I'M A SECOND-GENERATION OWNER of King's Paint Store, a business my dad (Ron) and uncle (Bill) started back in 1976. They began by purchasing a store named "Thompson Color Corner" in Santa Cruz, which they ran for two years before rebranding it as Kings. And it all began from there!
My dad and my uncle played a big role in my introduction to the paint world. I joined the business in the late 90s, working part-time while attending school. Although I hadn't planned to stay for my entire career, I guess it was what was meant to be - I've now been here ever since. As time passed, I naturally learned a lot, and 10 years ago eventually took over the role of store manager. My aspirations to do something else faded as I realized more and more I loved the paint business. I really just enjoy meeting and chatting with folks in the community.
Then about 6 to 7 years ago, I started buying out my dad and uncle while managing the store, as they got older and started planning retirement. Although they're no longer involved in the day-to-day, they remain part-owners, with the managerial responsibility being with me. While the shop hasn't changed that much, customer service remains of the utmost importance, something instilled by my dad and uncle.
We currently employ around 8 people, and I make sure that customer-oriented values are really ingrained in the team. If someone doesn't focus on customer service, they aren't a good fit and won't last long at King’s. The guys in the store are sharp and quick learners who genuinely prioritize our customers. Not all of them have had much experience but for me being able to understand customers is more important.
Being part of the independent paint world is really exciting, there's always a demand for independent stores due to our personalized service and expertise. What I think people also like is the customer service that we focus on so much. For me that side of the business is not work but what I enjoy: interacting with people. I'm an extrovert at heart, I love the chance to help people with their projects and get to know them personally.
The biggest change we have had at King's is probably the technological advancements we have started adopting that have helped us streamline our business. It's up to the younger generation to bring about upgrades – like adopting Rundoo and incorporating new tint machines, etc.
This turning point in regard to our point-of-sale happened when Nick visited our store, he assured me it wasn't a sales pitch, but he needed help with a point-of-sale system he was developing. His background was in tech from Google and his family was in paint and he wanted to build software for paint stores—I love it! We met and spoke about the specifics of what paint store's needs are. Nick returned a few months later with developments on his point-of-sale, and we kept on collaborating as he further developed the system. It was an exciting journey, particularly when the prototype started functioning properly, we were just so eager to be part of it. We helped build some of the features today that save us so much time, for example we can now easily transfer inventory between locations.
Our journey had its challenges initially, as we were the first ones on Rundoo! However, over time, Rundoo's product has evolved into something polished. Any concerns are addressed by the Rundoo team, in contrast to other experiences with software providers like Epicor, where issues often go unanswered. The team at Rundoo care, they aren’t looking at us the way big box stores (in the paint industry) look at their customers, just a number, but Rundoo sees us as individuals that need help.
