How a Colorado Home-Improvement Franchise Found Its Market An interview with LIME Painting's founder and CEO.

Home-improvement businesses are profiting at an all-time high as the real estate market continues to remain strong in most areas of the country and homeowners are looking to increase the value of their investments. Accordingly, many successful franchise systems have developed in recent years providing services include cleaning and maintenance, along with other specialty business models.

I recently spoke with Nick Lopez, founder and CEO of Denver-based LIME Painting, who says that his business has differentiated itself by offering more than 15 revenue streams, exponentially increasing the possible returns from a single client. "Most of our clients start with standard painting," he explains. "But [they] add on other services such as gutter repair or replacement, walkway refinishing or even a nice new garage-floor surface. Painting is a $40 billion dollar industry, but the home-improvement category is a $400 billion sector."

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By focusing on the high-end home-improvement market, LIME attracts top-tier subcontractors to perform the work, which is why Lopez feels his business "is really a marketing and project management company. Our owners learn our system to book and manage the projects, but they never have to touch a paintbrush. [They] can run a multimillion-dollar business with low overhead, only a few employees and no office."

The two key strategies Lopez shares are to "have consistency and be very good at the basics; be on time, answer your phone and do a good job" and to get creative in opening up those multiple revenue steams so clients develop a trusting relationship with your brand. This way, "We stand out in the sea of contractors," he says. "We call this Getting LIMED."

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LIME Painting also believes in running a values-based company and giving back to their local communities as well as global charities. "We have been blessed in our business and we want to build our brand in such a way that we can impact others beyond just providing great home-improvement services," he offers. And that's why the company launched LIME Light Outreach, a nonprofit organization that provides funds and resources to empower local and global youth populations. Every franchisee contributes a portion of its proceeds to the cause, which will naturally grow as the brand expands across the United States.

"I've found that this focus keeps all of us working harder with a giving attitude rather than that of taking," he says. "This has been a core belief for us that helps us in all areas of our business."

The LIME Paining franchise system features many impressive strategies, tools and technologies that allow its owners to hit the ground running, and you can learn more by checking out Lopez's new book, titled (what else?) Get Limed!