Supplies

Small Biz Book – Post #11

When I was the teacher of 30 6-year-olds, most days, I couldn’t hear myself think. Silence was a hot commodity in my life then. Now, I spend the majority of my days running errands and painting, alone, in silence when I prefer. Sometimes, I turn on a podcast or music and I’m able to just float along. Other days, my mind thinks, ponders, remembers, plans out, stews on, reflects upon and thinks some more. It’s admittedly exhausting up there in my mental, but it’s also fun to notice a topic that seems to visit and revisit. When I start to pick up on connections, I’m so happy that I may have something to write about. I’m even happier when I’m not too exhausted at any point in any given day to actually sit and write. And so, after 3 different Supply-related happenings, here we go:

As with all of my Small Business Blog posts, my stories and beliefs are coming from my experiences and perspectives. I am a painter, so my business is in the service industry. Therefore, I’m sure my experiences with Supplies are different than a company that sells products. I have mentioned in previous posts a company (alias: C.O.X.) that sells the service of furniture installation. When the company secured a warehouse, enabling the storage of their customer’s Supplies before installation projects began, their momentum shifted into the path of success. That’s yet another different relationship with Supplies that is possible in the business world, which also isn’t what I’m going to be talking about in this post.

It was the summer of 2018. I had only been painting as a side gig for half a year. I agreed to paint for a fairly low price because I needed the money and I didn’t have shit else going on in my life so it made sense to spend my time off work, working. My assignment was to paint the entire interior of a busted-up small rental house, bringing the cigarette-stained yellow walls to white. I didn’t know then that having a say in the choice of paint was a big deal. 4 coats later, I realized the low-end Walmart brand was not the way to go unless labor-intensive was the goal. (Labor intensive is never my goal.)

2021 – I finally got the momentum to rip out the classic 60’s spindles and metal flower bed in the entryway of my home. This left an unfinished half-wall that I dreamt of turning into a little bar table with a few stools. I cleverly covered the jacked-up top with some wallpaper while waiting for the transformation. I found pictures of the desired outcome and secured a quote. The guy that supplied the quote also supplied me with a list of items that I needed to purchase for the project to begin (estimated at about $300). If the guy had asked me for money for him to go buy the supplies, Zelle would have seen some immediate action. Instead, this is the picture of my half wall, including the close-up of the rippage, taken just this week, 2 years after the quote. Let me point out here that I visit Lowe’s, Home Depot and Menards a few times a week. But construction isn’t in my lane. I don’t like searching aimlessly for supplies that might be what’s actually needed. This project would be completed if the supply purchase wasn’t in the customer’s hands, and this customer was Me.

(For the record, this is still my vision.)

2023 – One of my cabinet customers had new dry wall put up in her bathroom (drywall isn’t in my lane either). The dry wall crew was also assigned to paint their newly installed wall. They asked their customer to buy the paint that she wanted them to use. She bought the paint and the painters used what she bought, but no conversation was had about primer. One dry wall wall takes almost exactly an entire gallon of paint when no primer is used underneath it. While this may be a lesson more about communication, if the service provider bought what they needed for the job and was reimbursed later, this would have ensured that all of the correct supplies were on hand for the project.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not rich yet. I’m making ends meet, just as I did when I worked for others, except I enjoy what I do now. I share my business experiences here so that maybe it saves you some time in the school of hard knocks or maybe it’s entertaining to read when someone had to learn the hard way. I have learned to purchase the supplies that I have found work the best for me up front and to ask for a deposit that covers said supplies. In other words…

Small Biz What Not to Do #11: Don’t leave the purchasing of supplies needed for a project completely in the hands of your customer.

#10 Communicate, Bitches ~ 3/29/23

#9 Accepting $ ~ 6/27/22

#8 Keepin’ it Simple ~ 1/2/22

#7 Time to Train ~ 4/18/20

#6 Spending $ ~ 11/28/19

#5 Make Them Stick ~ 9/2/19

#4 How in the Hell do you find Good Help? ~ 7/10/19

#3 The F Words in Business ~ 7/4/19

#2 From Problems to Procedures ~ 6/28/19

#1 Delegate, Dammit! ~ 6/21/19

Introduction ~ 6/17/19