Tyler Linton was a 24-year-old insurance claims adjuster when he began considering entrepreneurship. He had no previous painting experience; he just knew he was on the road for work more than he liked. Now, eight years later, he has built a high-performing franchise with Fresh Coat Painters, the national painting brand. By incorporating both residential and commercial projects, building specialized teams and adding the support layers necessary to manage across multiple projects at once, Linton has passed the $1 million revenue milestone with a flexible, lifestyle-friendly model.
“I didn’t have any paint experience or knowledge. I’d never even been in a paint store,” Linton said. “I was on the road traveling a lot, so I started looking at different opportunities. I initially stumbled upon Fresh Coat, but as I learned more about the brand, the ability to run my own business and get up and running very quickly was appealing to me.”
Early in his ownership journey, Linton said the business had a split of approximately 90% residential and 10% commercial projects. Fresh Coat encourages owners to start with residential projects as they familiarize themselves with the business and their markets, but once owners are ready to transition to the commercial space, the franchisor has robust support systems in place to empower that growth.
With Fresh Coat’s support and processes to drive commercial growth, Linton has reached a more balanced 70/30 commercial/residential split, and this transition has been crucial for the growth of the business.
“We broke $1 million in revenue two years ago, and I don’t think it would’ve been nearly as easy to do that without taking on commercial projects,” he said. “You can definitely do that in residential, but it’s difficult, especially if you don’t have an estimator, to sell enough projects to break the million-dollar mark to get to the $2 million or $3 million mark.”
Because commercial projects come at a much larger scale than the typical residential project, franchisees can bring on additional teams and power the growth of their business as a whole through these opportunities.
Linton explained that Fresh Coat Painters of Des Moines has taken on commercial projects worth six figures or more, whereas the average residential project is closer to $5,000.
“One commercial project can have the financial potential of 20-plus residential projects,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to have a crew on one project for an extended period of time. While they’re there, you can really focus on building up the residential side of the business.”
One of the crucial aspects of running a successful Fresh Coat franchise is building and leading the right teams. For owners looking to grow through commercial projects, this is even more important, but Fresh Coat and its partners provide a strong starting point.
“You can definitely interchange commercial and residential painters if you wanted to, but they’re very different,” Linton said. “It’s almost always better to have a designated commercial team, and within the commercial context, there are different ranges of interior and exterior projects; different painters have different strengths.”
Commercial projects come with unique demands, including working at elevations, managing fast-paced schedules and coordinating projects alongside other trades that are also working in a given space.
Finding the right teams for residential projects is just as important, and those projects come with their own set of demands. When painters are entering someone’s home, their demeanor and customer service play a major role in the overall customer experience.
As he worked to build the teams to support his business growth, Linton leaned on partners at Sherwin-Williams who are familiar with local crews. After building the initial team, he was able to lean on referrals from trusted existing team members to further build out the teams.
As Linton built his teams and book of business, he was able to shift away from the daily demands of the business.
“Starting out, I was juggling multiple different hats, doing everything outside of painting — and even painting, too, sometimes,” he said. “But once I brought on my estimator, that took a huge portion of the daily demands off of me, and I was freed up to better manage the crews, stop by job sites and interact with customers and general contractors. As you bring people on to your team, it becomes a lot easier.”
Now, every day is different for him, but Linton said he’s able to focus on higher-level demands like project logistics, client relationships and problem-solving in addition to his efforts to grow the business.
Looking back, Linton recognizes the value in jumping in and pursuing growth quickly. Building brand awareness, establishing trusted teams and creating a structure that allows him to delegate has driven both the operational strength of the business and Linton’s own lifestyle flexibility.
“I think that you just have to jump into it, really focus on it and grow the business to where you want it to be as quickly as you can. When I started, I was 24, and I had literally no idea what I was doing,” he said. “Having that mindset and knowing that you’re going to have to build it up, but once you do, you’ll have a lot more flexibility … I think that’s the biggest thing. Being able to be your own boss and knowing that, if you want to take the day off, you don’t have to ask for it — there are a lot of benefits to that.”
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/freshcoat.
Fresh Coat
SPONSORED
By leveraging the national painting franchise’s support systems and seasoned playbook, Tyler Linton grew with both residential and commercial projects to build a highly lucrative business.
Tyler Linton was a 24-year-old insurance claims adjuster when he began considering entrepreneurship. He had no previous painting experience; he just knew he was on the road for work more than he liked. Now, eight years later, he has built a high-performing franchise with Fresh Coat Painters, the national painting brand. By incorporating both residential and commercial projects, building specialized teams and adding the support layers necessary to manage across multiple projects at once, Linton has passed the $1 million revenue milestone with a flexible, lifestyle-friendly model.
“I didn’t have any paint experience or knowledge. I’d never even been in a paint store,” Linton said. “I was on the road traveling a lot, so I started looking at different opportunities. I initially stumbled upon Fresh Coat, but as I learned more about the brand, the ability to run my own business and get up and running very quickly was appealing to me.”
Early in his ownership journey, Linton said the business had a split of approximately 90% residential and 10% commercial projects. Fresh Coat encourages owners to start with residential projects as they familiarize themselves with the business and their markets, but once owners are ready to transition to the commercial space, the franchisor has robust support systems in place to empower that growth.
With Fresh Coat’s support and processes to drive commercial growth, Linton has reached a more balanced 70/30 commercial/residential split, and this transition has been crucial for the growth of the business.
“We broke $1 million in revenue two years ago, and I don’t think it would’ve been nearly as easy to do that without taking on commercial projects,” he said. “You can definitely do that in residential, but it’s difficult, especially if you don’t have an estimator, to sell enough projects to break the million-dollar mark to get to the $2 million or $3 million mark.”
Because commercial projects come at a much larger scale than the typical residential project, franchisees can bring on additional teams and power the growth of their business as a whole through these opportunities.
Linton explained that Fresh Coat Painters of Des Moines has taken on commercial projects worth six figures or more, whereas the average residential project is closer to $5,000.
“One commercial project can have the financial potential of 20-plus residential projects,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to have a crew on one project for an extended period of time. While they’re there, you can really focus on building up the residential side of the business.”
One of the crucial aspects of running a successful Fresh Coat franchise is building and leading the right teams. For owners looking to grow through commercial projects, this is even more important, but Fresh Coat and its partners provide a strong starting point.
“You can definitely interchange commercial and residential painters if you wanted to, but they’re very different,” Linton said. “It’s almost always better to have a designated commercial team, and within the commercial context, there are different ranges of interior and exterior projects; different painters have different strengths.”
Commercial projects come with unique demands, including working at elevations, managing fast-paced schedules and coordinating projects alongside other trades that are also working in a given space.
Finding the right teams for residential projects is just as important, and those projects come with their own set of demands. When painters are entering someone’s home, their demeanor and customer service play a major role in the overall customer experience.
As he worked to build the teams to support his business growth, Linton leaned on partners at Sherwin-Williams who are familiar with local crews. After building the initial team, he was able to lean on referrals from trusted existing team members to further build out the teams.
As Linton built his teams and book of business, he was able to shift away from the daily demands of the business.
“Starting out, I was juggling multiple different hats, doing everything outside of painting — and even painting, too, sometimes,” he said. “But once I brought on my estimator, that took a huge portion of the daily demands off of me, and I was freed up to better manage the crews, stop by job sites and interact with customers and general contractors. As you bring people on to your team, it becomes a lot easier.”
Now, every day is different for him, but Linton said he’s able to focus on higher-level demands like project logistics, client relationships and problem-solving in addition to his efforts to grow the business.
Looking back, Linton recognizes the value in jumping in and pursuing growth quickly. Building brand awareness, establishing trusted teams and creating a structure that allows him to delegate has driven both the operational strength of the business and Linton’s own lifestyle flexibility.
“I think that you just have to jump into it, really focus on it and grow the business to where you want it to be as quickly as you can. When I started, I was 24, and I had literally no idea what I was doing,” he said. “Having that mindset and knowing that you’re going to have to build it up, but once you do, you’ll have a lot more flexibility … I think that’s the biggest thing. Being able to be your own boss and knowing that, if you want to take the day off, you don’t have to ask for it — there are a lot of benefits to that.”
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/freshcoat.
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