Painting Company

Words in [brackets] are blanks you fill in with your own details when you adopt this sample in Supreme Plan AI.

Executive Summary

True Color Painting is a painting company serving homeowners, landlords and small businesses in the west side of our city and the nearby suburbs. We paint the inside and outside of homes, with careful prep, clean lines and a tidy job site. Homeowners want a paint job that looks great and lasts, but many painters are hard to book, miss start dates, rush the prep or leave a mess. We will win customers by showing up on the day we say, doing careful prep, protecting furniture and floors and giving a clear written price. Here is what our numbers show. We expect sales of about $196,000 in Year 1, growing to about $786,100 by Year 5 as we add painting crews and more exterior work. We expect a profit of about $14,400 in Year 1, growing to about $171,300 by Year 5. We need $40,500 in total. That covers $14,700 in startup costs (a paint sprayer, ladders, a trailer, opening supplies, certification, insurance and advertising) and a cash cushion of about three months of bills. I am putting in $10,000 of my own money, and I am asking for $30,500. In Year 1 I will use my own truck to haul the trailer and supplies. I am James Lopez, the owner. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this plan, not promises.

Company Description

True Color Painting will be a limited liability company (LLC) in Nevada, owned by James Lopez. We will work from my home, with the trailer parked in my driveway and supplies stored in my garage. What we believe. Show up when we say we will, prep carefully, protect the home, give a clear written price and stand behind our work. What we offer:
- Interior painting: walls, ceilings, trim and doors. - Exterior painting: siding, trim, decks and fences. - Cabinet and trim refinishing. - Repainting for landlords and move-outs. - Small commercial painting for offices and shops. Licenses and insurance. Painting rules vary by state and city, and some places require a contractor license for larger jobs. Our state requires a contractor license for jobs over $1,000, so I will get my license before taking larger jobs. Federal rules also require firms that disturb paint in homes built before 1978 to hold EPA Lead-Safe (RRP) certification and follow lead-safe practices. We will also carry general liability insurance, and workers' compensation once we hire. Where things stand today. I have painted for a contractor for four years, I own a ladder and hand tools, and I have painted three rooms for friends who paid me.

Problem & Opportunity

Homeowners near us want a good paint job, and a painter they can rely on. 1. Hard to book. Good painters are often booked for weeks, and then miss the start date. 2. Rushed prep. Skipping scraping, sanding and priming makes paint peel in a year or two. 3. Messy sites. Spills, drips and dust left behind are common. 4. Unclear prices. Quotes often leave out prep, primer or the second coat. How we know people want this. Four neighbors asked me to paint their rooms last year, and a real estate agent said she needs a reliable painter for her listings.

Products & Services

What we sell. 1. Interior painting jobs. Painting rooms, ceilings and trim, with prep and protection. Our plan assumes an average of about $1,400 per job in Year 1, rising to about $1,560 by Year 5. Paint, supplies and direct costs run about $480 per job. We expect about 60 jobs in Year 1, growing to about 213 a year by Year 5. 2. Exterior painting jobs. Painting siding, trim, decks and fences, with washing and prep. Our plan assumes an average of about $3,200 per job in Year 1, rising to about $3,602. Paint and materials cost about $1,150 per job. We expect about 35 jobs in Year 1, growing to about 126. Our prices. Average bedroom from $350. Whole interior from $3,500. Exterior of an average home from $3,000. How it works for the customer:
1. A free estimate, usually within a day or two. 2. A written quote that lists the prep, the paint and the number of coats. 3. Furniture and floors protected, and a tidy site every day. 4. A final walk-through and touch-ups, and a warranty on our work. Gross margin, explained. "Gross margin" is the share of each sale left after paying for materials and direct job costs. Our plan shows about 65% in Year 1. That money pays the owner and crew, vehicle costs, insurance and other bills.

Market Analysis

Who will hire us:
- Homeowners updating a room, or the whole house. - Home sellers and real estate agents who need a fresh look before listing. - Landlords and property managers who repaint between tenants. - Small businesses, offices and shops. Where we will work. A service area close enough to reach jobs easily, starting with four neighborhoods within 15 minutes of my home. Less driving means more painting. Season. Exterior work is busiest in the dry, warm months, and interior work fills the slower seasons. We schedule interior jobs in winter and rainy weeks so the crew stays busy. Our plan is careful on purpose. About 2 jobs a week in Year 1 is a pace the owner and one crew member can handle well.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices customers have:
1. Other painting companies. Fresh Coat Painters (a made-up name) charges about $1,500 for an average room set; known for being fast, but not careful with prep. 2. Handymen and day laborers. Cheap, but often not insured and not careful with prep. 3. Doing it yourself. Free, but slow, and hard to do well, especially outside. How we will win customers: reliable start dates, careful prep, a tidy site, clear written prices and a warranty on our work.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How people will find us. - Yard signs (with permission) and truck magnets. A fresh paint job is our best ad. - A free Google business listing with before-and-after photos, and a simple website. - Asking every happy customer for a review and a referral. - Relationships with real estate agents, property managers and home stagers. - Posts in neighborhood groups like Nextdoor and Facebook. Marketing budget. About $5,000 a year. Yard signs, truck magnets and the website are paid for from startup costs.

The first 90 days. Days 1 to 30: buy equipment and insurance, set up estimating and photograph past work. Days 31 to 60: pass out cards to realtors, property managers and neighbors of recent jobs. Days 61 to 90: book the first exterior jobs and ask every customer for a review.

Operations Plan

How the business runs day to day. Estimates and jobs. The owner visits each home, writes the quote and schedules jobs by area. In Year 1 the owner works with one crew member, and we grow to six crew members by Year 5. Each job has a start date, a color and supply order, a prep plan and a final walk-through. Equipment. About $9,000 to start: airless paint sprayer; ladders and scaffolding; drop cloths, tape, brushes, rollers and hand tools; pressure washer for exterior prep; sanders and dust-control equipment; used utility trailer. In Year 1 we haul the trailer with the owner's own truck. We set aside about $1,500 to $2,000 a year for repairs and replacements. Upkeep. Safety. Ladder and scaffold safety, ventilation and masks when sanding or spraying, and lead-safe practices on homes built before 1978. Paint and solvents stored and disposed of properly. Running costs in Year 1: equipment and supplies about $8,000, insurance and licensing about $6,000, marketing about $5,000. Scheduling and billing. A simple scheduling and invoicing app on my phone, with customers billed half at the start and half when the job is complete.

Risks and how we plan for them:
- Weather. Exterior jobs depend on dry, mild days, so we schedule interior work for bad weather and the off-season.
- Lead paint in older homes. We follow the EPA lead-safe rules for pre-1978 homes and use a certified firm or training where required.
- Quality complaints. We use written scopes, specify paint brands and walk each job with the customer before final payment.
- Unpaid work. We take a deposit and bill by stage on larger jobs.
- Crew availability. We build a bench of reliable painters to add during busy months.

Management & Organization

Who runs the business. James Lopez, owner. As owner I will paint, write estimates, schedule, order supplies and handle the money side of the business. I plan to pay myself $48,000 a year in salary in Year 1. Crew. Painting crew members at about $36,000 a year each (or part-time pay): one in Year 1, two in Year 2, four in Year 3, five in Year 4 and six in Year 5. People who will help us: a bookkeeper or tax preparer, an insurance agent, and a free mentor from SCORE or the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Michael Flores serves as a key volunteer advisor.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals and when we plan to reach them. - Before starting: register the business, get insurance and lead-safe certification, buy the sprayer, ladders and trailer, and put out yard signs. Target start: February 2027. - First year: complete about 60 interior jobs and 35 exterior jobs, for about $196,000 in sales. - Year 2: add crew members, about $316,600 in sales, and a profit of about $47,000. - Years 3 to 5: grow to six painting crew members and about $786,100 in sales by Year 5. Growth depends on hiring good people and winning the work, so treat the later years as goals, not promises. What we check every week: estimates given, jobs booked and finished, callbacks, supply costs, and cash in the bank.

What the plan's numbers say. Year 1: sales about $196,000, profit about $14,400; Year 2: sales about $316,600, profit about $47,000; Year 3: sales about $459,700, profit about $62,600; Year 4: sales about $612,700, profit about $111,700; Year 5: sales about $786,100, profit about $171,300. The lowest year-end cash is about $38,200.

How we will keep score. Every month we compare real sales to the plan, check the cash in the bank, review the direct cost of each job or product, and look at what customers say. If sales are behind plan for two months in a row, we slow spending and delay hiring until the numbers catch up.

Funding Request

How much we need and how we will use it. Total needed: $40,500. This number comes from the Funding Need Calculator in this plan. It adds up: - Startup costs of $14,700, listed item by item in the Startup Costs section (about $9,000 for the sprayer, ladders, tools and trailer, $1,200 for opening paint and supplies, $700 for a business license and lead-safe certification, $2,000 for the first insurance payment, $500 for business setup and bookkeeping software, and $1,300 for truck magnets, yard signs and a website). - A cash cushion of about $25,800: the deepest cash dip in the early months plus about three months of bills, so slow weeks do not put the business at risk. Lenders call this "working capital." - Together that comes to about $40,500 (rounded up to the nearest $500), which is the total we are planning for. Where the money comes from: - My own money: $10,000. - Amount requested: $30,500. Kind of funding we are looking for: an SBA microloan through a local community lender. How we will pay it back. We expect a profit of about $14,400 in Year 1, growing to about $171,300 by Year 5. With this funding, the business has money in the bank every year of the plan. The loan is planned at 13% interest over 6 years, the top of the usual range for SBA microloans, so payments of about $612 a month are already included in our cash flow. What we are offering the lender: our sprayer, trailer and tools as collateral and my personal guarantee A smaller first step, if needed. If we cannot raise the full amount right away, we can start smaller and grow into this plan: - Phase 1: start with a few interior jobs on evenings and weekends using brushes, rollers and a borrowed ladder, while keeping your current job. Startup can be under $1,000. - Phase 2: once you have more jobs than you can handle part-time, buy the sprayer, scaffolding and trailer and follow this plan. To plan the smaller start, make a copy of this plan (use Duplicate) and lower the numbers to match. All numbers in this plan are estimates. We will update them as real results come in.

What if sales are slower? We also tested a cautious case where sales come in 20 percent lower every year. In that case the plan shows a loss of about $8,600 in Year 1, a profit of about $15,500 in Year 3 and the lowest year-end cash is about $38,200, so the business still has money in the bank every year.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this plan:

- Your resume (one page is fine) and any licenses or certificates. - A personal financial statement (a list of what you own and what you owe; lenders usually provide a form). - Business registration papers and your EIN (your business tax number from the IRS, free at irs.gov). - Proof of insurance, or a quote. - Your lead-safe (RRP) certification, if you work on older homes. - Your price list and a sample written estimate. - Photos of past work and references, if you have them. If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue. The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Interior Painting Jobs: about $1,400 per job in Year 1, rising to $1,560; about $480 per job in direct costs; about 60 jobs in Year 1, growing to 213. - Exterior Painting Jobs: about $3,200 per job in Year 1, rising to $3,602; about $1,150 per job in direct costs; about 35 jobs in Year 1, growing to 126. - Owner salary: $48,000 a year. Crew: $36,000 a year each, from one in Year 1 to six in Year 5. - Other yearly costs in Year 1: equipment and supplies about $8,000, insurance and licensing about $6,000, marketing about $5,000. - Tax rate: 21%. - Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and research.

Plain words used in this plan:
- Interior and exterior: painting inside a home or on its outside surfaces.
- Prep: scraping, sanding, caulking and priming before paint goes on.
- Lead-safe rules: federal rules for work that disturbs paint in homes built before 1978.
- Estimate: a written price given before work starts.
- Cash cushion: money kept on hand to pay bills while sales build.

Startup Costs