O’Connor Painting Works With BBSI to Build a Reliable Brand

Don utilized several leasing companies, but often experienced administrative negligence that left him with misfiled paperwork and long payment lead times. He often had to wait 90-120 days before the filing process could be completed and the payment fulfilled. With labor and material costs adding up, Don had to borrow money to meet fundamental business needs. Correcting errors and neglect took vital time away from focusing on growth and long-term business planning.

Having unmotivated and unreliable workers on the job put a lot of pressure on Don’s routine business operations. It forced Don to do hands-on work and supervise on-site, instead of focusing on securing new projects and running the business smoothly. While he wanted to increase employee engagement and encourage his crew’s professional growth, having C- and D-grade players took a toll on Don, the business, and the rest of his team.

Another primary concern of Don’s was his crew’s safety. Over time, workers can begin to neglect  OSHA-mandated safety protocols. Without a dedicated safety professional on-site, it was hard for Don to ensure his employees’ safety. Keeping track of and fulfilling all the certification and training requirements also proved challenging.

Don had a lot of experience working with and vetting payroll companies from his years in business, so he knew what he was looking for in a new company. BBSI delivered exactly what he was looking for and more. After choosing to partner with BBSI, payroll slowly became a fringe benefit rather than the focus. 

“Payroll is like a perfect child. There’s never a problem,” Don explains. “The kid you’re always talking about is the noisy, troubled kid. But payroll has been quiet, always solving problems, just doing its job every week and month and year.”

After partnering with BBSI, Don was able to fulfill his goal of improving on-site safety, getting his crew more certifications, and ensuring the company’s compliance with OSHA standards. BBSI ensures that each worker is  adequately certified and that a dedicated safety professional oversees the job. With BBSI's help, Don has implemented a proactive safety strategy and maintained a nearly flawless track record in the past year. 

“I don't want to run by the seat of my pants out there. I want my crew to go home to their families and feel good about their day, and that it was safe for them,” shares Don. “We've had a really good track record in the last year, and I think a lot of that has to do with acknowledging safety every day and having BBSI come out to make sure everything is right and tight for us.”

With BBSI’s guidance, Don could address the errors and issues he knew were holding the business back but couldn't control. For example, myBBSI, BBSI’s proprietary payroll system, requires employees to clock in and clock out on the job site every day, eliminating any opportunity for misuse. 

“When the system first came, we had people clocking in at their house, so we were able to catch them,” explains Don. “‘Wait a minute, you're at your house in Napa, and the job’s in Boise. When did you actually start working?’ It solved some problems we knew were going on, but we couldn't control. Now that we have a system in place, it protects us financially and on jobs.”

One of Don’s favorite parts of partnering with BBSI is the access to leadership coaching and networking opportunities with other business owners. It’s not only helped him become a better business owner and boss, but also grow his own network to swap insight with and relate to. 

“BBSI has these roundtable discussions with business owners in different areas,” says Don. “Sometimes you think you're alone and the only one struggling with this problem, but you find out everybody's dealing with the same thing. There's great comfort in that.”