Steve Tomlinson has been a professional painting contractor since 1979. He is based in Bullard, Texas. PPC caught up with Steve to find out the secrets of his company’s success.

What was the biggest turning point in the success of your business?

When I started funding each job separately from the others, not taking money out of one job to support the successive jobs. For instance, I didn’t let my residential repaints fund my payroll for my larger commercial work.

What’s your favorite part of running your own painting company?

Watching the younger painters grow and learn more about the paint trade each week.

Can you tell us about one of your most rewarding projects?

Painting the new Anytime Fitness facility in Denison, Texas. The specs called for an oil-based dryfall on the ceilings, but I disagreed. So I got Michael Boswell, the manager at the Sherwin-Williams Tyler South store, involved. Michael recommended Pro Industrial™ Waterborne Acrylic Dryfall. He said this product would save me a lot of labor and cut two days out of my completion date. He was right.

What’s the best business advice you ever got?

It was from my father. He told me, back in the early ’80s: “You are only as good as your last day’s performance.” He said there was no resting in the service industry.

What advice do you have for young painters entering the business?

If you don’t mind working hard, this could be a good career for you. The painting trade is some of the hardest work you will ever do. Set some achievable business goals and work hard to meet or surpass them. The painting business is the most rewarding job out there for me. I love it and have a deep passion for the work and my customers.

This article was originally published in the Winter 2016 issue of PPC magazine. Steve Tomlinson was interviewed by Mike Starling, PPC Editor. Read more about what pro painters have discovered on the job in the PPC What I’ve Learned archive.