Painting

How to Start a Painting Company Without Any Experience

Learning how to start a painting business when you have zero experience is possible when using the guidelines in the post and some help from Hoist. Focus KW: how to start a painting company

Learning how to start a painting business is daunting: You'll worry about getting the proper budget, structure, employees, and customers. 

Nonetheless, success is possible when you work hard, work smart, and take the right steps when starting your business.

Is Painting a Good Business to Start?

Painting isn't just a great side hustle – it's a great business idea. There are thousands of painting businesses across the country that generate tens of thousands of dollars each month. 

We’ve done the research and can tell you the industry is worth $42 billion. And even though there are many businesses, no one company owns more than 1% of the market. 

This presents an excellent opportunity to start and thrive in the painting business.

How Much Does It Cost to Open a Painting Company?

The average cost of starting a painting business in the United States is $2,000. In contrast, the average starting expenses for other types of business are around $30,000.

The labor cost estimate is $950, and the material cost estimate is $1000. 

How Do I Start My Own Painting Company?

Start by bracing for hard work, especially if you plan to start the business at the ground level. For instance, you might be required to know and understand the different types of paint and use them. It's also crucial to know the legal requirements of owning a painting business in your local region.

But do you need to have everything figured out and at the tip of your fingertips before starting your painting business? Yes and no. Yes, because you want to know as much as possible before starting a business. 

Going into your startup painting business blind may be the worst decision you could make for your new venture.

On the other hand, it might not be necessary to know every little detail about the painting business, mainly because platforms like ours make it possible to learn how to start a painting business while on the job. 

Over and above, these are the steps to follow when starting a painting business from scratch. 

Create a Business Plan

Learning how to start a painting business starts with creating a business plan because it acts as the blueprint to running a successful business. The business plan includes your chosen location, business structure, financial projections and starting capital, legal requirements, type of business corporation, and your product offering.

Include your mission and vision statements, SWOT analysis, marketing, and sales analysis, competitive analysis, target market, pricing and advertising strategy, and the plan for future growth. 

Do Your Paperwork

One major benefit of starting a painting business is that it requires minimal professional certification. However, painters still need the proper professional health and safety paperwork because of the risk involved in the painting business. This also includes getting the right insurance policies for your new business.

Consult a business insurance broker to guide you on the best policies to get for your painting company. Nonetheless, some of the insurance costs to consider include health, general, risk, liability, workers compensation, disability, and business owner's policy group insurance.

In addition to insurance, get other paperwork in order, like the legal documents you need to start and run the painting business. The legal paperwork you need includes a business license, taxpayers ID, certificate of incorporation, and an operating agreement for LLCs.

The traditional method of dealing with all of that paperwork can be overwhelming. An easy alternative is letting us handle the paperwork for you. Once you provide all the documents we need, like your licensing, business registration, and insurance, we ensure everything else is in place and ready for setting up your business.

We also come with a community of professionals in the field willing to provide a new business owner with guidance on navigating paperwork. 

Consider the Financials

Ensure you have a detailed cost analysis for your new business venture. Your finances depend on certain factors like the choice of your business location, your intended target market, and the nation's economic position.

For instance, consider the cost of business registration and licensing, the cost of insurance, the cost of rent, the cost of hiring subcontractors or internal employees, and other operational costs like painting equipment and utilities.

Once you determine how much money you need, find ways to raise the capital. Use your savings, get a loan or investors, or apply for a business grant and seed funding. 

Learn How to Bid a Paint Job

With no experience, you have no leverage to win big-time clients from big corporations or government agencies. But learning how to bid a paint job gets you there. 

The best place to start is through your subcontractors. Because they have hands-on experience, they know how much a painting job costs. They additionally know how to meet customer needs. If you’re working with subcontractors, you’ll love our estimation tool. It saves you time by eliminating the headache of manual investing and invoicing.

Deliver Results

Never deliver anything less than an excellent paint job. Remember, your business is new. Therefore, each client is a gateway to a future paint job or a referral. 

Additionally, the work you do helps build your reputation in the business. Deliver results with excellence and you’ll end up with a loyal customer base and a trustworthy brand.

How Do I Find Leads?

Leads ensure you achieve your dreams of self-employment. So to find the right ones for your new painting business, do this:

Make Meaningful Partnerships

Most people overlook the importance of networking, but to grow your commercial painting business, you need a healthy network. Word of mouth is still a potent form of marketing. 

With Hoist, you get access to a thriving community of other business owners, along with the dedicated members of our team. These connections give you the support you need to grow your new painting business.

Market Yourself Online

Start with a website. Success in the modern painting industry isn’t possible without a fine-tuned, high-quality website. A cutting-edge website is essential because it enhances your professionalism, gives you an online presence, and enhances client trust.

If you need help with starting a website for your business, our Site Builder feature does that quickly and efficiently. 

Once you have customers’ attention, you can increase your online presence using other social media platforms like Google My Business, HomeAdvisor, Yelp, Instagram, and Facebook.

And guess what? Our Brand Creation feature builds your business brand on these channels hassle-free. We help you create a logo and social handle for your business. 

Market Yourself Locally

Market your business locally using marketing materials like business cards, merchandise, and flyers. Merchandise options include branded gear and clothes for your crew or other accessories. 

Hoist takes care of Local Below the Line Marketing for painting businesses to increase the company's position and pipeline in the market. 

Is a Painting Business Profitable?

Running a painting business can be extremely profitable in the long run. However, your success depends on how you market and price your offerings, how you compete with other businesses, and, most of all, the quality of your work. By and large, painting is a profitable business because it requires minimal overhead costs and has a high demand. 

Read our post on how much painters make on the job to get a better idea of the profitability of a painting business. 

Conclusion

The process of learning to start a painting business seems daunting at face value, but with a platform like Hoist, starting a successful business becomes much easier. Once you determine your finances are in order, start to structure your business by making a business plan, doing your paperwork, considering the cost of starting a business, learning how to bid, and planning to deliver nothing but the best results. 

Remember to market yourself through networking, local branding avenues, and building an online presence. Or get started on Hoist today and create your business hassle-free.

Sources

What You Need to Know About Opening a House Painting Business | Fundbox

Business Planning Guide | IFAC

Benefits of Subcontractors – Costs of Subcontracting | Subauftrag

Get ahead of the competition.

Join the 14,000+ entrepreneur growing their business with Hoist's guidance.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Welcome

We're Hoist. We help entrepreneurs successfully run and grow painting businesses. Learn about how to build your company by following along on Instagram and Linkedin.

More for You