Buying supplies, hiring employees, finding clients are obvious ways to start a professional painting service. Of course, there’s more to business than a few generic plans. You’ll also have to do a lot of boring paperwork and plenty of planning. To get you started on the path to success, let’s go over 7 important steps to take when you’re designing a professional painting service.
Get Painters Public Liability Insurance
One important part of starting a new professional painting service is buying a painters public liability insurance plan. This may not seem like an exciting action to take. In fact, it may seem like a waste of money, particularly when you are just starting your company. However, if you ever do need to file a liability claim, you’ll be so glad you did buy painters public liability coverage. Check out the BizCover platform by clicking here, you can compare multiple insurers online.
A quality painters public liability policy will protect you, your employees, and your professional painting service. This type of insurance will help your company to pay for any financial damages and legal fees associated with negligence, including property damages and personal injuries.
Be Qualified
Being a qualified painter will prepare you to offer a high-quality service because you’ll earn a license, as well as learn to work safely and operate professionally.
A national qualification for Australian painters is Certificate III, Painting and Decorating. You may be able to secure government funding for your new company. Qualified painters are considered trustworthy to do a good job because they’ve invested time into their craft.
For anyone that didn’t finish the national qualification classes, you could still get recognised under Australia’s Recognition of Prior Learning Program after having completed more than four years in this work field. Any extra classes or programs you complete throughout your career will enhance your resume and reputation.
Pick a Specialty
It’s a wonderful idea to have a specialty that will distinguish your painting business from the competition. What should your painting specialty be?
Here are a few examples of what other pro painters offer their clients:
- Decorative, faux finishes
- Lead paint removal and disposal
- Eco-friendly, green painting
- Masonry repair
- Power washing
These services will elevate your pro painting business to the next level. You may even attract business strictly because you’ve become well-known for a specialty. However, that’s just a way to get your foot in the door with a customer. Eventually your other skills will keep the clients coming back for more.
Obtain an ABN: The Australian Business Register issues a unique 11-digit identifying number for companies to use when dealing with other companies. The assigned number is known as an Australian Business Number (ABN) and will be required when dealing with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) among other government bureaus. You’ll also have to put the painting service’s ABN on all your invoicing and other sales documents. If you don’t do it, then other organisations can withhold as much as a 46.5% tax from a payment.
Besides what we mentioned above, there are lots of other reasons why registering for an ABN will help your painting company. The ABN will assist your business to:
- Obtain a business license
- Claim energy grant credits
- Claim a Goods and Services Tax (GST) credit
- Purchase an Australian domain name
- Facilitate a Business Activity Statement for the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- Avoid Pay as You Go (PAYG) tax on payments received
- Confirm your business identity when invoicing and ordering
- Facilitate a single Business Activity Statement
Register Your Business Name
Instead of using your own name, come up with a clever or memorable business name. It will make marketing and future growth so much easier. Of course, you’ll need to register your business name with your state or territory. Consult with your local municipality for more info.
Get a Business License
Different parts of Australia have different rules when it comes to getting a business license. For example, in New South Wales your company must be licensed to perform any work worth more than $1,000. In Queensland, any work worth more than $3,300 must be done by a licensed company. In Western Australia, businesses must get registered no matter the scope of work they perform. Same as with registering your company name, please check with your local municipality about getting your painting business licensed.
Write Up a Business Plan
Starting a painting business isn’t hard. Running a successful painting business is the hard part. It won’t happen without lots of hard work and planning. You’ll need to be into problem-solving and creative thinking to get through all the ups and downs that are sure to come about. Find ways to keep your passion and enthusiasm alive so you don’t get burned out.
The more preparation you do during start up, the better your chances of sidestepping personal and financial heartaches. It’s critical that you put all your ideas down in writing. Developing a business plan will be useful to keep yourself on target. It can also be useful if you’re seeking financial investors or a business loan.
Here are a few questions you’ll need to answer in your business plan:
- What are your goals for the business?
- Why do you want to open a painting business?
- What skills are needed to run a painting business?
- How much time, effort, and resources are you willing to devote to your business?
- What will be your estimated operational costs (e.g. materials, marketing, payroll)?
- How much revenue will your painting business need to be profitable?
Begin Marketing Your Painting Service
Once you’ve got a business name and all the official paperwork done, you can begin doing the fun part…marketing. The beauty of business marketing in the digital age is you can get the word out for almost zero money. Start by setting up social media accounts for your painting business, as well as putting together a business website. From these platforms, you can launch lots of online marketing through blog posts, videos, and email marketing.
