For professional painters, especially business owners who work in the field, managing a myriad of work details daily can be overwhelming. From keeping business expenses organized to tracking and managing employees, there’s a lot to juggle “beyond the brush” for painting contractors.
We’ve teamed up with Fine Homebuilding® for a video series exploring how real-life painting contractors and business owners achieve success. This video looks at how Noah Kanter, owner of Nth Degree Painting in Burlington, Vermont, uses operational technology to track and manage each job, and what he sees as the best software for a small business.
Make Process Priority #1
Kanter has been in the painting business in Burlington for about eight years, specializing in restoration work during the exterior season from May to October. During the colder months, he specializes in residential interior repaints.
In addition to carrying out the daily responsibilities of owning and operating a painting business, Kanter also paints on-site for every project. He credits his commitment to craftsmanship and implementing strategic business processes with helping Nth Degree Painting succeed, especially as his team grows.
“I think what’s special about my company is my dedication to an extremely high degree of craftsmanship, as well as guiding the clients through a really, really good process,” Kanter says. “My role is just about everything, from estimating to bookkeeping... I am still in the field and on the brush. I am still the lead producer, as well as now managing my one full-time employee, and a soon-to-be second strong part-time employee coming on next week to go into the interior season.”
Leverage Mobile Technology to Build Teams
Operational technology is key to Kanter’s process—particularly as a one-man show—when it comes to running his painting business. Technology has helped him bring on more team members as the business thrives.
“As a sole proprietor on the brush every day, for me, it was really important to develop great technology systems for tracking every business function before bringing those employees on,” Kanter says. “So, I could really focus on developing them and managing them in the field. The nice thing about the systems I’ve set up is they are all mobile, and they all take only a few minutes for each function, so I can do them whenever, wherever.”
Use Different Software Solutions for Different Business Functions
Over time, Kanter has curated a suite of tools that can help with everything from payroll to time management and business expenses.
For Kanter, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to the best payroll software for a small business. To run his payroll and track expenses, Kanter uses a few different solutions.
“The big thing is QuickBooks, and that just helps me track my big picture business numbers, as well as do automated, full-service payroll,” Kanter says.
For time tracking, he uses TimeStation as a way to “get great hours reporting for payroll.”
Kanter also leverages Smart Receipts, which helps him track each receipt for each job, and generates valuable reports when he needs them.
“These apps help me not fall behind on tracking,” Kanter says. “We’ve all seen the contractor with the dashboard full of receipts. For me, they’re all in the cloud. Every time I buy something, I put it in the cloud. I don’t care what happens to the receipt, it’s all logged.”
Explore Your Options
From the top digital marketing channels to expert guidance on business systems and software, Benjamin Moore is there to help. Learn more with our advice for building a painting business.
And when it comes to the tricky task of getting your clients to decide on colour, turn to the Benjamin Moore ColorReader device and the Benjamin Moore Color Portfolio® app.
About the Video Series
Benjamin Moore teamed up with Fine Homebuilding® for a video series exploring how real-life painting contractors achieve success. Watch more videos here.