Mike Purvis is a painting contractor and small business owner in Newark, Delaware. He is the founder and owner of J Michael’s Painting, a residential painting company he started in 1991. For more than three decades, he has built his career around homes, homeowners, and the details that most people only notice when they are wrong.
From the beginning, Mike treated painting as a serious business, not just a trade. He focused on planning every project. He paid attention to surfaces, materials, timelines, and how his crews moved through a house. His goal was simple. Do quality work at competitive prices and respect the customer’s time and space.
Over the years, that mindset turned into a long term business. J Michael’s Painting became known as one of the leading residential painting contractors in the Newark area. Customers appreciated both the finish on the walls and the way jobs were organized and completed. That mix of attention to detail and expedited service became the company’s main advantage.
Mike’s approach to success is steady and practical. He keeps learning from proven methods and looks for ways to improve his process. He sees logistics, planning, and customer service as the real foundations of his work. He also understands that his personal wellbeing is closely tied to how the business performs, so he treats every project as part of a bigger picture.
His story is a quiet example of how consistent effort, clear values, and a never quit attitude can turn a local service business into a long running career.
When you think about “success,” what does it actually mean in your life?
For me, success is when my work life and my personal life feel steady at the same time.
If the business is running well, crews are busy, and customers are satisfied, I feel calmer and more focused at home. When jobs fall apart or we miss something on a project, I feel it in my own wellbeing right away.
So I do not separate the two. Success is not just profit at the end of the year. It is being able to sleep at night because I know we did the right thing on each job. It is seeing a homeowner relax when they look at their walls and feel their house is in better shape than before we arrived.
How did starting J Michael’s Painting back in 1991 shape your ideas about success?
Starting the company in 1991 in Newark, Delaware forced me to grow up fast. I did not have a big plan. I had a willingness to work, a small set of tools, and the belief that if I showed up and did what I said I would do, people would call me back.
In those early years, I learned that success was not one big moment. It was a series of small decisions. Showing up on time when it was cold. Repainting a room when a color looked wrong. Staying late to clean up so a family could use their kitchen in the morning.
Over time, those choices built trust. That trust kept the phone ringing. That taught me that consistency is more powerful than any single big break.
Your work puts a big focus on planning and logistics. How does that connect to success for you?
Most people see the final coat of paint. I spend more time thinking about the plan that gets us there. To me, a successful job starts long before a brush hits a wall.
I want to know how we will move through the house, what order we will work in, how we will protect floors and furniture, and how we will keep disruption as low as possible. For example, if a family has young kids, I try to schedule bedrooms and common areas so they always have at least one clear space to use.
When the planning is tight, the job feels smooth. The crew knows what to do. The homeowner feels informed. We finish on time. That is success. It is not flashy, but it is reliable.
You often mention attention to detail. Can you share a time when that made a difference?
I remember a job where we were repainting an older Newark home with a lot of trim and built-ins. On paper, it was a straightforward project. Halfway through, I noticed the old caulk lines around the windows were cracking more than usual.
We could have just painted over it and stayed on schedule. Instead, I pulled the crew back and we spent extra time scraping, re-caulking, and sanding. It added a day we did not plan for, and I knew that would tighten our week.
A few months later, that same homeowner called us back for more work and said the windows looked better than they had in years. That moment reminded me that success is often hidden in the work nobody sees you doing, like fixing a problem before it shows up.
How did your upbringing and your father’s influence shape your drive to succeed?
Growing up, my father made it clear that effort was not optional. If there was work to be done, you did it, and you did not walk away until it was finished. That applied to chores, schoolwork, and later, to jobs.
He also did not make a big speech about it. He just lived that way. When I started my own business, that example stayed in my head. On tough days, when a crew is short or a project is behind, that is when his voice shows up the strongest.
So my drive to succeed comes less from wanting recognition and more from not wanting to waste the opportunities his example gave me. I feel a responsibility to carry that standard into my own work.
You talk about a “never quit” attitude. How has that played out over three decades in business?
There have been years when calls slowed down or costs rose faster than I liked. There were times when a big project fell through at the last second and left a hole in the schedule. My first instinct was to tighten up, get quiet, and just work the problem.
Never quit, for me, does not mean ignoring reality. It means adjusting without walking away. Maybe that means taking smaller jobs to fill the gaps. Maybe it means jumping back onto the tools myself for a stretch. Maybe it means rethinking how we price or schedule.
The key is that I do not let a bad month define the business. I treat it as a signal to learn something. That mindset has kept J Michael’s Painting running in Newark for more than thirty years.
What advice would you give someone who wants to build their own version of success in a service business?
First, learn to respect planning as much as the work itself. A good plan will save you more time and money than any shortcut. Second, pay attention to the small details. How you protect a floor or return a phone call says as much about you as the final result.
Third, accept that your personal wellbeing will rise and fall with your business, especially if you own it. Use that as motivation to build systems, not just habits. You cannot work every hour yourself, but you can design a way of working that reflects your standards.
Finally, be ready for the long haul. Real success in a local service business rarely shows up fast. It shows up in year ten, year twenty, and beyond, when people in your town know what to expect when they hear your name.