Why the Pros Always Seem to Have Different Equipment
I was watching a professional lawn care specialist do his work not too long ago. Of course, I already knew he had a commercial riding mower capable of cutting large swaths of grass in a single pass. But on this particular day, I happened to take a look at the rest of the equipment on his trailer. It was a lot different from what I had in the shed. That’s the way it goes. The pros in almost every industry have different equipment because they work on a separate plane.
Professional painters have equipment the rest of us have never seen, let alone used. The same goes for car mechanics, home improvement contractors, and even professional brew masters. If they all had to do their jobs using the same equipment we use at home, they probably wouldn’t be able to make enough money to stay in business. That is what it really boils down to.
Brewing Your Own Beer
If you want to see drastic differences between amateurs and pros, take a look at how beer is brewed. Just about every college kid knows how to brew up a five-gallon batch using little more than a couple of plastic buckets and ingredients purchased at the grocery store. Even home brewers who consider themselves connoisseurs of craft beer do most of their work with stainless steel buckets and carboys.
Run down to the local commercial brewer and you will discover things look drastically different. Buckets and carboys have been replaced by conical brewing equipment. You might find primary and secondary fermenting tanks, or you might notice the brewery uses unitanks instead. What you will not find are the primitive tools hobbyists use at home.
What’s the deal? Houston-based Cedar Stone Industry explains it this way: the pros need consistency and volume. It is obvious that a commercial operation cannot produce enough volume with buckets and kegs. And forget about consistency. Producing consistent product requires repeatable processes that just aren’t possible without the right equipment.
Painting Your Own House
It is easy to see why commercial breweries need specialized equipment to do what they do. But what about painting a house? Why do pro painters invest in things like commercial-grade spraying systems? Again, it is about volume and consistency.
Imagine painting your own house from top to bottom. Every interior space is going to get a fresh coat. How long would it take you? With average skills and a roller or two, you might be able to get the job done in seven or eight days. That is too long for a professional. To make money as a pro, a painter has to be able to complete an entire house in just one or two days.
Practice certainly helps. The more homes a professional paints, the faster they become. But equipment plays a crucial role, too. A painter can cover a lot more ground with a spray system. With the right equipment, a pro can spend the first half of the day masking up, then spray the entire house during the second half. Done and done – in only a single workday!
The Right Equipment for the Job
Watching that lawncare pro do his thing reminded me of the old saying about having the right equipment for the job. No doubt he has spent a ton of money to equip his trailer. The investment will pay off, if it hasn’t already. The right equipment makes it possible for him to cut a lot of grass in a short amount of time. By extension, it allows him to make enough money to
