In each issue of Pintor Pro magazine, senior editor Jorge Arboleda goes behind the scenes with successful painting company owners for our series, The Painting Life. This issue’s featured residential contractor: Mario Vega of Solution Painting in Annandale, Virginia.
When Mario Vega came to Virginia from Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2000, he tried various trades, including work in restaurants to installing walls in construction. Lucky for him, a Bolivian gentleman helped him enter the field of professional painting.
“I immediately loved painting,” he says. “It is a transformation of spaces, from the old to the new. What I liked the most was transforming the houses, changing the colors of the properties, the wood, the exteriors. You feel like a plastic surgeon,” he says.
Working for other contractors he realized very early that he wanted to be his own boss. Thus, in 2005 he founded Solution Painting.
“I wanted to have my company because I didn’t like working for anyone. I also wanted to be an entrepreneur, have financial freedom, have my time. We started as a very small company subcontracting from another company, while looking for the opportunity to be known on our own. But soon we found ourselves without a source of work and that’s when I realized that we couldn’t depend on others. Since then, all my effort has been focused on making Solution Painting a company recognized for its quality and efficiency.”
Partners more than employees
Solution Painting is dedicated only to residential painting, contracting work exclusively with homeowners in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area, a metropolitan space usually known as the DMV. All workers associated with his company have been personally and professionally trained by Mario Vega. Over time, some of his workers have formed subcontracting firms with which Solution Painting shares assignments.
“I prepare and train them for complete success here in Washington and in Virginia. In total we work with around 35 people, although around 16 are direct employees and the rest are from around six subcontractors who trained with me.”
Vega maintains how important his employees are to him.
“Calling them employees is a very strong word, let’s say that they are more like my friends, my colleagues, my partners, my colleagues… They all started with me. I prefer those who come to work knowing nothing about painting so that they learn with me. What does interest me is that they have a good attitude, honesty and integrity.”
Although time has taught him to face whatever comes his way, if there is something that may make him lose sleep, he says, it is generating work for his workers. “We do not lack work, but we have to go out and look for it. Every week we have about eight to 10 projects that can range anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000 – the largest project we have done was $200,000.”
The importance of Sherwin-Williams
Mario Vega says he uses Sherwin-Williams products and services in 99 percent of all his work.
“I mostly use Duration Home® in interiors, and Duration® and SuperPaint® on exteriors. Sherwin-Williams products are the best, but just as important as the products is the preparation. I dedicate 85 percent of my time on each project to preparing the surfaces and covering floors and furniture for protection, since it is better to be safe than sorry,” he adds.
Part of the preparation is also the use of primers, which he says must be applied with precision. “We apply two coats of primer and two coats of paint on ceilings, walls, and wood. In addition to Duration, we use oil primers on wood. And in exteriors we also use two coats of primer and two coats of paint. For brick or concrete we use Loxon®, and for floors we use products like Armorseal®.”
Vega says that he needs to look no further than Sherwin-Williams for his painting product and service needs.
“They have stores everywhere, which the others don’t have, and I’ve always had a very good relationship with the sales reps. With the high-quality products of Sherwin-Williams, I am guaranteed that the client will be satisfied with the results. My sales representative is always available to answer any questions about a product or the availability of certain supplies. This way I save time and make sure that my client receives excellent service, from the materials to the workforce.”
The need for marketing
Once a job is finished, Vega says, the client will not need to hire his company for another 10 or 12 years, and even longer in interior jobs.
“Even if some old customers call us back, we need to work all the time, so every day we have to find a new customer.” That is why Mario Vega gives so much importance to marketing.
In its early days, he says, Solution Painting resorted to door-to-door handouts, which was exhausting and not very effective. Then it went to platforms like Angie’s List (now Angi), Home Advisor, Yelp, etc. where his marketing budget reached $10,000 a month or even more. Today he has decided to have a bigger presence on Google, he maintains, where he hopes to get better results.
“In addition, on Google customers can see that, out of more than 4,400 reports about us, we have 96 percent positive comments.”
Reaching a larger audience, he says, brings other concerns as well. “Along with promotion, we need people in the office who can answer the phones. And we must have a call center to answer outside of office hours. I am always available at any time,” he says.
You have to do what you have to do
For Mario, construction and painting are ideal businesses for Hispanics.
“You have to be happy with what you do, first of all. I believe that Hispanics can make a good living from painting because we are hard-working people who come here with many aspirations. I would advise anyone to take up painting if they are interested. But you have to have a good attitude.”
Then he adds: “I would advise those who are just starting out to be punctual and provide quality and good customer service. Preparation is essential in all work, and it is the only guarantee of having a happy client. I tell my employees: ‘here you can’t take shortcuts, you have to do what you have to do.’”
Advice and legacy
The best business advice he has ever received, he says, came from his mother: “What you tell the customer is the law, and you must comply fully.” His family is also important in terms of the continuity of his business. “I have two children who have to learn to paint and who I am going to teach. I think that like all Latino parents, what one seeks is to leave a legacy and a patrimony for their children, and that is the goal,” he says.
Eager to become the number one painting contractor in Washington, D.C., Vega also thinks that it is important to pass on his teachings.
“I’m going to keep working and tutoring everyone who asks me on how to make money and how to be an entrepreneur,” he concludes.
This story was published in the Summer 2023 issue of Pintor Pro magazine. ©2023 Randall Reilly. Story by Jorge Arboleda, Pintor Pro senior editor. Read more stories about successful painting contractors in the Pintor Pro magazine archive.
