Self-Care As A Sole Trader – Sharing Top Tips And Shared Experiences - Brewers Know How - the decorating knowledge and advice you need

Have your own business or thinking about becoming a business owner? It might feel overwhelming at times, so we are here to put your mind at ease! We share some of our top tips along with expert advice and shared experiences from Gary (Brush Wizards) and Shaz (Interiors By Shaz).

1. Starting out

If you’re just starting out, or thinking about starting out on your own, finding the right resources and people to support you is important. Just because you’re starting your own business, that doesn’t mean you’re completely alone!

Gary says:

From the age of 11, I worked for family friends, cutting their grass and cleaning their car. Before long, they had me painting their house, and by the time I was 15, I had become pretty good at DIY.

After leaving school, I worked in an office for a few years, but sitting behind a desk all day wasn’t for me. I realised I preferred working with my hands, so I placed an advert in the local paper offering painting and decorating services. My business took off quickly from there.

Gary’s top tips: Start collecting assets from day one. This could be through gathering email addresses and phone numbers, or by creating a local Facebook group. If you consistently nurture this audience, you’ll never be short of work. They’ll either come back for repeat jobs or recommend you to their friends and family. – just be sure to make sure you are GDPR compliant with customer details and store all information safely and securely with expressed permission.

Shaz says:

I was employed as a decorator for 14 years. I took the opportunity after lockdown to make the leap. I was not enjoying exterior work in the cold months and had a few friends of friends asking if I could decorate for them. My husband designed me a logo, we designed some business cards together, and he showed me how to make a quote and invoice, and I was off!

I registered as a sole trader, took out public liability insurance and purchased the additional equipment I needed. The work came in pretty fast, by word of mouth. One of my biggest breaks came from a high-end cabinet maker that saw my work on a job and started recommending me to their customers.

Shaz’s top tips: If you're thinking about doing it, go for it. If you’re passionate about decorating and homes, have faith in yourself and your abilities. I wish I'd done it a lot sooner. Take notes when you go to quote a job so you can accurately work out how long it will take you. This will get easier as you go along.

Make sure to be fastidiously clean and tidy. My customers really appreciate that. As an extra tip, get yourself a spare pair of shoes that you only wear inside the room you’re working on, and leave your others at the door.

Some of Shaz' work!

2. Be prepared to make mistakes and learn from them!

Making mistakes and failing is a very natural and important part of life, especially when running a business. Having the expectation of yourself to be perfect all the time can take its toll mentally and physically. We’re all human and failing presents an opportunity for great learning.

Gary advises:

Remember, not all jobs are profitable! When I first started, I took on any job that came my way. I quickly realised that some jobs were easier and paid better, so over time, I focused on those. I eventually became an expert in hand-painted kitchens.

Remember, don’t overstretch yourself! Make sure you allow enough time to finish each job properly and avoid taking on evening or weekend work just to fit a client’s schedule. Over the years, I’ve learned that clients will wait for you.

By being the one in control and telling the client when you can fit them in, you’ll earn more respect. Also, if you have a partner, see if they can help with the paperwork. Most painters love painting but aren’t too keen on the admin side of things.

3. Getting the work-life balance being self-employed

This can be tough, especially when you want to have time off or have bills to pay. However, making sure you get that balancing act right is hugely important and a big factor in running a successful business. It’s easier said than done but should always be a priority.

Gary’s experience:

My biggest challenge was overcoming severe anxiety in my 30s. Looking back, it was a mix of working too many hours and trying to care for a young family. When my son was born, I was on a six-month contract for a doctor’s surgery, and the work had to be done on weekends. I ended up working seven days a week and barely saw my son and daughter.

The anxiety hit hardest during holidays—it was like my body and mind, used to running at 100 miles per hour, didn’t know how to slow down. Eventually, I knew I needed help. Someone recommended a cognitive hypnotherapist, and she completely turned my life around. I was so blown away by the experience that I trained to become a cognitive hypnotherapist myself, helping clients for a few years in between decorating.

Wearing too many hats is a struggle! From doing the work itself to looking at potential jobs, handling quotes, invoicing, tax returns, marketing, and liaising with customers (you get the gist), it can be overwhelming. Juggling it all makes it hard to switch off sometimes.

Getting the balance right is still an ongoing juggling act, to be honest. I had found a nice balance when I was solely decorating, having systemised my business and set aside one day just for admin tasks. But since starting Brush Wizards, work has become extremely busy again. The difference now is that running Brush Wizards doesn’t feel like work because I absolutely love it. Plus, my wife recently left her job to work on Brush Wizards full time, and she’s been amazing! Between us, we are working hard to get a balance and I’m confident we will achieve this soon.

Shaz also adds:

For me, my biggest challenge was getting the time balance right between my customers’ needs and my own. I want to please all my customers, and if everything came at once I would work weekends and school holidays to squeeze everyone in.

This took too much away from my family. I’ve learned with time that my customers are happy to wait. I’m booked up a year in advance now. People value the quality of my work a lot more than I expected they would. I’m a perfectionist and my customers really like that.

Just remind yourself you can't do everything for everyone immediately. Make sure that you make time for yourself. That’s so important for your energy and mental health.

4. Managing time and cash flow

Managing your time and cash flow can be massive stress factors, so making sure you have proper systems and processes in place can really help with this. Again, lean on others for support and advice if you’re struggling to manage.

Shaz suggests:

I make sure I invoice as soon as the work is completed. If I’m decorating an entire house, I quote each room separately and invoice when I compete them. My husband does my tax returns!

Gary also advises:

By creating systems, I streamlined my decorating business, and we’re now applying many of those features to Brush Wizards. For example, we use Xero to keep an up-to-date record of our finances. We’ve also introduced a CRM (customer relationship management) system to automate communication with Wizard members and the companies that support us. This system eliminates many of the manual tasks that used to take up loads of time.

5. Make connections within the industry!

There are so many incredible organisations and businesses out there who will be able to support you. You can always pop into Brewers for a friendly face and advice! Shaz said: “If I ever need product advice, Matt in my local Brewers is my go-to!”

Social media can also be a useful tool to learn and gain advice from other tradespeople and others within the industry.

Join Gary over on Brush Wizards!

At one point, I considered focusing on being a full-time hypnotherapist but realised I enjoyed being out and about decorating, rather than being stuck behind a desk. So, in November 2021, I created Brush Wizards, a safe space for decorators to talk about their challenges—whether it’s needing help with products or looking for wellbeing advice. I’m really proud of this community.

I now collaborate with The Quest Institute (where I trained as a hypnotherapist), and we have guest speakers every month who cover various aspects of wellbeing. In the guides section, we’ve built up nearly 20 chats for members to explore. This week (starting 16th September), we’re also running a 5-day wellness challenge in collaboration with Jayne Newman, the therapist who helped me many years ago. We’re planning to run these challenges regularly to help decorators manage anxiety.

Self-Care As A Sole Trader – Sharing Top Tips And Shared Experiences