Challenges for U.S. Consumers When Seeking Professional Painting Services

1. Getting a Painter to Visit for an Estimate

• As the home source The Spruce stated in a 2019 article, "[t]he other difficult part is getting a painting contractor to show up. . . . [Y]ou can rarely get a paint contractor to show up to look at the house and to later produce a written estimate."
• Reasons why some painters don't always show up for estimates are that most painters tend to be smaller operators and their work is usually in high demand.
• The industry source Princeton Painters echoed this challenge in stating that because most painting contractors are usually local, small operations, it can take a while for them to show up for an estimate due to how busy they usually are. However, as Princeton Painters notes, those factors don't mean that consumers should tolerate when painters fail to show up for a scheduled visit for an estimate of the paint job, as that can be a bad sign of the painting company's reputation.
• Concerns about painters not showing up was also echoed as a pain point/challenge for consumers by the industry source The Paint People.
• "Virtual painting estimates" are a solution to this pain point/challenge that has emerged within the painting industry.
•  Virtual estimates help painters, who are usually already very busy, by eliminating the need to visit the project location for an estimate, as they can instead do so remotely.
• Consumers also benefit from virtual estimates because they allow them to receive painting estimates quicker compared to waiting for painters to show up for such.

2. Finding a Painting Service That Cares About Doing Good Work

• Another pain point/challenge that U.S. consumers face when seeking professional painting services is finding a painting service that cares about doing good work.
• Industry source Platinum Painting described this paint point/challenge as "one of the most common problems with hiring a painting company."
• Another industry source, Rise Painting, noted that "[w]ith all of the options available, it can be challenging to find a good painting company that you can trust. " In the absence of a personal recommendation, people are left with finding a quality painter on their own.
• One approach consumers use to address this challenge is by asking the painting service that a person is considering hiring to "provide references who will speak to their work." It is advised that consumers pass on a painting service that is "reluctant to share names and numbers, or if they don’t have anyone at all."
• Consumers also often address this challenge by asking people they know for references of good painting services.
• For consumers who live in urban areas, local magazines are sometimes used to find lists of painting contractors in the area.
•  Online review sites such as Nextdoor, Angie's List, and Houzz are also used by consumers to find quality painting services that care about doing good work.

Competitors to Paintzen

1. Handy

•  Handy is a company that is similar to Paintzen in the on-demand professional painting space.
•  Handy was founded in 2012 and is a private company.
• Handy allows consumers to "[i]nstantly book highly rated pros for cleaning and handyman tasks at a fixed price", including painting services on the interior of residential properties. The painters bring all necessary painting equipment with them, but customers provide the painters with "paint and primer."
• The company operates in many cities throughout the U.S. The company also operates in the U.K. and Canada.
• According to the company, its competitive advantage is described as follows: "Handy is the leading platform for connecting individuals looking for household services with top-rated, pre-screened independent service professionals. From home cleaning to handyman services, Handy instantly matches thousands of customers every week with professionals in cities all around the world. With a seamless 60-second booking process, secure payment and always on customer service, Handy is the easiest, most convenient way to book home services."

2. Improovy

•  Improovy is a company that is similar to Paintzen in the on-demand professional painting space.
•  Improovy was founded in 2019 and is a private company.
• Improovy offers a platform that matches consumers with interior painting contractors.
• The geographical areas that the company operates in are Chicago and the surrounding North Shore and Naperville areas.
• The company's competitive advantage is that it "is one of the only Chicago painting companies that's able to provide homeowners an accurate, affordable, and hassle-free interior painting quote, online or over the phone in two minutes or less."

3. Painters on Demand

•  Painters on Demand is a company that is similar to Paintzen in the on-demand professional painting space.
•  Painters on Demand was founded in 2007 and is a private company.
• Painters on Demand offers an on-demand platform through which consumers answer questions about their painting projects and the company sends painters to complete the work.
• The geographical areas that the company operates in are Florida (Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale) and Nashville, Tennessee.
• The company's main competitive advantage is the paint maintenance program it developed, which it calls Paintenance. The company describes the Paintenance program as "the act of maintaining the paint quality of a given facility by providing an on-going solution for professional paint services." The company also offers "a free color consultation through" Sherwin Williams.

4. HomeAdvisor

•  HomeAdvisor is a company that is similar to Paintzen in the on-demand professional painting space.
•  HomeAdvisor was founded in 1999 and is a public company.
• HomeAdvisor offers an "online marketplace connecting homeowners with prescreened and customer-rated home service professionals. The company is revolutionizing how people buy and sell home services by creating a better connection between consumers and prescreened, customer-rated businesses matched to their needs and interested in their requests."
• The company operates in every state across the U.S.
• The company's competitive advantage is that it "is the only Internet resource exclusively dedicated to helping independent residential service professionals realize the benefits of an organized, contractor group through the combination of savings, community and education."
• Another aspect of the company's competitive advantage is its significant reach among contractors and consumers alike. The company "has facilitated more than 11 million matches and boasts four million unique website visitors every month." Additionally, 60,000 professionals available for home repair work "are members of HomeAdvisor."