$250
to get legal, insured, and selling
$4,000 profit
in Eric’s first 30 days, starting with $200
3,000+ members
have started or grown a painting company with us
You can start a painting business for around $250... without draining your bank account, committing to franchise fees, or taking on part-time work to afford it.
Eric Barstow started his first painting company with $200, then made $4,000 in profit during his first 30 days. Since then, he’s used the exact same core framework to build a $60 million painting portfolio.
The nine steps below come straight from the checklist he used to get legal, start selling, and win his first painting jobs without burning money on overhead he didn't need.
This isn't a promise that running a business is easy. Hard work is non-negotiable. But sacrificing your life, freedom, and family security isn't. With a simple, proven plan, you can start lean, build the right systems early, and create a company that gives you real control over your time and income.
Sure, starting a painting business doesn’t sound sexy. It is, however, one of the lowest-cost, highest-margin business opportunities hiding in plain sight.
Homes and commercial buildings will always need to be painted. You aren’t inventing a complicated product or trying to convince people they need what you sell. You’re finding customers with an existing problem and building a business that solves it professionally and profitably.
You also don’t need a storefront, warehouse, fleet of trucks, or huge payroll to get started. You can start part-time, keep overhead low, and reinvest into the business as it starts generating cash flow.
And the bar in this industry is still surprisingly low. Contractors lose jobs every day because they don’t answer the phone, show up late, send sloppy estimates, or fail to follow through. You don’t need to be the cheapest painter in town to win. Communicate well, price for profit, take care of the customer, and consistently do what you said you would do.
Most people get stuck before they even start because of the same three misconceptions:
You don’t need 10 years on a ladder to build a painting business. Start with straightforward residential repaints, learn how to estimate jobs and spot the prep work they need, then hire experienced painters or subcontractors to handle production.
You don’t need a massive ad budget to get your first jobs. Start with your network, local Facebook groups, Nextdoor, realtors, door-knocking, and neighborhood flyers. The goal is simple: start conversations, book estimates, and get a few wins under your belt.
You don’t have to quit your job and go all-in on day one. You can start with as little as $250, part-time, and keep your overhead low as you prove the model and build up cash before making the jump.
Prefer to watch first? This is one of our most-watched videos of all time, where our founder—Eric Barstow—walks through how to start a painting company in nine steps.
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We unpack all of these steps with a lot more helpful info and tips in our official playbook.
Starting a painting business does not need to be expensive. Below is what you can expect to spend before you’re making money. Once the first jobs are running, even a small house painting business covers its own expenses, so these are only the costs to get to that first job.
Minimum
$250
Business registration, insurance, and your marketing and sales materials. Every state charges a small fee to register your business, usually an LLC, between $0 and $150. A $1,000,000 general liability policy should run under $150 a month, and workers’ compensation can often be set up at $0 until your end-of-year audit. Flyers, estimate forms, contracts, and a client manual print for $100 to $500.
Recommended
$850 – $2,350
Business registration ($50), insurance ($150), marketing and sales materials ($150), and business training ($500). Add an optional $1,500 in marketing and advertising and you’re at the top of the range.
Maximum
$15,000
It’s everything above plus $5,000 on equipment you do not need. Equipment only matters if you hire employees, and starting with employees makes everything harder. Subcontractors bring their own ladders, sprayers, and trucks.
About the license: most states don’t require a painting contractor license. If yours does, it’s under $1,500, and your first deposit can pay for it.
Here’s the thing nobody tells you when you’re opening a painting business: most of the ones that fail don’t fail because the owner couldn’t paint or couldn’t sell. They fail because there was never a plan, and nobody hands you one. You register the business, land a few jobs, and end up wherever you end up.
A painting business plan doesn’t need to be 40 pages. It needs to answer one question: what do I have to do this week to hit my goal? Every good one includes:
A real goal with a number on it.
Pay off $40,000 of debt. Take a $10,000 trip. Put a dollar figure on it.
The revenue that goal requires.
Divide your profit target by your margin. $50,000 in profit at a 33% margin means about $150,000 in revenue.
Jobs, estimates, and leads, in that order.
At a $3,000 average job size, that’s 50 jobs. At a 25% close rate, 200 estimates. With 70% of leads turning into estimates, about 285 leads.
Weekly targets.
Over 40 weeks, that’s about 7 leads, 5 estimates, 1.25 jobs, and $3,750 in revenue a week.
The actions that produce each number.
Where the leads come from, how fast you call them, how many jobs you’re bidding, and the sales process that closes them.
A pricing floor.
Subcontractor cost around 50%, marketing 5% to 10%, miscellaneous 5%, and a 30% to 40% margin on every job. Never estimate below 30%.
That’s the exact framework our painting companies run on today, doing $60M a year. It’s also the first thing we build with every new member, because “we’ll see how it goes” is how people end up out of business. Want help building yours? That’s what a strategy call is for.
This is the fear I hear most often: “I can handle the paperwork. I just have no idea how I’d get customers.” It’s also the part almost nobody explains, so here’s exactly what we tell every new owner.
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Grace Rountree grew her painting business to $100,000 a month on organic Facebook, Nextdoor, and yard signs. Not a dollar of ad spend.
READ CASE STUDY
Fast. That’s one of the best parts of this business. But it depends on how you start.
Start completely on your own and it’s hard to say. Best case, profit in the first month. Worst case, you run out of money before you break even. I hear from people every week who dug the hole before they made a dollar: $5,000 of equipment, employees they had to keep busy, prices copied from a competitor. Fixable, but a hard way to begin.
Follow the plan and turning a profit in your first 30 days is a realistic target. It’s a target, not a promise. Your market, your decisions, and your effort set the timeline. But here’s what it looks like when it works:
You’ve got the nine steps. You know it costs about $250. The only part nobody can do for you is start.
So here’s what I’d do today if I were starting my own painting business again. Pick your name. Register your LLC with the Secretary of State and keep the articles of organization; the bank will ask for them. Then book a free 15-minute strategy call with our team. No pressure, no obligation, no sales pitch. We’ll look at where you are, map your first 90 days, and give you a straight answer on whether our program is a fit. Either way, you leave with a plan.
Hunter Miller started with $1 in his bank account and a maxed-out credit card. Today his company nets $1.2M a year and he runs it in 25 hours a week.
You can start a painting business with as little as $250. Over time, you will need to invest more in materials, equipment, marketing, and other costs. But getting started doesn’t require spending thousands of dollars.
Most states do not require a special license for painting businesses, but requirements can vary by state. It’s always best to check your local business laws.
Yes, you can. You may see that you need 10-15 years of experience to start a painting company, but that’s not true. Many successful owners do not spend much time on the brush.
It depends on the model you go with. For a painting business that uses subcontractors, you don’t need any. They are business owners who bring their own ladders, sprayers, trucks, and materials.
Starting a painting business with subcontractors is often the best route. Make sure to verify their license and insurance, file 1099s, and put the work agreement in writing.
Yes, painting companies are profitable when run well. Profit margins can target as much as 30% to 40%.
Price from your goals and your costs rather than basing price on competitors. Your price has to cover production, marketing, insurance, warranties, overhead, and profit.
No pressure, no obligation, no sales pitch. Walk away with a clear plan of action for your business.
“What an amazing coaching group! I never thought my business would’ve succeeded so much in just six months.”
