I went from white collar to blue collar and I couldn’t be happier. I’m making more money, working my own hours and I do work that actually gives me satisfaction. Oh, and I almost forgot, I’m not breaking my body doing it.
What am I doing? Just painting. No, I’m not painting the Mona Lisa, or anything fancy like that. Not that kind of painting. I’m just an interior house painter on the Gold Coast. I’m sure you know full time professional painters existed, but I bet you never expected they could make themselves a nice amount of coin.
All Blue Collar Trades Are In Shortage, Including Painters
The skilled trades industry faces a labor shortage, including painting. At least in Australia, and across pretty much all western nations. And yep, painting is a skilled trade, but admittedly it’s one that all people can do. Truthfully, any homeowner can pick up a brush. However, not everyone can do it properly, nicely and time efficiently.
And that makes painting the perfect trade to get into. Why? Because you don’t need to spend 4+ years in a trade college spending thousands on courses, and talking low wages whilst being an apprentice. It’s no secret plumbers, electricians, engineers and trades of the like can make much more per hour on an employed basis than an employed painter.
But I’m presenting a trade business opportunity where one can become proficient in 1 year of working under another more experienced painting company. And once proficient, the hourly rate you can quote yourself out on a self employed basis becomes significantly higher. This is where painting becomes a lucrative goldmine ripe for anybody willing to put in hard work, complete jobs fast, and perhaps eventually manage a small team.
The high demand for quality painters means you can quickly build a reputation, secure contracts, and command premium pricing for your services. People love to speak about their freshly painted houses, it’s one of those trades that get people talking, it markets itself. Nobody opens a conversation to their neighbour about who came round last week to fix the leaking pipes, but friends and family sure wanna hear about who got the house looking a million dollars since the last time they visited. A fresh paint job is a walking billboard.
And It Won’t Break Your Body
Painting is a very physical trade. It isn’t as cushy as an electrician’s job, I can assure you that much. There are some physical days of repetitive brushing and rolling, but truthfully, painting is a breeze compared to some other trades out there. Have you seen the blood sweat and tears the concretors put into their job? I don’t need to lay a new driveway to know being bent over and levelling off a fresh pour with a straight edge by hand is grueling.
So, if you’re looking for a new business opportunity, consider looking into trades that are in demand and niche out from there.
