Transition from res-repaint focus to commercial requires effective networking, planning, and patience, contractor says

Commercial painting projects continue to keep contractors busy to the point that demand for services often exceeds the working capacity of available contractors.

The work is lucrative, profitable, and for many contractors, preferred over the residential repaint market in which many got their start. So how do contractors, if they so choose, position themselves to succeed in the commercial market?

Flora Brothers Painting, a growing firm in the Indianapolis area, has done exactly that. And if brothers Justin and Aaron, who founded the firm in 2011, have their way, the company will be doing 70% of its 2022 business in the commercial realm after starting the firm focused solely on residential repaint.

“I remember, back in the day, talking to contractors who were all commercial and they’re like, ‘We don’t even want to touch residential,’” says Aaron, the younger of the Flora Brothers. “And at the time we were saying, ‘We don’t even want to do commercial. We’d rather stick to residential.’

“But some of those first commercial projects, we saw how it could be — basically here’s the project, you bid it, go in, self-manage it, get it done and here’s your check. There wasn’t all the emotional part, the time and energy required with customers on the residential side. We could see early on if we put our focus on commercial work, that’s where our success was going to be.”

The Flora brothers offer some guidelines on what worked for them in their transition to a commercial focus. But first, some background on the duo, which starts on the farm fields of northwest Indiana, will demonstrate that the ability to change course and pivot when necessary can be valuable in any pursuit.

Agriculture majors at Purdue
Aaron and Justin grew up on a family farm and both saw agriculture as their future when they enrolled in agriculture-related studies at nearby Purdue University. But an uncle had a residential-focused painting business that swallowed up both young men’s free time, and painting became almost as big a part of their college experience as their studies.

Aaron graduated first and landed a job with a firm selling fertilizers and seed, and as much as he enjoyed keeping a connection with the agriculture world, the pull of painting kept at him.

“I’ll never forget it,” recalls Justin, who at the time was wrapping up his degree requirements. “Aaron called me one early evening and I was out with my fiance’s family and I thought, yeah, I better take this, Aaron doesn’t call me much unless it’s important. So he says, ‘Hey, I’m thinking we should do our own thing and start a painting company.’ I was still in school and working for my uncle but I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s look at this.’”

The duo spent several months researching the residential painting market in the Indianapolis area and putting together a business plan. And in March of 2011, they bought a few ladders and tools and started selling.

“We printed flyers, started going door-to-door, and got a few jobs,” says Aaron. “After our first few jobs, we ended up having some money saved.”

That money was spent on the catalyst that would jump-start the company. The pair bought a half-page ad in the largest local metro daily newspaper, The Indianapolis Star. The ad resulted in more than 25 calls and 15 or so jobs.

“From that point, it’s been game on,” says Justin. “That really sling-shot us, but for a while, I was still driving back and forth to school. Aaron told me we had to focus on the business — we’ve got 15 jobs ahead of us. So job one was to hire some help.”

Target market
The Flora Brothers had to grow a reputation and find their sweet spot in the residential segment. The duo focused on working for an older demographic, nearing or at retirement age, with homes valued at $250,000 or more.

“With that, you’d get people who had businesses and, every once in a while, we’d get their office space or the outside of a small office building. So a few commercial jobs trickled in.”

Both brothers soon recognized the comparative efficiency and profitability of commercial work. But the transition to a company that does the majority of its work in a commercial realm has been an evolution of five years, according to Aaron.

“We just started making it known that we wanted to grow our commercial business,” he says. “We did some advertising, some social, and we talked to our Sherwin-Williams representative who helped us meet some key people in management companies. It’s not like you meet these people and you have a job next week. It’s a years-long process. We started to see how we were bidding projects incorrectly, so we adjusted that and worked on our pricing. And we worked with our vendors as well on getting better pricing on products.

“And we started to understand and identify the stresses that either general contractors, property managers or owners face, and let them know that we are going to relieve those stresses.”

Those stresses typically developed from experiences they had with other painting contractors. In general, the brothers found that property managers and the like expected to have to manage and “babysit” painters to ensure proper and timely execution of their tasks. Flora Brothers had built a reputation for delivering on promises in the residential segment, so for Aaron and Justin, it was simply a matter of demonstrating to their new customer base that they would do what they promised to do.

“We convinced them that we were able to just go in and self-manage these projects. We had  the track record to prove it. So it was just, ‘Leave it to us, show up when we’re done, and you’ll be happy with the result.’ The relationships we’ve had three to four years now, we look back to year one and we really solved the property manager and site superintendent’s stresses. At first they’d be checking in on us, but now they’re never there. They know we’re taking care of them.

“The biggest thing is this: if we tell you we’ll get it done in a two-week window and start on this date, they know we’ll follow through on that. It’s not just relieving the babysitting stress but them knowing that they can trust what we say we’re going to do for them.”

Keys to success, commercial transition
In summary, the Flora Brothers Painting team’s overall success and transition from a residential focus to a commercial focus were built on a few key components. They are identified below.

• Look for referrals from res repaint base. Some of your res repaint customers may own businesses or provide other opportunities for commercial work. Be sure to capitalize on these opportunities when they present themselves.
• Prepare for commercial work. Train your team for commercial work and understand the differences in executing commercial projects. Whether it’s investing in higher levels of equipment, interacting with stakeholders, the need to collaborate with other trades on jobsites and in scheduling, the bidding and bonding process, or the manner of working with provided specifications, commercial painting requires a different approach. The more you prepare yourself for its unique challenges, the better off you’ll be.
• Do what you say you’re going to do and do it well. Success in the commercial realm didn’t begin until the Flora brothers had a track record of quality and performance in the residential repaint segment. “We pride ourselves in customer service and the quality of our work,” says Justin. “If we didn’t have that record of performance in residential repaint, we never would’ve had an opportunity to grow on the commercial side.”
• Hire good people. Despite industry-wide labor challenges, Flora Brothers Painting has had little trouble growing its work force, now up to six management-level employees and 30-35 painters. Says Justin, “When you’re relationship-driven like Aaron and I are, and you create a fun and positive culture, people want to be part of it.”
• Take the patient, long view. The Flora brothers first started targeting commercial work about five years ago, and the transition to a commercial focus is still under way. “It’s definitely a process, not only to build the relationships necessary for commercial success, but to become efficient at bidding the jobs and executing them” says Aaron.
• Network effectively. Every opportunity to meet property managers, owners or general contractors is an opportunity to build your brand in the commercial world, according to Justin. Many of those opportunities came about via their relationship with Sherwin-Williams. “We’ve really worked at creating a name for ourselves in this market,” Justin says. “It might be a Colts game, it might be a Pro Show, it might be the chambers we’re involved with — we’re seeing these people and forming friendships with them. In the commercial world, that’s been very valuable.”
• Your Sherwin-Williams rep can help. Commercial work often requires the use of coatings that are more commercially focused. Your Sherwin-Williams rep can help ensure that you have the know-how to apply these coatings correctly and efficiently, for maximum productivity. Need to find a local Sherwin-Williams rep? Click here.