House Painter

House painters paint the exteriors or interiors of houses. Interior house painters focus on walls, ceilings, and trim of rooms. And as you might expect, exterior house painters paint the outside of houses.

In addition to these core tasks, house painters also have the following duties:

• Communicating with clients: Good communication is essential for a strong painting business. A key part of a painter’s job is consulting with clients beforehand to understand their needs and preferences. They also need to keep clients updated on their progress.
• Preparatory work: You’ll need to prepare the surfaces you’re painting before you begin work. This can include scraping, sanding, or any other cleaning method.
• Determining the right paint to use: Knowing the correct type of paint needed for each job is essential. Different paints (latex, acrylic, etc.) are designed for different surfaces.
• Purchasing materials: You’ll need to contact suppliers and purchase the right paint or supplies for the task at hand.

When you’re starting your own house painting business, you need to be prepared for the responsibilities that come with being a business owner. You won’t just be working as part of a painting crew—you’ll be handling admin tasks, managing projects, and finding clients.

One of the great things about starting a house painting side hustle is that there often aren’t any strict requirements. You’ll need to check your state’s laws for house painting business, but in many cases, you won’t need a license or a permit to become a house painter.

With that said, you may need to register your business with the local authorities and get a business license. There are also other things that may not be technically required but that you should get, such as a business bank account and liability insurance for house painters.

Can you become a house painter with no experience?

Yes, it’s entirely possible to start a house painting side hustle with no painting experience. House painting typically isn’t a regulated field, which is part of what makes it a great side hustle.

But just because you don’t need experience doesn’t mean you should launch a painting side hustle without first learning how to paint houses. If you’ve never worked as a painter before, consider working for a painting company first to get some experience under your belt, then set up your own business once you feel more confident.

As with any side hustle focused on manual labor, proven experience will afford you more job opportunities. If you’re new to the house painting game, it may be hard to get customers at first, but you can overcome this obstacle by gaining experience painting houses for friends or family or offering discounted services to your first few clients.

Now that you’ve got an idea of what you’ll need and how much you can make as a house painter, we’ll walk you through the steps to starting a painting business.

1. Research your competition

Before you start your house painting business, you need to do some market research. Check out what painting companies are already operating in your area.

In particular, try to gauge the following points:

• What you can realistically charge in your market
• What services your competitors offer
• Which tools or equipment they use
• How they market their services

You can also check out online resources, such as the Reddit thread r/Paint, to get some perspective from seasoned house painters.

2. Create a solid business plan

Your next step should be to to create a comprehensive business plan that includes the following information:

• Services: Decide on the exact types of painting services you plan to offer.
• Equipment: Figure out what equipment and tools you’ll need for your painting side hustle.
• Projected expenses: List out all the initial and recurring costs you expect to face, including equipment, insurance, and advertising expenses.
• Goals: Set realistic goals for your business. These can include achieving a certain income or completing a set number of jobs within a specific timeframe.
• Rates: Decide your rates for jobs, based on the economic conditions of your area and the specific services you’ll offer.
• Marketing strategy: Consider how you plan on marketing your business and how much you’re willing to spend on marketing.

Your business plan will come in handy later when you’re evaluating your budget, setting your prices, and looking for customers.

At this stage, you should also choose your business name. This could just be your own name or a different name, ideally something simple that clearly conveys that you’re a painting company.

3. Register your painting business

Even if your state doesn’t require you to get a license to paint houses or register as a business, it’s still worth getting a business license and setting up a formal business. To do this, check the steps involved in registering a business in your state.

You’ll also need to choose a business structure. The most common choices for a painting business are a sole proprietorship or a limited liability company (LLC). Forming an LLC offers some advantages, such as personal protection by separating your business liability from your personal liability.

4. Open a business bank account

Next, you’ll need a business bank account with credit card processing to receive customer payments. Your bank should be able to give you some guidance on how to set up your account.

You should also get bookkeeping software to keep track of your finances. There are plenty of low-cost or free software programs out there. You could also enlist the services of a freelance bookkeeper if you’re not comfortable handling bookkeeping yourself, though doing so will increase your overall business costs.

5. Get business insurance

Insurance is a must for most businesses, and a painting business is no exception. The most important type of coverage to get is general liability insurance, which covers you for any damage you cause (or are accused of causing) while on the job.

The cost of general liability insurance typically falls in the range of $40–$180 per month. It’s also worth looking into insuring your tools and equipment, especially if you’re investing in any particularly expensive equipment.

6. Start marketing your business

Now that you’ve finished setting everything up, it’s time to start marketing your house painting business to find customers. Effective business promotion means taking advantage of all the marketing avenues available to you.

Here are some good ways to start advertising your painting business:

• Social media: Use Facebook, Instagram, or any other big platform to let customers know about your painting business. Posting in Facebook groups, such as groups for your local area, can be a great way to find customers.
• Physical marketing: Put up flyers in your area and make business cards.
• Business website: Create a professional website for your business that shows the services you offer and lets customers get in touch with you. You can pay someone to build a site for you or use platforms like WordPress or Squarespace to build a site for free.
• Paid ads: If your budget allows for it, take advantage of targeted ads on Google or social media platforms so your company gets more visibility among potential customers in your area.
• Content creation: Create content to post on social media or on your own website. Whether you give tips for painting houses or videos showing off your work, creating content is a great way to advertise your business.
• Promotions: When starting out, offer promotions to attract new customers. This could be something like a referral program, where customers who refer others get discounted services or other incentives.

If you want a reliable way to find customers when starting out, you could also try using gig apps like Taskrabbit. These platforms usually charge fees, so it’s not the most profitable avenue to run your painting business, but it’s a good way to drum up business in the early stages.

Starting a house painting business costs money. You need to factor in costs related to tools and equipment as well as additional expenses like taxes.

Tools and equipment are the biggest expenses you’ll need to consider when you’re starting out. The table below shows a list of what you might need, along with estimated costs.

House Painter Tool and Equipment Costs

If you’re offering any additional services (e.g., high-durability coatings), you’ll need extra equipment beyond the items included in the table above. Some painters also opt for a paint sprayer to cover larger areas in less time, but it might not be worth the expense when you’re just starting out.

You don’t need to buy the most expensive brushes and rollers, but you’ll want to avoid the cheapest ones. High-quality brushes last longer and work more effectively than cheaper ones.

Setting a budget for your painting business

To help you get a better idea of your earning potential from a house painting business and how much costs will eat into your revenue, it’s a good idea to come up with a budget. Here’s a rundown of costs you should anticipate and how much they’ll take away from your earnings.

Equipment and materials

Recommended budget: 20% of earnings.

You’ll need to factor in the cost of paint and any necessary tools for each job. Paint generally costs somewhere in the range of $20–$70 per gallon, with a gallon being enough to paint one small room, like a bathroom.

You can have clients pay for the paint themselves, or you can factor the cost of paint into your prices and buy it for them.

If your clients are paying for the paint themselves, then you just need to worry about the cost of painting equipment. Your costs will be lower, but you’ll still need to budget for supplies you’ll need to buy periodically and equipment that you’ll eventually need to replace.

Transportation

Recommended budget: 10%–15% of earnings.

If you’re using your car to get to jobs, you’ll need to cover the costs of keeping it in good working condition. This can range from simply cleaning your car (which is a big issue for painters), to getting it serviced by a mechanic.

Driving to and from jobs means you’ll burn through gas, especially if you fill your car with equipment. While your fuel costs depend on gas prices in your area, as well as how far you’re willing to drive to jobs, plan to budget at least 10% of your earnings for transportation.

Tax

Recommended budget: 15% of earnings.

You’ll pay taxes on all your earnings, and the current self-employment tax rate at the time of writing is 15.3%. You may be able to get tax deductions for business expenses, but you should still budget for 15% to go to the IRS.

To maximize your tax return, consult a qualified tax professional. Also make sure that you’re paying your estimated taxes in full and on time to avoid any penalty fees.

It’s common for professional house painters to make somewhere in the range of $40–$150 per hour. However, expenses will eat up a good chunk of your income. Assuming taxes, equipment costs, and transportation costs take away 45%–50% of your revenue, you can expect real take-home earnings of roughly $20–$70 per hour.

It’s worth noting that while some painters charge an hourly fee, this isn’t always the case. Many painters instead charge flat day rates or charge per square footage or even by the paint gallon.

What affects your earnings from a painting side hustle?

Business expenses are the biggest factor influencing your overall income from a house painting side hustle. However, there are also a few other factors that can affect your earning potential:

• Project scope: Longer projects, like painting every room in a house, will pay more than smaller projects, like just painting one room.
• Location: Where your business is located will affect how much work you have and how much you can charge customers.
• Experience: When starting out with your house painting business, you may struggle to find customers, especially if you’re competing against established companies. As you build expertise and establish a reputation for yourself, you can command higher rates.
• Who you work for: As a house painter, you can provide services to private citizens, businesses, or government agencies. Businesses and organizations may be willing to pay you more than, for example, a nearby neighbor would.
• Competition: You likely won’t be the only painter in town, and if you’re competing with a lot of other painting businesses, you might find it hard to land customers.

Painting houses can be a great side hustle, especially if you live in a more rural area or you want a physical job that involves working with your hands. You don’t need any advanced knowledge, certifications, or special training to paint houses, which makes it an easy field to break into with no experience.

The job itself is also fairly relaxed, with plenty of downtime while you wait for paint to dry. Painting is a messy job by nature, so you have to be okay with getting paint on your clothes and the inside of your car. But if you’re not afraid of a little dirty work, it can be an easy way to make money.

With that said, starting any business can be tough, and while the startup costs for a painting business aren’t that high, you might not make meaningful gains for the first few months. You also have to deal with clients directly, some of whom may have unrealistic expectations.

Pros and cons of a house painting side hustle

Before setting up a house painting business, consider all the potential downsides and upsides.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether or not it’s worth it to start your own painting business. If you’re willing to take on a little risk and get your hands dirty, starting a house painting business can be a fun and lucrative side hustle.