How Painting Contractors Can Streamline Their Estimates and Build a More Scalable Business

Running a successful painting business takes more than knowing how to deliver quality work. As a company grows, business owners have to spend less time managing individual jobs and more time focusing on estimating, sales, systems, and overall operations.

One area that can quickly become a bottleneck is the estimating process. Between measuring projects, calculating production hours, building proposals, and following up with customers, estimates can take up a significant portion of an owner's day.

In a recent episode of The Taurify Show, we sat down with Tristan Holshire, a painting contractor and the founder of Paint Bid Ninja, to discuss how painting contractors can improve their estimating processes, implement better systems, and create a business that is built to scale.

From Painting Houses to Building a Painting Business

Tristan's experience in the painting industry goes back to when he was just 14 years old. He spent his summers painting for his uncle before eventually getting involved in student painting franchises while attending university.

After three years of running a student painting business, Tristan partnered with his cousin, and together they continued building their own painting company.

Over the years, the business grew to approximately $3 million in annual revenue. But as the company expanded, Tristan began recognizing some of the challenges that came with managing a growing operation.

One of the biggest frustrations was the estimating process.

For years, Tristan and his business partner handled estimates themselves. Eventually, the repetitive work and time required to put together quotes became too much.

That frustration eventually led to the creation of Paint Bid Ninja, a software designed specifically to help painting contractors streamline their estimating process.

Why Production Rate Estimating Matters

One of the biggest topics discussed during the conversation was production rate estimating.

Rather than simply guessing what a project should cost or relying on rough measurements, production rate estimating breaks a project down into individual tasks and calculates how much time each task should take.

For example, painting interior walls, ceilings, exterior siding, and trim all require different production rates. Each surface has its own measurements and estimated production time.

Once you understand how much work a painter can realistically complete in an hour, you can use those numbers to calculate labor hours and build a more accurate estimate.

Tristan explained that his company has always relied on this approach because it provides a more consistent way to price projects.

The challenge wasn't necessarily the math. It was collecting all the necessary information, organizing it, calculating the numbers, and transferring everything into a professional proposal.

Originally, Tristan's team handled everything with pen and paper, calculators, and carbon-copy contracts. They eventually moved to Google Sheets to automate calculations, but still had to transfer information into separate documents and contract software.

This created unnecessary steps and made the entire process more time-consuming.

The goal became simple: create one system that could handle the estimating process while keeping everything organized and professional.

The Importance of Having Systems in Place

As your painting business grows, the systems that worked when you were smaller may eventually become the very things holding you back.

Tristan discussed how some contractors are comfortable doing things the same way they've always done them. While that approach might work for a smaller operation, it can become difficult to maintain as the company grows.

If you're the only person who knows how to estimate jobs, build proposals, and manage certain processes, your business becomes dependent on you.

That makes it difficult to delegate responsibilities, bring on additional employees, and increase your overall capacity.

As Tristan explained, growing a business requires an approach that is documented, efficient, and supported by proper checks and balances.

You don't necessarily need to change everything overnight. But you do need to recognize when your current processes are no longer supporting the direction you want your business to go.

What gets your business to $500,000 may not be what gets it to $1 million or $3 million.

At each stage of growth, you'll face different challenges. The key is identifying those challenges and building the systems needed to overcome them.

Stop Doing Everything Yourself: Start Operating Like an Owner

Another important takeaway from the conversation was the difference between being an operator and being a business owner.

Many painting contractors spend their days working on job sites, managing crews, handling estimates, answering calls, and trying to keep everything moving.

While there's nothing wrong with being involved in the day-to-day work, it becomes increasingly difficult to grow when you're responsible for everything.

At some point, you have to start stepping away from production and focusing on the bigger picture.

That means spending more time on:

• Generating new leads and increasing estimate opportunities.

• Improving your sales and estimating processes.

• Hiring and developing the right employees.

• Implementing software and automation.

• Creating consistent systems for your team.

• Monitoring business performance and identifying areas for improvement.

Getting off the tools doesn't mean becoming disconnected from your business. It means creating a company that can operate without requiring you to personally handle every task.

As Tristan pointed out, the contractors who tend to get the most out of systems like Paint Bid Ninja are those who are focused on running and growing the business rather than spending all their time in production.

Why Better Estimates Can Make a Difference

Estimating isn't just about sending a customer a price. It's an important part of your entire sales process.

A disorganized or inconsistent estimating process can create problems with pricing, communication, and the overall customer experience.

During the interview, Tristan explained that Paint Bid Ninja was designed to make the estimating process more efficient while producing professional proposals.

Some of the benefits discussed include:

1. More Consistent Pricing

Using production rates helps contractors establish a consistent approach to estimating different surfaces and project types. Instead of relying entirely on guesswork, estimates are built around measurable quantities and production expectations.

2. Professional Proposals

Customers want to understand what they're paying for. Having detailed, visually appealing proposals helps present the scope of work clearly and professionally.

3. Better Organization

Keeping estimates, work orders, and change orders organized in one place makes it easier to access important project information when you need it.

4. Improved Workflow Opportunities

Having better access to estimated production hours can also help contractors create additional processes, such as employee bonus programs based on production performance.

5. Mobile-Friendly Estimating

Tristan also discussed how he personally uses Paint Bid Ninja on his phone while visiting job sites. Having a system optimized for mobile makes it easier to work through estimates without always needing to carry a laptop or tablet.

Don't Rely Entirely on AI for Your Estimates

AI is becoming increasingly popular throughout the home service industry, and estimating is no exception.

During the conversation, Tristan discussed how some contractors are experimenting with AI tools to put together estimates.

While these tools can be helpful, there are potential problems when relying on them too heavily.

One concern is AI hallucinations, where a tool produces inaccurate information or calculations. When it comes to estimating, even a small mistake can have a significant impact on your profitability.

Your estimates determine how much you're charging customers and how much time and labor you expect a project to require.

That's not something you want to leave entirely to an automated system without proper verification.

Tristan believes AI will play an increasingly important role in making the estimating process faster and more efficient. However, accuracy and consistency still need to come first.

The goal should be to use technology to support your estimating process, not blindly replace the experience and judgment required to price a painting project correctly.

Know Which Problems Actually Need Fixing

One of the more interesting points from the interview was the importance of identifying the right problems in your business.

As a contractor, it's easy to get caught up trying to improve every little detail. But not every problem deserves the same amount of attention.

For example, you might be concerned that some of your estimates aren't closing. But if you're already closing 40% of your estimates, your closing rate may not be the biggest issue.

You might get a much better return by focusing on generating more qualified estimate opportunities rather than spending all your time trying to increase your closing rate by another few percentage points.

The same concept applies to the rest of your business.

Before investing time and money into improving a particular process, take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

Ask yourself:

• Where is the biggest bottleneck in my business?

• Which process is taking up too much time?

• What is preventing us from handling more work?

• Are we losing money because of poor systems or inconsistent processes?

• What improvement would have the biggest impact on profitability?

The best business owners aren't necessarily the ones who fix the most problems. They're the ones who identify the problems that matter most and prioritize solving them.

Final Thoughts: Build a Business That Doesn't Depend on You for Everything

Growing a painting business requires more than generating additional leads and booking more jobs.

You need the right people, processes, and systems to support that growth.

As Tristan's experience demonstrates, even a successful painting company generating millions in revenue can run into bottlenecks when its processes aren't built to handle the next stage of growth.

Whether it's improving your estimating process, implementing better software, or stepping away from production, every improvement should help make your business more efficient and scalable.

You don't have to change everything at once. Start by identifying what's slowing your business down and focus on fixing that problem first.

Over time, those improvements can make a significant difference in how your company operates and how much room it has to grow.

Want to Hear the Full Conversation?

Check out the full episode of The Taurify Show featuring Tristan Holshire, founder of Paint Bid Ninja, where we dive deeper into production rate estimating, business systems, and what it takes to grow a successful painting company.

Learn more about Paint Bid Ninja: Visit their website to explore their estimating software and book a demo.