College Pro Painters College Pro Painters is a Scam Redmond Washington

Just figured I had to chime in for anyone who reads this in the future, whether you are prospective employee, franchisee, or customer. I have more experience with this company than most, painting for a short summer and then running my own franchise for 3 summers. I do know Dave Rychley personally, but I have absolutely no stake in the success of College Pro.

A note to prospective customers- Yes, it is easy to dig up stories of unhappy customers who have had work done by College Pro. Just like my advice to any prospective franchisee, do your research. Every franchise manager is in direct control of production in his area. This means it is up to him or her to make sure your home gets painted just as promised. Check references, double check the proposal and contract, and always get more than one bid. I can proudly say my College Pro franchise will do just as good of work as any professional painting contractor and I will happily show this when I arrive for an estimate.

For prospective franchisees- As stated in the title of this post, the best advice I can give to any prospective franchisees is always do your research and really try to determine if something is truly right for you before signing on any line.

Running a College Pro franchise is certainly not for everyone, that can not be stressed enough. It is not a pie-in-the-sky gold mine or anyone's path to extreme riches. It takes alot of dedication, discipline, responsibility and often long, grueling hours to accomplish the tasks that must be done. And yes, some people even fail.

What many people often fail to grasp is that when running a College Pro franchise, you are not going to work for College Pro, you are going to work for yourself. You are no different than the guy who buys a McDonalds franchise or a Jiffy Lube. You are responsible for making all of the decisions to guide your business where you want it to go, and you must craft all hiring, marketing, and production strategies. Therefore, any mistakes that are made or problems that occur are caused directly or indirectly by the franchise manager.

Obviously, many mistakes are caused by ignorance, not stupidity or malice. However, a small business owner can only blame the ignorance on themself - it is our own responsibility to make sure we are adequately prepared in every situation we put ourselves into. I made many, many mistakes (more than most) my first summers in business, but every time I made a mistake it was easy for me to look back and see what I could have changed to avoid or minimize the mistake.

"I never knew where my money that I was bringing in was going, it just went into some black hole called college pro..." (quoted from above post)

This is exactly what his problem was. I have never met an owner of a small business who demanded that someone else, parent company or other, tell them where their money is going. The advantage to being a business owner is that you directly control where all of your money is going, and you always know where it is because you are the one spending it.

"This company needs to be stopped so that thousands more collge students dont trade their education for a life lesson." (Again taken from above)

I will admit, I did struggle my first two years keeping up in my classes while running a CPP franchise. However, I know now the real world education and knowledge I gained from being a business owner far outwieghed anything I learned those first years of college. You can not learn confidence or gain experience in a classroom, and absolutely nothing compares to hands on knowledge.

I will also admit that I did not make alot of money those first two years, and my school plans have been altered and slowed but the ultimate goal, a graduate degree, is unchanged. If I had decided to quit my franchise after being tested in a tough situation, I would probably have the same feelings as the original poster. But I stuck it out, learned more than I thought I could, grew from teenager to adult almost instantly, and perservered through more than I ever thought I would.

I worked for College Pro for 4 summers and then decided to move on and go to work for another painting contractor to gain a different perpsective. After two more years of working in the industry, I realized that the work I was doing as a college student was just as good if not better than these "professionals". And I also realized that the skills and knowledge I was given while working with College Pro were virtually unmatched in the industry. Even though I was always the youngest foreman at these companies, I almost always had more knowledge both about paint systems and failures and about painting in general. So after 6 summers painting, I am returning to school to finish my degree and get into grad school, and I have decided to manage another CPP franchise while doing that. I have decided to do this because I know it is the absolute best option for me. I enjoy being my own boss, having control of my schedule, and I know my business will be successful next summer. Successful for me, my painters, and all of my homeowners.


Eric
Olympia, WA
USA

Rob -

I am writing in reponse to your post. I am the Vice President for College Pro Painters in the US West (including Washington) and I am very confused by your post. We have had 3 students with the first name of Rob run franchises in the state of Washington in the past 5 years - and none of the 3 ran their franchise in Redmond. Are you using your real name on here?

As a general response, College Pro is a franchised business and we care tremendously about the success of our franchisees. I can provide a 6-inch thick binder of reference letters from the past 7 years in Washington from students who were extremely grateful for their College Pro experience.

Not all franchises are profitable - we are quite clear about this from day 1. In my experience, success in College Pro is similar to success in school Those who follow the professional advice of their GM, seek out development and support from peers and the paint store, and work hard, are usually very successful. Those who do not do the above have trouble succeeding. Running a franchise is real, and with that comes real risk and real reward.

Rob - If you'd like to talk about your experience or about any specifics about your General Manager (you reference some odd direction he gave you), I would be glad to take your call. If there are things that frustrated you, I want to know about them and I want to listen to what you have to say. It is only with honest feedback that the company can continue to grow and get better. I'm even open to meeting up with you to discuss this in person. Please contact our service center at 1-800-327-2468 and asked to be transfered to me directly.

Sincerely,

Dave Rychley
Vice President
College Pro Painters