Painting the way to being his own boss.

by Julie Onufrak

WEYMOUTH —
STEVE BUTTRICK
Steve Buttrick enjoyed his career in food service, working as a director of operations for different McDonald’s franchisees and an area manager for the Bruegger’s bagel shop chain.
His goal, however, was to run his own business.
“I always said I wanted to be 50 and free,” he said. “Freedom was working for myself.”
He didn’t do it until he was 51. But last June, after his son graduated from college and his daughter got married, Buttrick opened his own CertaPro Painters franchise. His area includes several communities south and west of Boston as well as three Boston neighborhoods.
Buttrick, who lives in Weymouth, had no prior knowledge about painting – beyond having occasionally done maintenance on his own home – and no particular desire to get into the home improvement industry.
“What I was looking for was a professionally managed company that had a great system in place, that had a lot of attention to detail, and was also the leader in the industry with great growth potential,” he said.
Using a consulting company, he decided that CertaPro matched his needs. The company evolved from Canadian-based College Pro Painters, and both are now owned by the Ontario-based Franchise Company. The Franchise Company also owns or controls other franchise systems including California Closets and Paul Davis Restoration.
CertaPro teamed Buttrick up with other franchisees in a work group for him to present his business plan. He was assigned a mentor, and he attended several training sessions at CertraPro’s headquarters in Oaks, Pa.
“We’re literally in this huge warehouse on ladders doing the actual painting,” he said of the training. “So we get a lot of hands-on experience.”
About 80 percent of Buttrick’s work is residential, but he can also work on CertaPro’s national commercial accounts and bid on his own commercial jobs.
When the economy took a nosedive at the end of last summer, Buttrick was worried, but so far he said the revenues have exceeded his initial expectations. He said he thinks more people are staying in their homes longer and doing maintenance rather than moving.
Right now, Buttrick has 25 workers – including six employees and nearly 20 independent contractors – and runs the business out of his home. But he expects to hire a production manager and sales manager soon and move into an office next year. “Here we are, almost a year later, and I would never look back,” he said. “I wish I’d done it sooner.”
 

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