Starting up a Painting Business

Some advice before you start your own small painting company

Most advisore want you to start your business with a plan. Even if you are a good painter, starting a business involves far more considerations that just painting. First, you need to define the type of business your painting company will be and the type of clientelle you want to go after. That entails marketing your company so you can get some client traffic..

 2. PAINTING EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

If you do have any of the above, the next thing is to obtain all necessary equipment.
A. Suppliers: You will need to choose whether you want to go with a big retailer like Lowe's or Home Depot or a small local supplier. If you thing there is more advice and help from the local one, you should choose him especially if he has same or lower prices for the paint. On the other, hand, you may still want to use a large retailer for tools because in most cases large stores have better deals because they buy in bulk they get better deals. So for example, a paint brush from the local retailer may cost more than buy it from a national store.

3. PAINTING COMPANY LEGAL REGISTRATION AND REQUIREMENTS

Next comes you permits and licenses and that's when businessnameusa.com comes in.

First, differantiate your painting company from other local ones buy selecting a name for your small painting company. Business Name Availability: Check for company name availability at this Article -- Check If Your Business Name Is Available or Taken.  In addition,

 In the begining, you will be tempted to do all tasks for you company because you will not have enough capital to start. For example, you may decide to be the marketer, administrator, secretary, bookkeeper etc. That is not recommended because it can consume all your time. Second, you need to do what you do best. If painting is your forte, then do that and let others do the rest. On the other hand, if business savvy is the best thing you do, hire painters and concentrate in promoting your business.

CHECKLIST AND STEPS TO A PAINTING BUSINESS START UP

1. PAINTING EXPERIENCE

To start a painting business, you will need to have at least some experience of the actual trade of painting.
That requires that you actually worked for a professional painter or have taken classes about painting.

There are some states that require painting contractors to get a trade occupational license to prove you can do the job. You may also want to company business entities.

4. PAINTING BUSINESS INSURANCE SURETY BOND

Insurance is required for most contractors including painting contractractors. You need surety bond liability insurance that will cover any damageson the property.

Do I Need a Surety Bond Insurance

5. SMALL BUSINESS LOAN FOR PAINTING COMPANIES

After you get your painting license, a sales tax ID number and surety bond insurance you may want to get a merchant account to accept credit cards and also apply for a business checking account. To open it, you will need the fictitious business name registration certificate. Once you get a business checking, apply for overdraft protection and ultimately for a credit line or small business loan.

7. PAINTING BUSINESS PRICING JOBS

8. ESTIMATING PAINTING JOBS

An estimate is just a projections of how much a painting job is going to cost the client. So always aim a little higher than you think. So for example if the job may cost $750 always add about 20% so say it will cost about $950 so you will not ultimately have to look like a liar.You will need to develop a system of producing accuarate estimates. That starts with calculating the square footage and the type of paint that will be used as well as the time it takes to perform the job.

The way to sell yourself and the job is by starting a conversation with the client about anything and always going back to the point of it - i.e., the paint job. For instance, you can talk about the weather and baseball but always go back to the painting job and then again back to casual conversation. Try to help you client decide what he wants such as color of the paint and the time he wants to paint it as well as how much he can afford to pay. By trying to solve his problem with professional painter's information, you will most likely get the job. For example, don't say this job will cost $1,000. Say this job is 500 sq. feet, I will use 10 gallons of Behr paint and it will take 20 employee hours. Then show a break down of how much it will cost you client. This is far more convincing than giving a flat rate price.

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6. PAINTING BUSINESS MARKETING

Here's a few conduits of marketing your business:

• word of mouth
• classified section of a newspaper
• flyers
• public notice boards
• business cards
• Chamber of Commerce
• internet ads
• TV ads etc.

The best form of advertising is your performed work. Take pictures of it and upload it on your website. Then on your business cards, refer your clients to it so they can see your quality of work. Don't forget to include your contact information on your website as well especialy an 800 telephone number.

Simply go to http://www.businessnameusa.com/fees.aspx  to determine your fees.

Keep in mind that most of our fees cover filing charges, for example, our $29.99 charge for a federal tax ID number covers the filing fee, if any depending on your state.