# Basecamp



## George Z (Apr 15, 2007)

So we started using it

It has only been a few days and it works fine.


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## NEPS.US (Feb 6, 2008)

No offense George but that looks like alot of managing for a small-medium size painting company. Do you have a large office staff in multiple locations?


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## George Z (Apr 15, 2007)

None taken.
Anything to make things easy.

3.5 non painting overhead people
with 9-10 painters.

One office location.
But we love toys


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## RGordon (Mar 22, 2010)

I use basecamp and i love it.

Of course i have a designer in New York, a programmer in California, and our main offices in Chicago. So it helps bring us together.


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## aaron61 (Apr 29, 2007)

George Z said:


> None taken.
> Anything to make things easy.
> 
> 3.5 non painting overhead people
> ...


O K...I must really suck. How do you support 3.5 office staff on what 9-10 painters produce????????


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

aaron61 said:


> O K...I must really suck. How do you support 3.5 office staff on what 9-10 painters produce????????


Seems a little top heavy to me also. Maybe they are super efficient painters?


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

Or are doing cost plus custom high end work.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

One mans ceiling is another mans floor.


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## George Z (Apr 15, 2007)

Our numbers are looking fine to me.

-An experienced and efficient office manager that gets it.
-Good leads constantly coming and our regular customers as well.
-Salesperson (me) only visits good prospects.
-Very generous budgets and clear work orders
-A production manager that just must keep me off the field at any cost
(haven't visited a major jobsite this week), so she is doing good
-3 really good job managers (40% job costs not uncommon)
-Weekly production meeting with action items that just need to happen

Good people working for us that know that the grass is the greenest on our side.


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## LocalPaintPros (Mar 14, 2011)

Is anyone using Basecamp (or any of its clones/competitors) as a customer portal?

I first learned about Basecamp when i had some dealings with a boutique ad agency that used it for customer interaction. That's when it occurred to me that I could set customers up on it and they could see their schedules, post questions, see pictures of necessary repairs, etc. 

I'm using TeamworkPM along with a consultant on a Customer Relationship Management project I'm currently involved with, and I've also looked at Mavenlink. All have their pros/cons, but Basecamp appears to be the closest and most intuitive for possible use as a customer portal. Admittedly, I haven't done an exhaustive survey of these "project collaboration" tools in the past 8 or 9 months -- forever in techno-time.


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## Colorjive (Feb 7, 2011)

We've been using Basecamp for years. But we're a software firm, not paint contractors. When we make software for clients such as paint brands, not only our people get access to the Basecamp project, but the client too. The client can see exactly what's going on and what is discussed and can chime in if they like. This kind of openness is is very unusual in the corporate world, especially in IT. But we love it, because involving the client ultimately leads to a better product. 
I can imagine that this might work for larger paint jobs. Basecamp can be used on iPhone (and perhaps other smartphones as well) which may be a tremendous help to keep track of a larger project that involves a team of painters. Even smarter: you can use Basecamp in conjunction with time tracking software such as tickspot.com.


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## Seattlepainting (Jun 8, 2010)

We have been using it for 14 months. It saves us alot of time on larger projects where we deal with PM's, schedule changes, designers, etc.


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## MonPeintre.ca (Feb 17, 2011)

George Z said:


> So we started using it
> 
> It has only been a few days and it works fine.


Do you still use base camp???? What do you manage with it?
Can you do quotes with it?
I'm looking at getjobber.com actualy but not decided yet.


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## George Z (Apr 15, 2007)

MonPeintre.ca said:


> Do you still use base camp???? What do you manage with it?
> Can you do quotes with it?
> I'm looking at getjobber.com actualy but not decided yet.


No we don't anymore.
Too much duplicating was going on


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## rohancalvert (Mar 3, 2013)

*BaseCamp for painting business.*

HI All.

I have read that a few of you are using BaseCamp for painting business's. 
I have been using BaseCamp for five months, and find it very useful for handling client/crewleader/owner collaboration. As our painting business url removed is project based, it is important to measure the performance of each job. Currently we have a third party app called "Tick" for online time tracking. I am looking for a app that that records materials and wonder if anyone can offer their ideas or discoveries?

Thanks,
Rohan (Down Under)


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