Success Beyond The Brush

SIGN UP FOR A TASTE OF COACHING HERE 👇👇👇 Get coaching with SCOTT LOLLAR here Get coaching with RICK HOLTZ here ****************************** In This Episode Mark and Scott discuss:  Why scope creep quietly destroys profit   How one unapproved jobsite decision can erase an entire job’s margin   Why crew leaders need to treat the work order as the source of truth   The difference between great c...

SIGN UP FOR A TASTE OF COACHING HERE 👇👇👇 Get coaching with SCOTT LOLLAR here Get coaching with RICK HOLTZ here ****************************** General contractors often get a bad reputation in the painting industry. Many painting contractors have dealt with slow payments, unrealistic schedules, disorganized jobsites, scope creep, and pressure to do extra work without approval. But does that mean...

SIGN UP FOR A TASTE OF COACHING HERE 👇👇👇 Get coaching with SCOTT LOLLAR here Get coaching with RICK HOLTZ here ****************************** In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Scott Lollar sits down with Rick Holtz to break down what it really takes to manage your management team effectively. Most contractors rely on gut feelings when evaluating their team—but that’s where things st...

Springtime brings more than just busy schedules—it brings callbacks, warranty claims, and profit leaks . In this episode, Mark Black and Scott Lollar break down the real truth about warranties in the painting industry—what they should cover, what they shouldn’t, and how poor systems can quietly drain your bottom line. They discuss:  Why most warranty issues actually start in the sales process  How...

Many contractors excel at sales or production… but fail in the space in between. In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Mark Black and Scott Lollar discuss one of the most overlooked opportunities to create a premium customer experience: the pre-production phase . After the contract is signed but before the project begins, many companies unintentionally create frustration, uncertainty, and...

👉 Book your FREE discovery call with Rick today 👈 Most contractors have revenue goals… but very few have a clear plan to reach them. In this episode, Scott Lollar interviews Rick Holtz , owner of HJ Holtz & Sons Painting and a Consulting4Contractors coach, about the practical process of turning business vision into measurable results. Rick shares how his company shifted from operating withou...

Hiring is one of the most consistent challenges facing contractors, regardless of company size. In this episode, Mark Black speaks with Rick Holtz about how successful painting companies approach hiring, onboarding, and training new team members — especially as the busy season approaches. Rick shares insights from managing a large team of 60+ field employees, including how his company maintains st...

What happens when your biggest customers are actually your biggest problem? In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , we revisit a conversation that Scott originally had on the Beyond A Million DollarPodcast, sitting down with Phil VanderLaan of PMV Painting to unpack a journey that many contractors quietly experience: growing revenue while losing profit. Phil shares how a major commercial pro...

Spring brings more than warmer weather for painting contractors — it also brings a flood of marketing pitches, lead generation promises, and pressure to spend money fast. In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Mark Black and Scott Lawler break down how contractors should think about marketing spend, where most owners go wrong, and how to actually measure whether marketing is producing resul...

Incentives Drive Behavior — So What Are You Really Paying For? Most contractors think a salary is a compensation plan . But according to Consulting for Contractors’ Scott Lollar , that mindset might be quietly costing your company money. In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Mark Black and Scott Lollar break down how contractors should think about compensation plans for overhead positions...

Leadership isn’t a destination. It’s a mirror. In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Mark Black sits down again with Rick Holtz of Holtz & Sons Painting for a powerful conversation on personal development, servant leadership, and the uncomfortable growth required to build a sustainable company. Rick shares his journey from “brute force” leadership as a young second-generation contracto...

In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Mark Black and Scott Lollar tackle one of the most overlooked — and most expensive — weaknesses in a contracting business: job documentation . From unclear scopes to missed closets, from time overruns to frustrated customers, this conversation exposes the hidden costs of vague work orders and poor internal communication. You’ll hear real-world stories...

In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Mark Black sits down with Rick Holtz , owner of a $6 million painting company with 50+ field employees, to unpack what it actually looks like to transition from operator to CEO. If you’ve ever wondered: Does stress triple when revenue triples? What does a real week look like for a $6M company owner? When should you hire production vs. sales? How do you...

In this listener Q&A episode, Scott Lollar shares his origin story—how an entrepreneurial streak as a kid (yard work, snow shoveling, even cleaning an elderly couple’s home) eventually led to painting, then scaling companies, and finally launching Consulting4Contractors (C4C). From there, Scott and Mark tackle big questions contractors face: how to choose a coach in a noisy market, how to stop...

In this episode, Mark Black and Scott Lollar break down why scheduling is one of the biggest hidden profit leaks in a contracting business. They unpack how going over budget doesn’t just cost you on the job — it steals capacity from the next job (the “double whammy”), why “my board is full” is meaningless if it isn’t tied to revenue targets and headcount , and how crew sizing, overtime, job roundi...

📝 Episode Summary Risk management isn’t about playing scared — it’s about playing smart. In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , we dig into the reality that as your painting business grows, so does your exposure to risk. From everyday jobsite mistakes to insurance blind spots, safety shortcuts, and financial vulnerabilities, this conversation reframes risk as something to be managed , not...

Many business owners come up through the trades as high performers and lone wolves. Meetings can feel “too corporate,” expensive, inconvenient, or uncomfortable — especially when owners don’t know what to say or fear saying the wrong thing. The result? Meetings get avoided entirely… and communication suffers. The One Meeting Every Company Needs Scott explains why monthly all-company meetings are e...

In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Mark and Scott dive into one of the biggest profit-killers for contractors: diversifying too much, too quickly, for the wrong reasons. From wanting to please customers… to scarcity mindset… to having “a guy” who used to do tile 13 years ago …   This conversation exposes the real risks behind saying “yes” to work that falls outside your core lane. Mark...

Where to Spend Your Marketing Dollars: Buyers, Brand, and Better ROI When you’ve got a limited marketing budget and a dozen people shouting “We’re the answer!”, where do you actually put your dollars? In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , host Mark Black sits down with Scott Lollar from Consulting4Contractors to unpack how painting contractors can make smarter, data-driven decisions about...

In this powerful episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Mark Black and Scott Lollar sit down with special guest Rick Holtz of H.J. Holtz & Son to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing contractors today — employee retention . With over 55 field employees and decades-long tenures on his team, Rick shares the intentional systems and leadership mindset that have helped him build a loyal, high...

In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Mark and Scott dive deep into one of the most critical — and often misunderstood — subjects in contracting: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) . While many business owners rely heavily on instinct and gut feelings, this conversation unpacks why real growth, sustainability, and profitability come from data-driven decisions . Scott explains how KPIs allow...

Episode Summary In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , Scott and Mark tackle one of the biggest misconceptions plaguing small painting businesses: confusing revenue with profit. Just because your business “did” $500,000 doesn’t mean you , the owner, made $500,000. The guys break down what revenue actually means, how to calculate real take-home pay, and why ignoring your financials is one of...

Episode Summary Most painting contractors are estimating , not selling —and it’s costing them jobs, margins, and quality clients. In this episode, Mark Black and Scott Lollar unpack one of the biggest pillars in a successful painting business: building a professional, customer-centric sales process that wins the middle third of your opportunities and elevates your customer experience. You’ll hear...

Episode Overview In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush , hosts Mark Black and Scott Lollar break down one of the most overlooked—but most powerful—drivers of profitability in a painting company: client access and communication . From online scheduling to pre-qualification filters, to expectation-setting and reducing friction at every stage of the sales process, this episode teaches you how t...

Episode 19 is all about the enduring legacy of a family business that has withstood the test of time as John Busick, the fifth-generation owner of Kunst Painting , opens up about steering a historic painting company into the future. From learning how to clean deuces in the back yard for 25 cents a bucket, to a narrative rich in lessons about navigating the future of his family's business, John's j...