From Painter to Multi-Million Dollar Business Owner: John Neubert's Journey to Success in the Painting Industry
Can you imagine building a multi-million dollar painting business without the help of YouTube, social media, or influencers? John Neubert, owner of Neubert Painting in Brook Park, Ohio, did just that and he's here to share his incredible journey. From starting out as a painter to earning his MBA and transitioning into a business owner and sales manager, John has valuable insights to offer contractors looking to grow their businesses and succeed in the world of painting.
In this episode, we explore John's unique approach to summer direct mail marketing campaigns and his strategy for scaling up his workforce during peak months. He also shares insights on managing and training a large workforce, implementing safety measures, and the challenges of finding and retaining employees in a competitive market. Plus, get an inside look at John's compensation and management style, his company's meeting rhythm, and how he maintains a strong company culture with bonus programs and employee engagement activities.
As John shares his keys to contractor success, you'll learn the importance of staying focused on growth and giving employees autonomy. He also offers advice on the investment required to hire people and the need to manage cash flow. Whether you're a growing contractor or an experienced business owner, you won't want to miss the wisdom and insights from this seasoned painting business owner. Join us as we uncover John Neubert's incredible journey and his invaluable lessons along the way.
About John Neubert:
John founded Neubert Painting in 1975. He has both grad and post-grad degrees from Cleveland State University. John has spent over 40 years in the residential painting industry, and hopes to continue on this path, in the direction of growth and success.
In this episode, we explore John's unique approach to summer direct mail marketing campaigns and his strategy for scaling up his workforce during peak months. He also shares insights on managing and training a large workforce, implementing safety measures, and the challenges of finding and retaining employees in a competitive market. Plus, get an inside look at John's compensation and management style, his company's meeting rhythm, and how he maintains a strong company culture with bonus programs and employee engagement activities.
As John shares his keys to contractor success, you'll learn the importance of staying focused on growth and giving employees autonomy. He also offers advice on the investment required to hire people and the need to manage cash flow. Whether you're a growing contractor or an experienced business owner, you won't want to miss the wisdom and insights from this seasoned painting business owner. Join us as we uncover John Neubert's incredible journey and his invaluable lessons along the way.
About John Neubert:
John founded Neubert Painting in 1975. He has both grad and post-grad degrees from Cleveland State University. John has spent over 40 years in the residential painting industry, and hopes to continue on this path, in the direction of growth and success.
----Links from this Episode----
- Open invitation for a free discovery call with Scott Lollar
- Consulting4Contractors’ Website
- Neubert Painting in Brook Park, Ohio
- Neubert Painting on Instagram
- Check out this video of Consulting4Contractors' Operations Module, one of our flagship Done-For-You tech offerings!
- Connect with C4C on Instagram
- Join the C4C community
- Connect on LinkedIn
- Submit to be a guest on our podcast
Credits:
- Scott Lollar: Host & Founder of Consulting4Contractors
- John Neubert: Owner, Neubert Painting, Brook Park, Ohio
- Justin Hange: Original music, artwork, transcripts, show notes, audio engineering
----- EPISODE CHAPTERS WITH SHORT KEY POINTS -----
(0:00:00) - Building a Multi-Million Dollar Painting Business
John Newbert shares his journey of transitioning from painting to business ownership, sales management, and more.
(0:12:47) - Summer Direct Mail Marketing Strategy
John Newbert's success is discussed, including his direct marketing campaigns, customized mailings, and scaling up workforce.
(0:18:23) - Managing and Training a Large Workforce
Safety meetings, training workshops, certification program, employee retention, legal spray booth discussed.
(0:28:02) - Compensation and Management Style
John Newbert pays employees well, has strategies for finding and keeping them, and has an exit strategy with financial compensation and bonus programs.
(0:34:06) - Company Meeting Rhythm and Hiring Strategy
John organizes the company with to-do lists, meetings, recruiting, goals, spending strategies, employee training, safety, and retention.
(0:41:56) - Painting Company Culture and Bonuses
Newbert Painting's culture focuses on people, with bonus systems, events, and celebrations.
(0:48:28) - Keys to Contractor Success
John Newbert advises on transitioning to a larger business, investing in people, managing cash flow, and giving employees autonomy.
(0:50:16) - Spending Wisely as a Contractor
John Newbert shared strategies for managing crews, finding and keeping great employees, and hosting events to stay focused on growth and success.
----- EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS -----
(0:00:00) - Building a Multi-Million Dollar Painting Business
John Newbert shares his journey of transitioning from painting to business ownership, sales management, and more.
(0:12:47) - Summer Direct Mail Marketing Strategy
John Newbert's success is discussed, including his direct marketing campaigns, customized mailings, and scaling up workforce.
(0:18:23) - Managing and Training a Large Workforce
Safety meetings, training workshops, certification program, employee retention, legal spray booth discussed.
(0:28:02) - Compensation and Management Style
John Newbert pays employees well, has strategies for finding and keeping them, and has an exit strategy with financial compensation and bonus programs.
(0:34:06) - Company Meeting Rhythm and Hiring Strategy
John organizes the company with to-do lists, meetings, recruiting, goals, spending strategies, employee training, safety, and retention.
(0:41:56) - Painting Company Culture and Bonuses
Newbert Painting's culture focuses on people, with bonus systems, events, and celebrations.
(0:48:28) - Keys to Contractor Success
John Newbert advises on transitioning to a larger business, investing in people, managing cash flow, and giving employees autonomy.
(0:50:16) - Spending Wisely as a Contractor
John Newbert shared strategies for managing crews, finding and keeping great employees, and hosting events to stay focused on growth and success.
----- EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS -----
Year Round Work Expansion | 0:08:27 - 0:09:57 (90 Seconds)
0:08:27 Scott
So at what point did you start adding some non-seasonal work, or year round work, or whatever you call it in your business? When did you start doing more of the you know bread and butter normal, whatever you want to call it versus just your seasonal work. ?
0:08:42 John
We probably started doing some of that about 30 years ago, but we really weren't. We really weren't that good And we didn't really know what we were doing. And I'd say, in the last 20 years, we've, we've, we're way more serious about it And we our model for interior work is to hire experienced painters, and we don't, we don't, we have, we do have painters we've trained from scratch. But it's far more efficient to hire a professional painter that's already been trained by somebody else And that and that's so. That's, that's how we hired. So we've worn so much through the years by some of the people we've brought on And we have very low turnover in our full time jobs. I mean, my head cabinet guy's been with me about 25 years and I have, i have, i have probably we have 10 inside painters. I'd say half of them have been with us over 10 years.
0:09:34 Scott
Wow, okay, so you start developing a segment of your workforce that is year round, and then you have the second component, which is seasonal work, and that is essentially extra work.
0:09:50 John
That's, that's correct. It's a. It's a pretty simple business model. It's pretty tight. It's a pretty tight model And we don't vary too much about it.
Summer Workforce Scaling | 0:17:36 - 0:18:21 (45 Seconds)
0:17:36 Scott
Okay, let's talk about Your summer workforce. I don't doesn't matter the time frame, but you know those three, four, five months You scale up and how many people painters now I'm talking about will you add for those peak, those peak months?
0:17:54 John
This year. This year will go from around around maybe 15, 20 employees up to about 75 and And and that's. That's not I mean, and that sounds like a lot, but we might. When I was younger, my peak year was 130 people in the summer, so which was crazy out of your mind. I don't know if I could find that many people today and paint costs are way more, way higher than they were back then, sure so?
0:33:29 Scott
Tell me a little bit about your meeting rhythm Now. It's been interesting to hear a little bit that you're an introvert and and I think for those that are listening, this is always fascinating. And I don't talk a lot before we record these because I really want it just to be live and fresh. But if you've caught John a couple different times saying he's not sure about this or he's not sure about that, and that's because he's hired good people and delegated to them, so is he aware of what's going on in this business? Yes, he surely is, but every detail, some of it's handled by other people. But on a macro level, tell me a little bit about the meeting rhythm of your company, like, how do you keep it all in order? Who do you meet with? How often, when do you meet? and you know what, how do you keep it all straight within your company?
0:34:22 John
Well, I mean, we meet informally every day. So we're being a small company, you work out of the same office, you certainly have our informal thing, but we work off of like a master to-do list every year and that gets divided up by everyone has certain things that they do, so we have a rhythm of what we do off season. So when we're doing marketing and stuff like that, all that stuff was done back in November and December. It was all put in the bag maybe January. So when we go into our season, all the hard work's already been done and I got a feeling a lot of people do it at the last minute and that you're at a disadvantage. But we meet like once a week. Um, tell me a little bit about your meeting rhythm Now. It's been interesting to hear a little bit that you're an introvert and and I think for those that are listening, this is always fascinating. And I don't talk a lot before we record these because I really want it just to be live and fresh. But if you've caught John a couple different times saying he's not sure about this or he's not sure about that, and that's because he's hired good people and delegated to them, so is he aware of what's going on in this business? Yes, he surely is, but every detail, some of it's handled by other people. But on a macro level, tell me a little bit about the meeting rhythm of your company, like, how do you keep it all in order? Who do you meet with? How often, when do you meet? and you know what, how do you keep it all straight within your company?
- (00:00) - Building a Multi-Million Dollar Painting Business
- (12:04) - Summer Direct Mail Marketing Strategy
- (18:21) - Managing and Training a Large Workforce
- (28:02) - Exit Strategy, Compensation and Management Style
- (34:05) - Company Meeting Rhythm and Hiring Strategy
- (41:55) - Painting Company Culture and Bonuses
- (48:21) - John's Superpower and Keys to Contractor Success
- (50:16) - Advice for the Emerging Contractor
