Painting Contractor
Skilled TradesYou own the painting business. Your name is on the truck, the Yelp page, and the lawsuits if something goes wrong. You'll bid on everything from single-room repaints to entire commercial buildings, manage crews who may or may not show up sober, and spend an unreasonable amount of time arguing about the difference between semi-gloss and satin. The money can be great if you run it right and terrible if you underbid even once.
Salary Range
Low
$65k
Median
$80k
High
$100k
10-Year Growth
3%
US Workers
280K
Education
Contractor license (varies by state) + business registration + insurance
Environment
mixed
Tools & Technical Skills
- ▸Job bidding & estimating
- ▸Business management & accounting
- ▸Contractor licensing & insurance
- ▸Marketing & client acquisition
- ▸Employee management & payroll
- ▸Supplier negotiation
People & Mindset Skills
- ▸Business acumen
- ▸Leadership
- ▸Client relationship management
- ▸Negotiation
- ▸Risk management
- ▸Sales & marketing
Learn the skills
Courses and certifications to get you job-ready
Business management & accounting
Employee management & payroll
What you'll actually do
- 01Walk properties and estimate jobs — knowing that underbidding is how painting businesses die
- 02Manage multiple crews across different job sites and pray the new guy doesn't spill 5 gallons
- 03Handle marketing, invoicing, and customer follow-ups between actual painting work
- 04Negotiate with paint suppliers for contractor pricing and bulk discounts
- 05Deal with callbacks when a client finds a spot you missed in lighting you've never seen before
- 06Calculate whether that commercial bid is worth the headache or just headache
Related Shifts
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