Starting Your Own House Painting Business
Do you have a knack for painting? Do friends and family always turn to you to help them with their decorating and painting jobs?
If this sounds like you, then perhaps you might want to consider starting your very own house painting business. Don’t worry about all the other competition out there, there is plenty of work for everyone – especially if you offer quality at a reasonable price.
Before you get too excited about the prospect of making an above average wage, you should know that there is some skill involved in this trade. The fact of the matter is that some people simply can’t paint. Though it may seem like a simple business to start (and something that requires little skill), if you are not able to do quality work, you’re not going to be in business for very long.
Quality work does not necessarily mean taking your time and being careful. If you can’t paint, you can’t paint. It doesn’t matter how much time you take, the result just won’t be professional. Will people notice a bad paint job? You bet they will – and guess who’s going to be paying for the shoddy work? You, of course.
The best way to tell if this is a business you’ll want to start is by working for a painting company. You’ll not only get a good idea of what the business entails, you will also learn the proper techniques that separate a professional painting job from an amateur one.
If you’re fairly confident in your painting abilities, start off slow by offering your services to people you know, such as friends and family. If you’re skills aren’t quite up to scratch, you won’t be dealing with as much grief as if you were charging top dollar to a homeowner. Consider this your initiation and testing phase. Make sure you get honest feedback about the job and also be very critical of your own work. Where did you go wrong? How can you ensure that it won’t happen again? How quickly are you able to fix your defects?
Starting your own house painting business means more than throwing some ladders on a truck, buying some supplies, and calling yourself a professional painter. Make sure you’re capable of delivering the quality people expect from a professional painting service and then get out there and start drumming up some business.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of competition in this field. However, there is also a lot of demand because of people’s busy schedules and the fact that they don’t want to waste a weeks vacation painting their house.
Start advertising your services by placing a small classified ad in your local paper. Also, get some flyers printed and distribute them around town. You’ll eventually find that work will start trickling in, and over time, you’ll be able to fill your schedule completely. The other factor that is going to help you immensely is that people will refer your services to their friends if they are happy with your work.
Once your phone starts ringing, you’re going to be busy doing estimates. If you have little experience, you will want to take your time and be as accurate as possible. The last thing you need is to under charge so that you’re making $10 an hour – or overcharge, so that the homeowner decides that you’re too expensive. Keep in mind that there are many factors that can affect the cost of a job, including prep work, type of paint, difficulty of access, and how fast they need the job done. This is another excellent reason to work for a painting company before starting your own business. You can’t do a proper estimate without experience.
Starting a house painting business doesn’t require a lot of money. Provided you have a vehicle already, the only other things you will need to buy will be ladders and miscellaneous tools and supplies (brushes, rollers, trays, edging tools, drop cloths).
Your estimates should be based on a price per room. Every job is different but you should be able to make at least $15 per hour after all expenses. Of course, your hourly rate will increase as you get more experience and become more efficient. It’s going to take a while to get your pricing down pat. The only way you’re going to do this is through experience and knowing how long it takes you to do a particular job.
There is much more to starting a house painting business than simply placing a classified ad and calling yourself a painter. However, it can be a very lucrative business to run – particularly, once you get a bit of experience under your belt.
The great thing about this business is that it is easily expanded. Eventually, you could have several trucks and crews on the road doing jobs throughout the city. The possibilities are endless for expansion if you have a reputation for high quality and customer service.
