Starting Davis Painting wasn’t some grand master plan for Colby Davis. He was in his early twenties, had experience working in multiple trades, and knew he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life stuck in the same cycle he saw other contractors trapped in. He wanted to build something that could grow beyond just him trading hours for dollars.
The first year was brutal. Colby was doing everything himself: estimating jobs, buying materials, doing the actual painting, handling invoices, and trying to find new customers. He’d finish a job covered in paint and then stay up late sending emails and updating spreadsheets. It was exhausting, but it taught him what needed to be systematized first.
Colby started writing down everything he did. How he estimated jobs. How he prepared surfaces. What he said to customers when they had questions. It felt tedious at the time, but those notes became the foundation of the company’s training manuals. When he finally hired his first employee, he had something to hand them instead of just expecting them to figure it out.
The biggest lesson from those early days was that growth requires letting go. Colby had to accept that other people might do things differently than him, and that was okay as long as the outcome met company standards. He had to trust people with responsibilities he used to guard closely. That shift from doing everything to leading people who do things was the hardest and most important transition he made.
Looking back, Colby is glad he went through those struggles. They taught him empathy for what his team deals with, and they gave him a deep understanding of every part of the business. You can’t lead well if you’ve never been in the trenches yourself, and his early experiences shaped the leader he is today.