painting business, painting contractor, painting, business coach, painting

How I Built Company Culture With a Klondike Bar

What do Klondike Bars have to do with painting?

For some of us, absolutely nothing.

But here I am in a grocery store, I just ran in, it’s in the afternoon, and it’s kind of warm outside for us up here in New England, our first warm day of the year, and I know the employees are feeling it.

Anyway, I am Ron Ramsden, a DYB Coach, and also a painting contractor.

As we think about company culture, we often talk about the group chats, the days out, maybe playing golf, making them feel good, employee recognition, and all those other things.

Start With the Little Things

Sometimes, it’s the little things that you can build on. If you don’t have a budget for some of the bigger things, start with the little things.

On a warm day, take them Klondike bars, they are not going to be expecting it, don’t tell them you are coming, just grab a couple of packages, depending on how many you have in the crew, and just drop them off.

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You’re going to be surprised at how much this changes things, and how appreciative they are when they receive something like that.

In the afternoon, a lot of times, we are worried about jobs, how they are going and everything, and we are calling the crew leader and saying, “Do you need anything?”

Usually, it’s “I need a gallon of paint… I need this, we are all set,” and so on…

Next time, call them up and say, “I am stopping at the coffee shop; how do you want your coffee today?”

You’ll be surprised, pretty soon, you’ll be getting an order.

And then, when you show up on there, you are going to be getting enthusiasm and “thank you’s”, it is a great way to break the ice if you have never done something like this before.

Appreciate Your Employees Regularly

Make it a regular thing to appreciate the employees, maybe not every day, maybe once or twice a week, it’s a very affordable way to build a culture in your company.
There’s plenty of other ways, but these are a couple of the little things, especially if you are on a budget.

But even if you are not a budget, a couple of packages of
Klondike bars would go a long way.

I just wanted to share that, I am grabbing a few packages of Klondike bars for my crew.

You can get in touch with me on Facebook, send me a message, I would love to chat with you.

You can also find me at ron@dybcoach.com, ask me a question, I would love to chat with you.

Have a great day!

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About the Author

As many of you know, my journey has been one of grit, grace, and transformation. At 19, I was a high school dropout, single father, and struggling paint contractor in Michigan. I later moved to Florida, where I faced both personal and professional hardships. With nothing left to lose, I turned to prayer—and was blessed with a relentless hunger to learn. I devoured books, attended seminars, and discovered better ways to streamline and grow my business—even through the Great Recession (and yes, I did hit the wife lottery along the way!). In 2014, I published How To Double Your Business and later sold the painting business, launching a new chapter: coaching others to grow their businesses. For the past 10 years, I’ve dedicated myself to helping business owners scale through the DYB System, while also drawing from frameworks like EOS, Scaling Up, and The Four Disciplines of Execution. Yet something was still missing—something more adaptive, integrated, and complete. Then I found Pinnacle. After months of research and interviews with other Guides, I joined Pinnacle. Their tools and strategies have exceeded every expectation. Now, as a Pinnacle Business Guide, I help leadership teams implement a custom-tailored operating system that draws from the best in the industry—but flexes with your unique business. It’s a dynamic, proven approach to achieve clarity, momentum, and lasting growth. I’m no longer taking on any more 1:1 coaching clients… Instead, I now specialize in working with visionary business owners who are ready to get their leadership teams aligned—around a clear vision, a focused strategy, and an actionable execution plan. With the tools and process I now have as a Pinnacle Business Guide, I help turn alignment into momentum, and momentum into results. If your business is growing—but your leadership team isn’t fully rowing in the same direction—let’s talk.