For our 2019 inPAINT Survey, we asked participants what product, service, tool or app they would like someone to create. While a few tight-lipped inventors chose to keep their gems a secret for now, many did share ideas, which are a mix of practical, inspired and obvious.

Manufacturers take note! Here is the full list of pro-inspired product ideas:

• A 24″ roller system, and also some kind of hanging integration on 18″ roller frames to enable you to hang the frame on the 18″ roller bucket
• A better way to get employees for painting/wallpapering; we need a job source app just for people that want to get into this field
• A how-to series of establishing a business
• A product/service/tool/or app that would help our customers explain the exact products/items/SKUs they need so we don’t have to go fishing with them and ask 20 questions
• A rating app that lists city planning and building departments, and their ranking according to client efficient processes, or lack thereof
• A space for homeowners to realize the value of working with a licensed contractor, and space to encourage the next generation to look into the coating industry as a satisfying career
• A spray line windup roll-up reel
• A tool that allows me to contact the customer with a better understanding of the job at hand
• Accurate and unbiased comparisons between paints by differing companies
• Accurate color visualizer
• Advertising app
• All paint companies need to make a screw cap on their 5-gallon buckets
• An affordable scheduling app
• An app that lets you communicate directly with your crew leader and customer as the job is ongoing
• An app that would help with going commercial rates in your specific areas
• Apps that can sync between phone and laptop more readily and maintain total interface and functionality for bids, invoicing, collecting, follow-up with customer, subcontractors interface, and scheduling
• Best hiring and scheduling practices
• Better battery-powered sprayers
• Better jobsite-delivery programs
• Better tools; more comfortable tools for the women in the construction industry (not those cute pink ones)! Something with better grips on paint rollers etc. Also, maybe darker caulk. I paint a lot of cabinets and would love black or navy caulk.
• Camera measuring app … take a picture of a wall (interior or exterior) and the app will then show measurements of linear feet and square feet
• Can’t divulge my ideas
• Cheaper paint; mom and pop stores getting squeezed out, which is translating to less competitive pricing
• Comprehensive online painter training/certification
• Current labor rates for estimating for demographic area
• Easier estimating app
• Easier way to acquire quotes from other professionals; need faster turnaround to get the overall job quoted
• Everything is out there. Just need to hire more good people.
• Great oil primer paints
• Heavy-duty painter’s pants with lots of pockets, including for cell phone and knee pads
• How to clone a good employee
• I have a few small ideas (like attached lids to spackling—don’t steal my idea! LOL) that help promote speed and less product waste on the job.
• I have some secret ideas that I prefer to keep secret.
• I wish that the public (our clients, potential clients, etc.) had more of an understanding of what it actually takes to run a legitimate painting business, and why it costs so much to get their house painted. I wish someone would create YouTube videos, brochures, etc. that could be readily accessible to contractors (preferably free), which could then in turn be provided to homeowners, etc. as a means to educate them. I’ve had my fair share of customers who just don’t understand why the prices need to be as “high” as they are.
• I would like to be cloned, so I could truly be Me, Myself and I and get more work done.
• I would like to see a startup company just to do the prep work and then clean up.
• If it exists, it has been used in Europe for many years. U.S. simply steals their technology.
• Mileage app
• More information on new products … and trade shows
• Painting consultant and troubleshooting
• Powered extension ladder
• Price comparison site
• Quality employees; the area that I run my business in is hard to find quality laborers
• Reliable estimate program
• Robotic painting
• Self-cleaning, low-maintenance equipment
• Service to give more opportunity for small businesses to bid
• Some type of zipper cover (all sizes) to put over your ladders that are on top of a vehicle to keep dry, to avoid dripping rain or snow on clients’ floors and carpet. Instead of ‘leathercoat’ it could be called “laddercoat.”
• Source for 5-gallon buckets of time and 50-pound sacks of energy
• Tape that sticks to low-VOC paint without removing the paint underneath the tape, and real reusable gloves that have some sort of odor-eliminating feature
• Templates for painting schedules, estimating rules, best practices, hourly rates for various skill sets
• Training or trade schools for the painting industry
• Waterless washing machine
• When introducing a product, don’t rely on your controlled conditions to relate what results you will achieve