limit, your income potential does too. If you’ve got six painters and charge $60 an hour, your earning ceiling is already set — no matter how many estimates you book. You can’t out-market your production limits.

Brandon compares your team’s capacity to a fire hose: when it’s already running full blast, no amount of extra water pressure will increase the flow. To grow your income, you must widen the hose – in other words, recruit, hire, and train more painters. Your first few employees may only cover overhead, but the ones you add later are where true profit begins. Those final hires are what build your retirement savings, business infrastructure, and long-term financial freedom.

He also reminds painters to plan ahead for seasonality. Every contractor knows what happens – spring brings a flood of calls, winter brings a slowdown. Smart owners anticipate these shifts. They recruit before the busy season, not during it, and they stay ahead of attrition so they’re never caught short-staffed when opportunity knocks.

If you’re struggling with hiring, scheduling, or keeping up with demand, The Painters Academy can help. Brandon and his team of seasoned coaches – each with decades of hands-on experience managing painting businesses – have guided hundreds of owners through the same challenges you’re facing now. There’s no need to learn by trial and error.

Reach out to Brandon directly at brandon@paintersacademy.com or call 423-800-0520 to talk with the team. Or, if you’d like to explore at your own pace, visit paintersacademy.com to download free guides and resources designed to help you build a more profitable, sustainable painting business.