Too often, business owners focus on their top line as the most important measure of their success. However, maintaining a healthy bottom line is essential to your prosperity. Here are five easy ways painting contractors can save money, cut costs and improve profitability.

1. Outsource non-essential functions

You’re not an accountant, you’re a painter. While it may seem like you’re saving money by performing tasks like taxes, payroll, and human resources, the opposite might be true. These functions can be time consuming and tedious, and ultimately distract you from your core business. If you can’t afford to outsource, however, take advantage of accounting software programs such as QuickBooks^®, which can be integrated via mySW, resulting in reduced office time and easier invoicing.

2. Social media

Facebook and Instagram are terrific forums to demonstrate your capabilities, generate loyalty and spread buzz about your business. You can build and retain relationships with past customers and benefit from their positive reviews. While it is free to create a business page on these platforms, spending money on channel advertising will be important for increasing content engagement and growing brand awareness. Pro tip: Before you post, have someone give your posts a quick proofread to clean up any grammatical goofs or misspellings that could suggest your painting work similarly won’t be up to par.

3. Save energy

There are lots of ways to cut back on your energy consumption and its associated costs. Is it really necessary to idle your truck while you’re catching up on phone calls in the parking lot? How about the office computers? Shut them off when they’re not needed, and that goes for the lights, too. Open your shades and blinds to let in free natural light, which research has shown contributes to improved moods and productivity. And while face-to-face meetings are often a necessary and valuable part of doing business, sometimes tools like Skype can get the job done just as effectively, saving you the fuel and wear on your vehicle.

4. Sublet unused space

It’s often difficult to right-size facilities, given the fact that your activity and staffing levels can be riding a rollercoaster in the painting business. If you have extra capacity, consider subletting it. An unused office might be just what’s needed for an independent businessperson, who can help you chip away at your overhead costs. And the extra shop space you have can be used by a variety of renters. Leasing out indoor boat storage, for example, will help ensure all the square footage you’re paying for is working for you.

5. PRO benefits

Make sure you take advantage of the discounts that are available to you as a PRO. Your Sherwin-Williams PRO account affords you everyday low pricing, case savings, access to exclusive sales available through the PRO app, and a wealth of other money-saving benefits. You’ll receive emails just for pros with exclusive coupons and business-building ideas, including the biannual Blue Bucket Sale where you’ll receive 35 percent off your purchases in March and September. Receive text-only offers sent right to your phone – just text your zip code to 72468 (PAINT) to sign up. And, by creating a mySW profile, you’ll be able to buy online any time and take advantage of any PRO offer right from your phone, tablet or laptop.

This article was published Feb. 20, 2020. Get more expert tips for building and managing your painting business in the PPC digital edition archives.