The painting business launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 45 steps in 8 phases, 22 of them specific to a painting business. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan45 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A painting business sells projects, estimated one bid at a time.
Typical for one unit is $500,000 to $2,000,000 a year; the owner keeps 15 to 25% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. employer businesses are still operating after five years.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: buy an established shop with real repeat accounts and crews that will stay when you want cash flow and lower risk; build from one crew when capital is tight and you can patiently. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
Painting is one of the cheapest trades to start: there is no , paint is bought job by job, and the van is the shop.
The itemized cost to open7 lines
- Crew vans (lease down payments) & ladder racks: $13,800 to $22,500Three leased vans with racks; buying all three outright adds about $130,000 or more
- Sprayers, scaffolding, pressure washers & ladders: $4,900 to $26,500One shared sprayer and scaffold at Lean; a sprayer, washer and rolling tower for every crew at Standard and up
- Drop cloths, brushes, prep tools, safety gear & uniforms: $4,500 to $10,500Everything a crew uses on every job, plus respirators and branded uniforms
- Tablets, office & paint storage: $2,200 to $6,400Tablets with card readers for crew leads, plus a small office and storage for leftover paint and solvents
- Licenses, lead-safe certification, insurance & setup: $3,500 to $13,300Contractor and business licenses, EPA lead-safe certification, liability, auto and workers’ comp deposits, entity and legal setup
- Wraps or door signs, website & launch marketing: $5,100 to $34,900Yard signs, door hangers and search ads that bring the first estimates
- Initial working capital: $25,000 to $75,000Payroll, paint and fuel for the first 2 to 3 months; Fresh Coat budgets $21,000 to $43,000 for a new franchise’s first three months
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to $5M · up to 10 yr (25 with real estate) · 75-85% guaranteed)The workhorse for buying an existing painting company or funding vans, equipment, and working capital for a startup.
- Seller financing (Often 5-25% of price · 3-7 yr)Common when buying a painting company.
- Van & equipment financing (Secured by vans & equipment)Lease or finance vans, sprayers, and scaffolding, secured by the equipment itself.
- Business line of credit (Revolving · interest only on what you draw)A revolving line covers payroll and paint between a job’s deposit and its final payment, and through slow winter months.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/4Open
The territory and the vehiclea week or two
A painting business's "location" is the area its crews can reach and the homes in it.
What decides it for this business: compact service area, older housing stock, homeowner, middle-to-high income base, access to skilled painters, workable weather.
Mobile businesses still answer to city rules: where the vehicle can be kept overnight, whether you can run the business from home, and what the state licenses.
The van or truck is the shop. Price it, outfit it, insure it, and brand it before the first job. The quotes go into the loan application.
Commercial auto for the vehicle, for the work. Customers and any lender will ask for the certificate.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the vehicle and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
The lender funds against the quotes and the insurance; the money goes to the vendors and the build.
After:
- 06Not started0/8Open
Permits and the vehicletwo to four weeks
Painting is lightly licensed compared with electrical or plumbing work, but it is not unlicensed: many states license painters above a job size, federal lead-safe rules apply to older homes, and crews need insurance on...
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:With the money in hand: the vehicle, the , the branding, and the state inspection most cities require before it can work.
After:Register your or corporation and get any city or county business license.
Some states tax painting or materials; register to collect and remit where they do.
Many states license painters above a job size: California above $500 (two exams and a $15,000 bond), Arizona above $5,000; others ask for a home improvement registration or...
Proof of is often for a license and asked for by nearly every customer; some states and cities also require a bond.
coverage for every van in the fleet.
Some air districts limit the solvent (VOC) content of coatings, and leftover paint and solvents must go to approved disposal, never a storm drain.
- 07Not started0/10Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
Measured estimates, good-better-best options, e-signatures, crew scheduling, and job costing against the bid are the operational core; they decide close rates...
Google reviews, Local Services ads, a photo gallery, and yard signs drive estimate requests; tracking the cost of each job won is a core profit lever.
Collecting a deposit at signing and the balance on the last day keeps cash ahead of and paint.
Hourly crews, overtime, and workers’ comp classes get complex; you need this the moment you hire.
Job-by-job margins against the estimate and clean books are essential for managing the business and financing growth.
, workers’ comp for ladder work, and commercial auto for the vans; customers and licensing boards ask for certificates.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Daily: Walk and estimate jobs, follow up on bids, schedule and check on... Weekly: Review the bid pipeline and close rate, crew utilization and job... Monthly: Review each project's against its bid, marketing cost and...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/6Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Underbidding and overruns; Idle crews between jobs; Marketing efficiency (close rate).
Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Register as an employer and carry workers’ comp before the first payday.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Painting companies sell, but buyers pay for what keeps working after the owner leaves: repeat and commercial accounts, crews that stay, and a process that does not depend...