HAYS COUNTY — Eleven years ago, Sarah Ross knew that she wanted to take a step back from corporate America and enter into the world of owning her own business. That’s when she decided to take on owning a franchise of Fresh Coat Painters. “I was working a lot of hours. I didn't mind working a lot of hours, but I figured if I'm gonna do it, I might as well do it for myself. And so, that desire to have my own business is what caused me to look at franchise options. I knew I needed the coaching on the sales and marketing side. My background is as a [certified public accountant], so I'm a numbers person and could handle operations, but really didn't know how to approach sales and marketing,” Ross said. “[I] really just went franchise shopping and came across Fresh Coat as one of the options and it fit our budget in the area that I was trying to start a business [and] the territory that I wanted was not taken yet.” Ross is the owner of the Marble Falls, Southwest Austin and Hill Country franchises of Fresh Coat Painters — a company that is focused on providing top-rated residential and commercial painting services for home and business owners in more than 100 cities from coast to coast. The “Fresh Coat Promise” is a commitment to providing quality painting services at competitive rates in a timely manner. When Ross was in the decision-making process of which trade or industry she wanted to commit to for owning a franchise, Fresh Coat seemed like the best fit because of the experience she has had herself remodeling homes. “We had gone through remodel work on our own homes and dealt with unreliable and undependable contractors. And I thought, ‘I think I can do a better job at this and be that reliable, dependable contractor that people just really want.’ I was really looking at something that, one, I could afford because there's definitely franchises out there where you needed a much larger net worth than I had, so this was something I could afford [and] the territory wasn't occupied,” she explained. “Some franchises that we looked at people that already bought up the locations that we were looking to acquire, so that was another deciding factor on it. Then, [I was] really looking for an industry that I felt would be okay if the economy took a downturn and that's, of course, been proven out over the last few years,” Ross continued. “It's an industry that when the economy does take a downturn, people aren't moving as much, but they're likely to fix up their homes if they're not able to move. That's really what we've been going through the last couple years and seeing people stay in their homes instead of moving and really wanting to revamp it.” The Southwest Austin franchise covers Barton Creek, Bee Cave, Buda, Circle C, Driftwood, Dripping Springs, Hudson Bend, Kyle, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Manchaca, Northwest Hills, Oak Hill, South Austin, Steiner Ranch and Westlake. As for the Hill Country franchise, it also covers several locations, including Bergheim, Boerne, Kendalia, Spring Branch, Canyon Lake, Blanco, Fischer, Fredericksburg, Hye, Stonewall, Willow City and Wimberley. Because her franchises are in parts of Hays County — one of the fastest-growing areas in the state of Texas — Ross is not unfamiliar to competition. “We are not the cheapest out there and in that case, there are a lot of competitors that will beat us on price. We like to say we get our fair piece of the pie. There's a lot of painting businesses out there, but a lot of painting projects as well,” she said. “The area’s growing so much that there's enough out there for all of us. We definitely hold our team to a high standard when it comes to quality of service, communication and the basics you would expect to receive when you're working with a top quality construction professional. That's really what sets us apart from those competitors.” Along with holding the team to a high standard, Ross said that having workers’ compensation and general liability insurance is something that sets the company apart from some of its competitors: “[It is] just to provide customers with peace of mind that if something does go wrong while we're working on their home or business, we've got insurance to cover that,” she said. Over the course of the 11 years that the franchises have been in operation, Ross said that she has received a positive community response, especially for a woman-owned business in an industry that has been prominently men. “The community response has been great. There's a lot of painters out there, so it's not like we were bringing anything to the table that wasn't already provided. But bringing a woman-owned business [in an] industry that isn't known for women in this profession has been a little unique and has definitely been extremely welcomed by the community. I'm thankful for that,” she said. As a way to give back to the community that they serve, the team will also sponsor local teams and participate in a program called Fresh Coat Cares, which is geared to paint a brighter future by helping charities and nonprofit organizations in the local communities that the company serves. Ross shared that one of the projects that they did was help Austin Pets Alive! by repainting the organization’s cat building. More recently, in March 2024, Ross’ business was awarded for exceeding the $2 million mark in revenue for the prior year, along with the President’s Award. “We've been excited to be at that level for the last couple of years and are looking forward to hopefully doing our $3 million year this year. The President's Award is quite an honor; it’s selected by the Fresh Coat franchise or president. And it really just means that we do the best we can to give back to others that are in the Fresh Coat family as well,” Ross said. “So, after being in for 11 years, there's things that I can help guide the newer franchisees on, give them advice or just be an ear when they've had a bad day in the industry and they need somebody to listen to. I like to call the franchise system group therapy because we know what each other has gone through and we can have those shared experiences and know that we're gonna make it through to the other side as owners.” Ross said that just like any other business owner, she has faced her own set of challenges, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, from staffing to material/equipment shortages. However, she encourages other business owners or interested entrepreneurs to keep going amid any setback they may face. “Everything has a solution and that's kind of, I guess, what I feel like is my main job is. When something does go awry, what can I do to fix it? We're never just going to sit back and say, ‘Oh well, nothing can be done about that.’ We're going to come up with solutions, hopefully multiple, and figure out which is the best in that case for that customer or for that particular situation,” she said. “There's definitely been struggles along my years, but that's kind of what you have to do with business owners. Just keep going and finding the next solution [or] the next thing that's going to work.” To learn more about Fresh Coat Painters in Hays County, visit
www.freshcoatpainters.com/locations/hill-country or
www.freshcoatpainters.com/locations/sw-austin .
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