Start and run a painting business
Painting is easy to start and hard to grow. The jobs that grow it - commercial and HOA - ask for paperwork first.
What slows painting contractors down
- Contractor rules that can start above a job size
- Commercial clients that want a bond and insurance certificate
- Room-by-room quotes
- Lead-safe paperwork on older homes
What Service Boss handles
Your state's painting rules
What your state asks of a painting contractor, item by item with its authority - including any job size where a contractor licence starts.
Room-by-room quotes
Walls, ceilings, trim and cabinets as separate lines so the customer sees the price of each room - then invoice the same lines.
Ready for commercial bids
The bond and liability cover a property manager asks for before the first walkthrough, explained.
A logo for the trucks and drop cloths
A logo ready for the van, the yard signs and the crew shirts.
Jobs you can quote and invoice
- Interior repaint
- Exterior repaint
- Cabinet refinishing
- Commercial painting
How it goes
A two-painter crew forms an LLC, gets bonded, quotes a 6-room interior line by line and lands its first HOA exterior contract.
Requirements research, not legal advice. Rules can differ by city and county; every item we give you names the authority that issues it.
Other trades
- Plumbing
- HVAC
- Electrical
- Roofing
- General contracting
- Landscaping
- Cleaning
- Handyman
- Pest control
- Concrete
- Pool service
Not listed? Every trade, A to Z.