do people pay?

[moggy]

Hi Guys

just a quick question.......

do people actually pay to have their boats painted or varnished.

My mate is a spray painter and he's just done my 'modern' GP14. Some of you saw GP #7 at the dinghy show, and since then I've been asked will I varnish some boats.

Now, we're both really quiet at the moment in out respective jobs and it got us thinking, could we start a small company.

Not really sure on prices but looking at what we've done with my GP, a 2pack paint finish for a GP size boat works out around £500? varnish well i'm not sure yet as I normally just do it for fun!

now I know thats alot cheaper than the 'famous' boat painting company, But do people like you and me normally pay someone to do these jobs or is it something we do for the love of it???

cheers

Gareth

[JimC]

Yes, but not enough for a painter to make a decent living...

[Max McCarthy]

I paint myself.

[JimC]

I paint myself.

Whereas I paint me, which is why it's better to get someone else to do the boat...

[billytwiglet]

just remember the lesson learnt from 'goldfinger'

[Nigel]

Perhaps a better question would be "do enough people pay?".

Personally, I would doubt the volumes would support earning a living from it but if you can do it via a bit of diversification (i.e with little or no set up costs) then you would not seem to have much to lose in giving it a go.

[JimC]

... doubt the volumes would support earning a living from it but if you can do it via a bit of diversification.

I reckon that's probably about right... If you already have the skills and the facilities but they are a bit underused then a bit of discreet advertising and word of mouth might well get you a useful amount of extra work. But, especially in these days where the vast majority of new boats are either gelcoat, which is very rarely painted, or thermoplastic, which never is, I think you'd be extraordinarily lucky to make any kind of reasonable return on any actual investment. It does tend to be so very seasonal too, which is always a pain in the neck from the point of view of paying the mortgage.

[Rupert]

I had a phone call yesterday about painting a boat... so there is some work out there, even if you aren't looking for it!

Very often, people will want repairs done before the painting, so either you'd need to be able to do those, or have an arrangement with a boat builder. In fact, as this could go both ways (him recommending you for paint jobs, too) it could be a way of getting known.

Pricewise, the well known paint job company charged a lot, but I suspect spent one hell of a lot of time and skill getting that sort of finish.

[kfz]

Gaz,

I think you need to do the whole thing. Repairs, fibreglass, rigging. You have the sailing background to back it up, I doubt theres enough work in just painting wooded boats. Market is too small, clientele are genrally fairly capable themselves. too restrictive.

When I as was thinking of doing my bikes, I was getting around 2 calls a week, but the problem is premisises, even a cheap backstreet place meant Id have to turn over at least 3 medium jobs a week just to pay the rent. I really dont know how one man bands survive, seriously hard work thats for sure. Never gonna be rich.

Virtually all the work was for older bikes, ofton specialised bikes where main dealers where to expensive (and not really interested) and backstreet places didnt have the skills. You need to tap that same market. You need to get that same market.

Model customer is a bloke, fairly ok off, not rich, short of time, He has a pretty decent boat, though its not the latest and greatest and pretty much knows his onions, but doesnt have the time or is not confident to do the work. Hes wants the job done right and is prepared to pay a little more for a good job.

You may want to considor being mobile, you cut the rent for the sake of a old Tranny van and you get to pick up the trade where they have no road trailer (do trailers too!).

I think theres a market in there but you need to be very flexable and know your customers you goin after.

Do a business plan for fun, see how it looks.

Good luck.

Kev

[chris]

From my own experience it really only works if you have virtually no overheads. If you need to rent a workshop etc out goings and income rarely make sense on this sort of scale. If you have everything you need then why not.

[Max McCarthy]

I paint myself.

Whereas I paint me, which is why it's better to get someone else to do the boat...

I paint both, but I don't mind getting a bit of paint over me

[PeterV]

Each year I try and get a better finish on my Finn and I'm usually disappointed. I get runs in the varnish, dust in the finishing coat and gaps where the light isn't good enough to let me see that I've missed a bit. Then I go sailing, the finish gets knocked, scraped or bashed almost immediately but it still looks great from a distance! So I've decided that as long as the wood is protected go sailing and don't worry about the finish.

So although I'd like a better finish there's no way I would pay a lot of money for it as I'd then be afraid to go sailing!

[Pat]

There are always people on the Merlin Rocket site prepared to pay for painters/repairers - a "moneyed" class like that would be a good place to advertise.

Personally I have a professional painter who does my boats and it costs me dearly - in love and affection

[Nessa]

well, usually I do my own repairs etc, but since I still can't use my wrist for this sort of thing, and my left elbow is now bust too, I have been finding people to do stuff for me. I had a friend who had recently been made redundant do Aggie for me and it was well worth it. He has been paid in cahs, coaching and his own restoration project - I gave him a phantom that needed doing up, plus all component parts, and he continues to work on the boat for me, plus store it. payment in kind can also be effective!

[moggy]

well...... we've done my boat 'newer' gp! not sure if you'll like the colour! but its Subaru Rally Blue, and as 555 ciggys us'd to be on rally subarus' (ok i'm loosing some of you but stay with me) - and the sail number is 13555, i thought...... SOD IT



Gaz