How To Start A House Painting Business – If you want to go into business for yourself but don’t have a lot of working capital or a ton of experience in any one sector, consider starting a painting business. Before you click away, consider the fact that many people are willing to pay good money for quality painting services, a painting company is scalable and, if you adhere to the best painting practices, most likely it won’t be long before you overtake the competition.
Now that your interest is piqued, you may be wondering how to start a painting business. Following this step-by-step guide will give you everything you could possibly need, from initial setup to gathering painting leads, to get your painting business up and running.
How To Start A House Painting Business
The first 7 steps described below do not require you to pick up a brush or speak to a single client. But these are still 7 important steps to start a painting business, so you shouldn’t ignore them.
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One of the first steps you take when learning how to start a painting business is choosing a name. Some tips for choosing a name for your painting company are as follows:
Once you decide on a name for your business, it’s time to register it. Business registration takes 10 to 15 minutes and, depending on where in the country you live, costs between $50 and $100. To register, Google “Register [City, State], business,” and Google should take you to your secretary of state’s site.
Note: Somewhere between researching how to start a painting business, picking your business name and registering it, you should purchase your domain name. Although it is unlikely that another aspiring business owner will upload the domain with your chosen designation, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Although you can operate as a sole proprietor, it is best to operate as an LLC to avoid any personal liability for taxes or lawsuits. Filing for an LLC is simple and comes with a small filing fee between $50 and $500, depending on the state in which you wish to register. Don’t panic if you don’t have $500 to spare though, as the average filing fee is $127.
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An EIN, or “Employer Identification Number”, is the number you will use to file your taxes and open a bank account. Like an LLC designation, an EIN can also protect you from tax liability. You will need your LLC paperwork to get an EIN, so be sure to file for your LLC well in advance of opening day. You may even want to file for your LLC when you are in the learning stages of starting a painting business.
You need a website to generate business, especially at first when you don’t have previous clients to spread the word about your services. With all the free and user-friendly website development tools available today, you should have no trouble putting together a domain that will help you start a painting business.
Although you will want to add a gallery, services pages, etc., over time, don’t overcomplicate your initial site. Stick to a short home page with the information prospective clients want to see (your licensing and insurance information, services offered and pricing) and conclude with a contact form.
Most people don’t expect to have to invest in insurance when they research how to start a painting business. However, you may have noticed that it is mentioned to include your insurance information on your home page. Check your state regulations to see if they require paint companies to have liability insurance. Some states do, others don’t. If yours, you don’t have to spend much more than $100 a month for a million dollar policy.
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You can research how to start a painting business all you want, but without an attractive logo and business cards, you won’t get very far. You can make your logo for free with sites like Canva or Wix, or you can pay to have someone do it for you cheaply thanks to gig sites like Fiverr. As for business cards, you can get a stack of 500 for a relatively low price at vistaprint.com or moo.com.
Ideally, you should avoid combining your personal and business funds, as doing so can result in red tape and tax headaches in the future. When shopping for a bank to do business with, consider monthly maintenance fees, the flexibility of debit cards, the ability to integrate the account with accounting software and the fee -online accounts.
You should also check with the bank about transaction and withdrawal limits, as some banks limit how much a business owner can spend on any given day. As you grow, this limit can become a hindrance.
When you first start a painting business, you may be tempted to buy all the fancy gadgets and gear, along with all the basics like drop cloths, brushes, rollers, painter’s tape and more. Don’t buy anything!
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You might think, How can you start a painting business if you don’t have the proper equipment? You will have it, but only after your first job. Smart contractors always require a small deposit up front. This deposit must be sufficient to cover the materials needed to start the work, such as rollers, brushes, pans, scrapers, tape, paint, etc.
If you’re lucky, you may not have to buy equipment at all. If you subcontract the work, there is a good chance that the subcontractor will have all the equipment needed to do the job. Most subcontractors are willing to do the job for between 50% to 60% of what you bid the job on, leaving you with at least a 30% profit.
If you do not want to subcontract the work, you will need to hire painters. Although anyone can give a brush and roller, this does not always mean that he or she has it. Be selective in who you hire, as the wrong workers can end up costing you more money than saving you.
Because you can train someone to draw well, you should focus less on previous experience and more on desired attributes. For example, focus on hiring someone with a strong work ethic, attention to detail, reliability and pride in his or her work over someone with experience who cares more about their paycheck or its than customer service and satisfaction.
Benefits Of Interior Painting
When researching how to start a painting business, pay particular attention to customer acquisition. There are several ways in which you can look for clients, each of which comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, the cheapest and easiest way to get new customers is to go door to door. By doing this for a few hours, you can generate an average of three to five leads. The advantages: It is effective and you get your exercise for the day. The disadvantages: You will have many doors slammed in your face and, depending on the weather, the trek can be an uncomfortable one.
Quality paintings are in high demand, so by making a little effort, you should have your first customer in no time.
Once you get that first phone call, things get real. Now you need to act like the professional business owner that you are. You have to schedule an offer, show the offer and act like you know what you’re talking about, despite the fact that you had to ask Google how to start a painting business. Some tips for a successful bid include the following:
Beyond those three rules, it’s up to you to encourage the client and act like you know how to start a painting business. Be personable, be polite and be honest about what you expect the job to entail. If you think it will take four days to complete your first job, tell the client. If you think a room needs three coats of paint over primer to achieve the desired color, include this information in the offer. The more thorough you are in your estimate, the more trustworthy you will appear to the client.
The Pros And Cons Of Starting A Home Painting Business
Finally, either hire subcontractors to do the work or take your employees home and work with them. Either way, paint the rooms as fast and clean as you can. If you make a mistake, fix it—don’t leave it up to the customer to find out at a later date, as that won’t be good for your word-of-mouth referrals. Once you complete your first task, pat yourself on the back. Congratulations! You are officially in business.
Finding and bidding on work are the two biggest challenges you will face when starting a paint business. can help you overcome those obstacles by sending qualified leads right to your door. Learn about starting a painting business and our monthly subscriptions today.
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