Family Line Painting Business

Daniel Oliver shares his unique journey from part-time summer work in a line painting company to establishing his own business in the field alongside his daughter. This family enterprise not only rekindles Oliver's passion for line painting but also serves as a bonding and learning opportunity for the duo.

Daniel's story unfolds as he shares the beginning of his line painting business, which started with a winning bid on a line painting machine. Daniel discusses the shifts in line painting technology and materials, such as the advancement from oil-based to latex paints and the introduction of eco-friendly and improved safety solutions. Listen to the heartwarming narrative of a father-daughter team working together.

About the Guest:

Daniel Oliver has a rich background in the traffic field, focusing specifically on traffic lights and line painting. Starting as a teenager with a line painting company as a summer job, Daniel developed a passion for the work and stayed in the industry throughout his adult life. With nearly two decades of experience working for the town of Mansfield's municipality, he transitioned into traffic signals for a private company. However, his entrepreneurial spirit led him to acquire a line painting machine and start a weekend business with his daughter, building a decade-long venture that specializes in small parking lot and sports court line painting projects.

Key Takeaways:

• Daniel Oliver has channeled his lifelong experience in line painting into a weekend business that allows him to bond with his daughter and pass along valuable skills.
• The line painting industry has seen significant environmental improvements over the years, moving towards safer and more efficient materials.
• The family business is not only about line painting but also about instilling a strong work ethic and mathematical skills in the next generation.
• Government auctions can be a gold mine for quality, well-maintained equipment essential for starting and running a successful line painting business.
• Daniel shares that having a niche focus, such as small parking lots, can reduce competition and create a sustainable business model.

Additional Resources:

• Explore the wild world of government surplus at Municibid
• Learn more about Government Surplus Vehicles: https://blog.municibid.com/the-government-surplus-vehicle-guide/ 

Got feedback or want to be a guest? Email us at [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

Sophie Eden (00:00):
So to start can you tell me your name and a little

(00:04):
about yourself?

Daniel Oliver (00:05):
Okay.
My name's Dan Oliver.
I work in the traffic field now.
I do traffic lights, but Istarted off working for a line
painting company, which is thereason why.
Do what I do when I want theline painting machine.

Sophie Eden (00:18):
You worked for like a line painting company as a
teenager.
Can you tell me why you decidedto work for a line painting
company back then?

Daniel Oliver (00:29):
Actually, yeah, it was it was a friend of mine's
uncle who owned the company.
And it was just a summer job,but I ended up liking it and did
it through my adult years towhere I ended up working for the
town of Mansfield, which was amunicipality for almost 20
years.
And then I left there to dotraffic signals for a private

(00:51):
company now.

Sophie Eden (00:52):
Can you tell me about what made you start your
line painting business?
And how you got into that.
How long have you been doing it?

Daniel Oliver (01:02):
Yeah, so what happened with that was the, the
line painting machine wasavailable, it was for sale on
Municibid, and I had seen it, soI bid on it, ended up winning
it, and my daughter's like,well, why don't we just do some
weekend stuff?
And like, yeah, we can try that.
So we started doing that.
Had some friends in thebusiness, who did seal coding,

(01:23):
were doing a parking lot, sothey invited us to do the line
painting and it, it took offfrom there and it was just a
weekend thing to spend time withher doing over the summer.
And we still do it to this day.
And it's been 10 years now, Ithink.
I've had the machine and me andher have been doing it probably
for the past five.

Sophie Eden (01:39):
That's fantastic.
Wow.
What do you hope you know,you've mentioned that you and
your daughter are working onthis business together.
What do you hope that yourdaughter takes away from working
in this line painting company?

Daniel Oliver (01:53):
I hope she takes away just the.
The, the knowledge of when youfinish a job and how good it
looks when you go from havingnothing in a parking lot to
having, now you got all theseparking lot lines and all that.
And I think, and just that nicework ethic that I think she's
getting out of it is reallygood.
And the math doesn't hurt.
There's a lot of math involvedin doing it, so it's helping.

Sophie Eden (02:15):
What advice would you give to other parents that
would like their kids to becomeinvolved in a family business?

Daniel Oliver (02:25):
I, I think it's great to let them try different
things and if it's somethingthey really wanna do, do it.
And then you build thosememories with them and, you
know, you get to work with yourchild.
It's just, it, it's reallyunique and it's really cool.

Sophie Eden (02:39):
That's really sweet.
Is there like some trends thatyou're seeing in the line
painting business or how, howhave you seen line painting
industry change from when youwere working as a teenager to
now running this company withyour daughter?

Daniel Oliver (02:58):
I, I think some of the major changes have been
in the, the paint itself.
It used to be when I firststarted it was an oil base,
rubbery paint, and now they havesome really great latex paints,
which are environmentally safer.
And I think that that is a hugeoutcome.
Fast dry and another one, it'sjust that paint literally that
can dry within moments ofputting it down.

(03:21):
So I think that's been it.
And then the retro reflectivityof paint that they've added for
the nighttime and wetness, rainydays, kinda safety stuff.
I think that would be the bigimpacts I've seen since I
started doing it way back when,

Sophie Eden (03:36):
What advice would you give to someone who was
looking to start their own linepainting business in their
community?

Daniel Oliver (03:44):
What advice would I give them?
Stretch.
Stretch a lot cause you do a lotof bending and a lot of heavy
lifting.
That, that would be a start.
Yeah.
I, it's, it's something you canactually start off very small
and build as you go if you, youknow, it's a, you can make it as
big as you want.
You can do parking lots, you cando basketball courts or you can
do full roadways.

(04:05):
I mean, there's just so much youcan do.

Sophie Eden (04:08):
Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Like what's kind of theday-to-day of?

Daniel Oliver (04:13):
For me, I I mostly do just small parking
lots curbings, stuff like that.
Some basketball clubs, sometennis squads, just small jobs.
As far as like getting into theroad work, you need a truck and
you're gonna have a bigger linepainting.
Equipment I can do, I'll do somecrosswalk, stuff like that.
But if you're gonna get intothat aspect of it, you need

(04:33):
bigger quantities of paint,tanks, trucks, personnel.
So, you know, and then even atthat, it's tough because you're
trying to bid against biggercompanies that have been doing
it.
So that's why I like the littleniche of the parking lots.
It's, you know, nice littleniche to have where you don't
have as much competition.

Sophie Eden (04:50):
Like, did you set out looking for the blower and
the painting machine or did youjust happen

Daniel Oliver (04:56):
to No, I just happened up.
I think I got an email saying,oh, these bids are local, and I
saw the picture of it and Iclicked into it and it just
started from there.

Sophie Eden (05:04):
That's pretty cool.
What do you thinks the biggestchallenge when bidding on these
government auctions?

Daniel Oliver (05:12):
Having the time to be there to bid If I remember
correctly, it was, I think therewas like 15 minute increments of
placing a bid.
So when you get closer to theend of the bid, it was more, if
you weren't online and reallywatching it, you could lose it.

Sophie Eden (05:29):
What do you like the most about bidding in these
government auctions?

Daniel Oliver (05:34):
Just you can find some really good quality
equipment that might not be.
That far out and obtainable foryou versus buying brand new?
Usually too, with the being amunicipality, they're well
maintained.
They're not so much beat up,like if you were buying'em from
a rental company you're gettingsomething that's been

(05:55):
maintained.

Sophie Eden (05:56):
And what advice would you give to someone who's
never bid in a governmentauction before?
Who would like to,

Daniel Oliver (06:07):
Do your due diligence if you're bidding on
something, knowing what you'regetting, what you're looking to
get, and if it's equipment, knowthe equipment.
See if you can find owner'smanuals and stuff like that
online.
Cause you might not be gettingthat when you get the equipment.
But that, that would be thebiggest advice I would've for
that.

Sophie Eden (06:23):
Yeah.
Very good advice.
Yeah.
Wonderful.
Well, it's been g great chattingwith you, Daniel.
Wonderful to learn more aboutyou and your business.

Daniel Oliver (06:34):
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Nice talking with you.

Sophie Eden (06:37):
Wonderful.
Thank you.
Well, have a wonderful day.

Daniel Oliver (06:39):
Thank you, you too.
Bye-bye.
Bye.