How much does it cost to start a painting business?

Painting is one of the cheapest trades to start. You can realistically open the doors for a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars — sometimes less if you already own a truck and basic gear. But "cheap to start" hides one cost that catches almost every new painter off guard, so let's itemize the whole thing honestly.

The itemized breakdown

Tools & equipment — $300–$1,500. Brushes, rollers, ladders, drop cloths, tape, a 5-in-1, buckets. A sprayer ($300–$800) is optional and can wait.
Legal & business setup — $50–$500. LLC filing fee (varies by state), EIN (free from the IRS), business bank account ($0).
Insurance — $500–$1,500/yr. General liability is the big one, often paid monthly. Workers' comp only once you have employees.
Vehicle — $0 and up. Most start with a truck or van they already own. A dedicated work vehicle is a later expense.
Marketing — $0–$500. Genuinely $0 to start — word of mouth, a free Google Business Profile, local groups. Signage and shirts come later.
Software / admin — $0. A free-forever tool handles estimates, job tracking, and getting paid. No reason to pay here on day one.

Add it up and a lean start is often $800–$2,500, most of which is tools and your first insurance premium.

The hidden cost nobody mentions: cash float

Here's the one that surprises people. Your biggest early "startup cost" usually isn't a thing you buy once — it's the cash you float on every job until the job is done.

It's safe to say most painters go into business for themselves to to pay the bills. And coming from an employee's perspective, a new business owner might get that first down payment and feel flush with cash. But a week later, after laying out a few hundred dollars in paint and materials, and paying a helper for the week, only to realize the job is going to take at least two or three days longer than you had initially planned for (hoped for), that same business owner finds himself in a bind with bills coming up and the money from the down payment is going to run out before the job is done.

Two ways to protect your cashflow:

Take a deposit. A deposit on signing means the customer funds the materials, not you. Painter's Log allows you to specify the payment schedule, including a deposit or down payment, when sending out the original estimate.
Track your numbers from day one. Knowing what each job really costs — and what you're owed — is the difference between managing the float and getting blindsided by it.

A simple startup-cost worksheet

Before you start, fill in your real numbers:

Tools & equipment        $______
LLC / legal setup        $______
First insurance premium  $______
Vehicle (if any)         $______
Marketing                $______
─────────────────────────────────
One-time startup         $______

Cash to float ~2 jobs    $______   (materials + help, before you're paid)
─────────────────────────────────
Total you need on hand   $______

That bottom number — startup plus float — is the real "what does it cost to start" figure. It's almost always higher than the tools-only number people quote, and knowing it is what keeps you out of trouble in month one.

Keep your costs honest from job one

The startup numbers above are estimates; your numbers are what matter, and they only get clear if you track them. From your very first job, record what you spend and what you make — it costs nothing and it's the habit that turns a side hustle into a business.

When you're ready to set up and send your first professional quote, you can do it free → Start Here. Free forever for small operations.

New to all of this? Start with the full guide to starting a painting business.