What’s the easiest way to make more money as a decorator? It sounds simple — put your prices up. But before we dive into that, let’s take a moment to reflect on how the current market looks. The landscape has shifted significantly since COVID, and decorators are facing unprecedented price hikes in materials. In all my 35 years in the industry, I’ve never seen anything like it. But the reality is, there’s not much we can do to control the cost of supplies. So, what can we control? Our pricing.
Let’s talk about day rates. Many decorators have kept their day rates between £150 and £250 for years. It’s become the industry standard. But here’s the catch — this hasn’t really changed, even though the cost of doing business has skyrocketed. We’re stuck pricing ourselves at these old rates while the world around us gets more expensive.
The number one reason most decorators hesitate to raise prices is the fear of losing work. I remember when we first started our business, we sought advice from a business development expert. The first thing he said was, “Put your prices up.” At the time, we thought that was ridiculous. We assumed that raising prices would scare off customers. He said, “Yes, you might lose a few jobs, but you’ll make more on the jobs you do get and cut out the low-paying, time-consuming ones.”
The logic is simple: when you raise your prices, you’ll naturally lose some customers, but you’ll make more on the higher-paying jobs. You’ll also start attracting better clients—ones who value quality over price. By focusing on premium work, you’ll increase your earnings while reducing the number of jobs you need to take on. It’s all about working smarter, not harder.
Before you start raising your prices, though, there’s one thing you need to master: marketing. To successfully raise your prices, you need to have a larger supply of leads than the demand for your services. This way, you can afford to lose some jobs and still keep the ones you want.
Here’s a simple question: How many of the jobs you quote do you actually win? If you’re converting nearly all of them, it’s a sign that your prices are too low. It would help if you aimed to win about 50% of the jobs you quote. This ensures that you’re pricing yourself high enough to reflect your worth.
The more leads you have, the more flexibility you have to raise your prices and choose the jobs that are worth your time. One decorator in our network doubled his average kitchen painting price in just 12 months simply by focusing on marketing and attracting bigger, higher-paying jobs. Last year, his average kitchen job was around £1,500-£1,800. This year, it’s more like £3,000-£4,000.
So, are you ready to raise your prices? Before you do, ask yourself these three questions:
1. Have you already raised your prices? Yes or no?
2. Has this affected your current customer base? Have you lost any clients? Yes or no?
3. Have you started focusing on generating more leads to balance out your price increase? Yes or no?
If you haven’t done any of these, it’s time to take action. Start marketing your services more actively, generate more leads, and then confidently raise your prices. Trust me, your business—and your work-life balance will thank you for it.
Call: 0800 246 1167 and speak to Keith
Email: courses@PaintTechTrainingAcademy.co.uk and speak to Tracey
Fill out the form below and we will get back to you asap.
