Become an essential luxury
As costs rise, we need to charge more to keep the same standard of living. Over the past five years the average cost of getting a decorator in has gone up by 20% to 30%…
The power of small improvements
You might be a great decorator, you might have all the best kit, but you’ll certainly know you can achieve more. Sometimes improvements aren’t about big life or work changes, it’s about the cumulative effect…
Are you confident in your brand?
Do you even know what your brand is?I don’t mean your logo, if you have one.Nor do I mean what your business is called,or how whizzy your website looks.Your brand is what people say about…
It’s all about the ‘who’
Big questions start with small words Journalists and documentary makers are taught to ask the ‘who, what, where, when, why, how’ questions. Applying those words to what we do is a great way to reflect…
Making a difference
When we do things with a clear purpose, we’ll not only do them better, but we’ll also get a lot more satisfaction from doing them. And the more that purpose aligns with making a difference…
Finding inspiration
Being a painter and decorator is more than a trade, it’s a particular set of skills, a business, and often a way of life. But like any hands-on profession, it’s easy to get stuck in…
Work / life balance
Spring is often the busiest time for painters and decorators. People are doing their spring cleans, and it’s reminding them how shabby some parts of their properties are. They look at their exteriors and think…
Working backwards
I love working backwards. I think it’s the way forward… For at least a decade I’ve been working backwards. It came about because of a conversation with my wife, who teaches dressmaking and pattern cutting.…
FAQ – Turning over a new leaf
Autumn is here, it’s the start of the new academic year – kids are off to school, college and uni. Many people (except teachers) have a bit more time, a bit more headspace. It’s a…
FAQ – The power of pausing
being responsive, not reactive We’re all guilty of it… Something happens, we have an emotional reaction, and we act. Maybe someone says something that riles us and we get cross. Maybe a client makes a…
FAQ – Decorating for the planet
Most of us want to pass on a healthy planet to the next generation. With climate change, rivers and seas too polluted to swim in, air pollution, species in decline… it can seem rather depressing.But…
FAQ – Time well spent
I don’t know anyone who gets it totally right when it comes to spending their time how they’d like to. But I’ve learned quite a few useful things over the years… As we come up…