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Taking Your Business to the Next Level
What's the first thing a top consulting firm recommends to their painting company clients? Find out in our new Pro On the Go video interview with Kevin Nolan of Nolan Summit Services.
Video Transcription:
Mike Starling, Editor, PPC Magazine:
For this edition of Pro on the Go, we sat down with Kevin Nolan, President of Nolan Painting. He and his brother, Brian also run Nolan Summit Services, a consulting business for other painting company owners.
Kevin Nolan, Nolan Painting:
When I meet a new client from my consulting company, one of the things that I try to impress upon them is the need to build structure in your company. Often, they’re good contractors, they do great work but they don’t have much structure. As a matter of fact, they went into business with maybe an “entrepreneurial seizure” and they immediately started doing the work and they fly by the seat of their pants and they don’t really need much in the way of security. They don’t need a regular paycheck. So, they could continue on that way for a long time and they start to hire employees and the employees are not entrepreneurial necessarily, don’t fly by the seat of their pants and expect to get paid every Friday. So, it’s really important that you start establishing good business practices and structure in your organization, your employees crave it.
Mike Starling:
This can take many forms: Detailed job descriptions an understandable compensation package, structured communications.
Kevin Nolan:
So, one of the things that I started doing many years ago was having regular meetings and I remember thinking, “Boy, I never got into this business so I could have meetings.” But, I’ve come to realize the value of a well-run meeting.
Mike Starling:
They have weekly meetings on finance, operations, training and human resources, plus a safety meeting once a month. The key is to keep them short and focused. Nolan uses the term PAL – for Purpose, Agenda and Length. The payoff: more employee engagement. Here’s one example.
Kevin Nolan:
Once a week we have a meeting about our operations. We bring in our whole organization and we explain to them what’s happening, how much work we have, how much money we have, what are the issues, what are the customer service issues, what are the challenges that we’re facing. I find that when we talk to our employees like this, they develop ownership thinking. They develop a sense that they’re part of this team and that they want this team to win.