What's Next? ~ Assignment Twenty-Five

When I saw that we had to do interviews again... I was not too happy... BUT!! Every time I interview someone, I get better at it and learn something new!

Existing Market...

So... What is next with our painting service? Well... After I graduate the ability to take on bigger projects is what I want to do. I am going to be a general contractor so hopefully I will be painting the walls that I build from the ground up!

I talked to three people about my venture concept and then asked them what they thought was the next step in regards to painting. One person said that they didn't know what else I could do with that because it is just painting but the other two people were a little more innovative. They said instead of just offering painting as a service, I could offer other things. The people that I talked to didn't say anything super specific to do when I asked what we should be doing. One of them said we should be communicating with vendors and contractors to make connections. They also didn't know that I have experience in hanging and patching drywall, doing some electrical and plumbing amongst other things but it seemed to match up with what I had thought about doing.

I do think that if I were to just stick to painting, it would be really hard to grow. This is due to the fact that the only thing you could grow is the amount of jobs that you do. That would mean hiring a ton of people to just do paint! If that was what I wanted to do, that would be okay but because I want to grow in different ways and do more than just paint, I have to figure out other services or products to provide.

Some of those services that I could provide are services that I can do once I have my contractors license. My boyfriend is actually working on getting his electrical license while in school so he will have that soon. There are a lot of ways to make money. It all depends on who wants to hustle the most and actually do the work.


New Market...

So this was tricky... I thought it was pretty easy to come up with a market that my customers were in but now I have to think of a market that a normal customer wouldn't be in. I wouldn't say that my customers all have to be wealthy to afford my service because that is the point of this business is to try to include even the people who can't necessarily afford a big renovation. Also, doing the high class construction is pretty simple and that's why everyone wants to do it. The market that people don't want to enter is the low income housing market. That is something that I did all summer. I went into the high crime neighborhoods with some houses that were in pretty bad shape and made them affordable and livable for someone to rent. That could be another market that I go into and try to focus on with just painting. I wouldn't be able to paint their houses for free of course but I could certainly help them out. There are also a lot of unemployed people that I would be able to give jobs to. Paint is fairly easy to learn and if they want to make money and work hard, I would be happy to help them get on their feet.

So for these interviews, I actually had to go knock on some of the doors in these neighborhoods because I didn't know who to ask on the streets. A few of them shut me out or didn't even answer the door but there were two people that seemed happy to talk to me. I told them my business idea and they thought it was a great concept. While I was talking to them I actually thought of another idea. If I were to hire some of those people, I could give them a reward for working hard. That reward would be my team painting a room or two in the house they live in. They also liked that. One lady said she knows a lot of unemployed people in the neighborhood that would love to have a job like that because some employers wouldn't take them.

After my interviews, I feel like this market would be a very rewarding one because I would be helping a lot of people out. Doing this kind of work gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling on the inside. I love making money but I also love helping people and giving them second chances.

I think the thing that surprised me the most is how these people were so willing to talk to me. Sure, there were a couple of people that didn't want any part of it but the two people I did talk to wanted to talk for hours. They were really friendly. Whereas the people that I talked to on the street seemed rushed and wanted to get the questions over with quickly. This market does seem just as appealing to me and one of the biggest reasons is because it is different. Most people love the expensive homes and flips but if everyone is doing it, I wonder if I could make more money doing something other people wouldn't do.