It all started in the school year of 2014…
When fresh high school graduate Tariq Bakir took on a summer job as a painter for a College Pro Franchise in Sherwood Park. After a few months he was promoted as job site manager, and then eventually got offered the role of taking over the franchise at the young age of 18. After 4 hour long interviews and several tests, Tariq was accepted and became the official franchise owner in 2015. Knowing how to paint was only a fraction of what is required, and he underwent several months of coaching, conferences, and training to gain the skills required to run a business. It started with long days of going to school, working a part time job, and then going out door to door handing out fliers. All the money from the part time job went into paying for equipment and marketing, and he vigorously worked to be able to set up the business with a solid team, work booked, and a plan for the summer. Fast forward to 2019, and Tariq and his team had produced nearly $1.5 million in work with an average customer recommendation rating of 93%. He became absolutely immersed in the industry and made some amazing connections as well as bringing on a stellar group of skilled workers and students to be a part of his team.
Throughout his College Pro years, Tariq received numerous awards including the President's Award for revenue and quality (5x), the Diamond Award for being in the top 10% franchise wide, as well as the Personal Development Award, and the "Grinder" of the year award. He also received the Enactus Provincial Student Entrepreneur Champion award, where he was able to join the stage with some of the countries top student entrepreneurs.
In his 3rd year, Tariq began learning about and meeting other contractors in different trades such as drywalling, flooring, and finishing carpentry. Through these networks he would team up with other speciality trades to collaborate on projects together. One of his clients was looking to paint, as well as change trim and flooring in their home, but were quite overwhelmed and nervous about the process of lining up the trades and making a schedule. Tariq offered to take on the role as a GC, and took care of lining up trades, arranging the schedule in them most efficient and least invasive way, and providing the service with top notch quality and a reasonable price. It was after this job that Tariq realized the mutually beneficial process of having a General Contractor take care of projects, and decided he would begin expanding his services. Through this, Tariq can control the schedule so there are no delays and miscommunications among the various trades, and take a huge load off of the client.
Bakir Contracting is Tariq's next venture with the vision to provide quality service and workmanship, with an emphasis on relationship building and communication. We would be honoured to collaborate on your next project!
