Former CSU students turn summer job into profits

Editor?s note: McGuyver Painting Specialists and Banister Construction Inc. finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the recent Mercury 100 competition for fastest-growing local private companies. Following are profiles of the companies that did not run in Mercury 100 coverage in the May 14 issue of The Northern Colorado Business Report because of space limitations.

FORT COLLINS ? Craig Horton was drawn to the sales presentation that McGuyver Painting Specialists? Peter Stranathan gave when he bid the exterior painting work on Horton?s Fort Collins home.
Ultimately, Horton chose McGuyver despite the fact that the company was the highest bidder. He had already fired one painting contractor, Horton explained, and this time he wanted to make sure the job was done right.
?We contacted them after we saw their work in the neighborhood,? Horton said. An ?excellent sales presentation? sealed the deal. Stranathan had a very professional proposal, Horton said. ?We felt his salesmanship would carry over into the product, and it did.?
The self-referral, the sterling presentation and proposal, and detailed follow-through all are part of the plan at McGuyver Painting Specialists.
Founded in September 2000 by then-Colorado State University students Peter Stranathan and Jeremy Pourbaix, McGuyver has flourished. By 2002, the business employed 14, and that number jumped to 36 in 2003. Gross revenues during the period grew by 183 percent from $77,372 for 2002 to $218,716 for 2003.
All this from a company that two college students launched to help pay their way through school.
Stranathan said he and Pourbaix chose painting because it was something they both knew how to do. Stranathan was a sophomore and Pourbaix a junior when they went into the painting business.
They chose the business name ? McGuyver ? after an incident in which they managed to fix a broken-down car with masking tape, a shoelace and a drill bit just like the main character in the ?70s television drama by a similar name.
The TV MacGuyver was known for his ability to build something out of nothing, Stranathan said. For Stranathan and Pourbaix the name illustrated their philosophy: ?There is always a way.?
To begin with, the two did mostly exterior painting. They worked the business full-time through the summers and fit in painting jobs around schoolwork the rest of the year.
The company now paints both interiors and exteriors on residential and commercial jobs.
The company?s dramatic growth is fueled by the partners? drive, Stranathan said. ?We hadn?t really gone after that kind of growth before and when we put our minds to it, just like anything else it happened.?
Stranathan and Pourbaix have a specific strategy that directs the way they do business. ?We set up a structure where we have managers who are actually the ones who go out and do the marketing. They have their own crews and really run the production side of the business.?
Marketing is primarily through word-of-mouth. ?We?re constantly in the neighborhoods,? Stranathan said, ?talking to people, passing out flyers, reference letters. We put out lawn signs. We just do everything we can to let all the neighbors know who we are and to constantly seek out leads.?
Stranathan and Pourbaix work hard to set their company apart from other painting contractors by staying in constant communication with their clients.
?Every single night on the job we do a walk around with the customer to show them everything we?ve worked on that day and everything we?ll work on in the next few days. The focus is on ensuring that they?re happy,? Stranathan said.
McGuyver client Horton noted that each and every McGuyver worker who came to his home came first to the front door, rang the bell and introduced himself to Horton or his wife with a handshake.
Stranathan and Pourbaix have both since graduated from CSU but they?re still dividing their time between their work with McGuyver and other responsibilities. Stranathan is employed full-time as branch manager for Loveland-based Fastenal, an industrial distribution company. Pourbaix has his own tax preparation business, Liberty Tax Service.
The two have split the responsibilities of running the company. Stranathan handles paperwork, vendors and behind-the-scenes work that can take place evenings and weekends. Pourbaix oversees the day-to-day operations. Because his tax service is seasonal ? December through April ? he?s available during the busiest time of the year for painting.
Their creativity and entrepreneurship while still in college recently earned them international recognition when the two were tapped for the 2002 Global Student Entrepreneur Award for the Northern Plains Division of the U.S. As a result, the two joined forces with 12 other young entrepreneurs to write a book: ?Student Entrepreneurs: 14 Undergraduate All-Stars Tell Their Stories.?
Looking ahead, Stranathan said he and Pourbaix will likely continue to expand their business, reaching into Longmont and further into Greeley. As to the challenges involved in navigating the kind of dramatic growth McGuyver Painting Specialists has undergone, Stranathan simply points to the company?s philosophy.
?We have always taken on everything,? he said. ?There is always a way to get it done if you put your mind to it.?

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