...I have a ton of questions, I'll start with these two....
1. What system do you use for clean up on the job? Do you just bring a five gal. bucket with some water in it, and throw all brushes, rollers, etc. in there, until you get home/shop?
In many cases, especially repaints, that's about all you can do. It makes an impression on the customer that you have a policy of not imposing any more than you must, and have regard for their property and utilities (the water can run a while
)...
In new construction, especially before landscaping and such has been completed, it is a little more convenient to clean up at the site, but beware; some of your materials do NOT belong in the ground....
2. I'm not sure how to handle the "who provides the paint" question? The local MAB Paint store will give me a cash-account with a 10% discount to start. But then my question becomes, do I ask the customer to go to MAB and pick it out or do I carry somekind of pamphlet selection?
Ask your vendor for a "fandeck", a book of paint color chips to help customers decide on a color. Paint stores will supply you with one or more of these for free (at least I've never been asked to pay for them)...You'll need fandecks for every paint company you work with...
As far as supplying paint goes, unless you are doing T&M, the materials should be part of your estimate, and you actually deliver it to the site. However, (sorry, had to do it, you being a teacher and all
) some customers will ask to supply their own materials, which is also fine, simply leave paint out of your estimate...You can deal with the store discount in several ways, one to be marking the price back up to make a profit on materials (and also charge sales tax), or pass the savings on to the customer, which I do, and thus giving the customer an added incentive to hire you....Not to mention the free advertising when word gets around....
Good luck with your new business...