Want to know more about A New View Painting?
Here’s a quick Q&A session with owner, Jonathan Robert.
Q: What are the typical questions you hear from customers prior to starting a job?
A: Here are two of the questions I most frequently encounter:
1) When should I paint the exterior of my house, and how long will an exterior paint job last?
Answer: Typically a paint job in Colorado will last about eight years. After that point, colors will be fading, and paint (especially on door frames and upper south facing peaks) on trim will begin peeling away. The caulk between siding and trim boards will also start to crack which is another indication that your house is ready for painting. So if your colors are fading, trim paint is peeling, and if it’s been eight years since your last paint job, it is time to protect the exterior of your house and avoid costly carpentry repairs!
2) I’m not sure about the colors I am picking for my house, and I’m really scared I will pick the wrong color! What should I do?
Answer: There is one simple solution to the color dilemma: Put up samples! A New View Painting offers three free samples to anyone who contracts the company. I will help you look at colors and guide you through the process, but most importantly, we will see a large swatch of color on the wall or side of the home BEFORE we commit to buying all the paint. It is very difficult for homeowners to accurately gauge how colors will look on the house when only viewing small samples that the paint company offers. To that end, I offer free samples that we can paint on a surface to get an accurate sense of what the color will truly look like.
Q: What made you want to start your own business?
A: The biggest lesson I have learned lately is to have faith in trained and trusted employees who can do the job perfectly well without me hovering over their shoulder or me doing the work myself. I will have been in the painting world for 30 years this coming summer. I started painting during the summer when I was 14, and for the first 20 years of painting, I did nearly all the work myself. As I got older and busier, however, I had to manage a transition to having the work done by employees. I am fortunate to have found and kept some very talented and trustworthy employees who do excellent work that makes me proud. While it was a bit scary letting go of being on every job site all the time, I am so glad that I have made the transition to manager of painting operations. I still know the quality is there, but I have realized that I am able to easily grow and improve my business without a paint brush in my hand.
A: When I was in college, I had to stain a deck for a church friend of my parents. The stain was oil-based, sticky, and smelly, and this deck was HUGE. The real kicker was staining the overhead trellis. Every time I raised my brush in the air to apply stain, the saturated stain brush produced a steady stream of stain that ran down my arm into my clothes and all over the place. I spent three days staining this deck, and at one point I put on a rain coat to see if I could avoid the overhead shower of stain, but that didn’t work either. I almost quit painting I was so tired of smelling and feeling that oil-based stain on my skin! But I persevered, got the job done, and moved on.
Q: You also work as a high school history teacher at Frederick High School. How has running the operations of A New View Painting impacted your teaching style?
A: I really feel lucky having the flexibility to do two of the things that I like most: running a business and teaching. Last year I transitioned from full time teaching to part time teaching so that I was better able to manage the painting business. I teach every other day because our high school is on the block schedule, which allows me ample time to visit job sites and have a pulse on the day to day operations of my business. As to how the business has impacted my teaching style, I think running a business gives me credibility with my students. Most students are very perceptive, and they really want to learn from people with real world experience who will tell them the truth about life after high school. I try to be very honest with my students about the expectations that their future employers will have for them in terms of communication skills, writing skills, and basic accountability. I think they believe me because I am an employer and I have been in the “real” world for quite some time.
A: I have heard so many stories about shoddy painting companies that, on some level, I can easily distinguish myself from those poorly run companies by simply returning phone calls and emails, showing up when expected, and doing what I propose to do in my work contracts. Yet I have heard from many customers over the years that A New View Painting does more than simply “show up”. We really deliver a great customer experience from inception to completion of the paint job. I think one of the most important parts of that customer experience is reliable communication between the customer and the business owner. I put a lot of effort into ensuring that my customers know what is happening, when it is happening, and why it is happening. I am available by phone, email, and return calls and emails promptly.
