Is a Painting Business a Good Investment in Australia?

A painting business in Australia is a good investment when it has commercial maintenance contracts, a stable crew, and a principal who isn't the sole reason customers call. When it doesn't have those things, you've bought yourself a job with a spray gun.

That's not a knock on painting businesses. Some of the best-run trades operations I've seen have been painting companies. The margins are reasonable, the startup costs are low enough that good operators actually build proper businesses instead of just themselves, and demand for commercial repaints in Australia isn't going anywhere — aging apartment stock, strata maintenance obligations, institutional clients who need things repainted on schedule whether the housing market is good or not.

But you need to know what you're buying. And most of the search results on this topic are written for people who want to start a painting business, not people who want to buy one. Those are entirely different questions.

What makes a painting business worth buying

The single most important variable in a painting business is the customer mix.

A business doing 80% residential new builds is betting on construction activity. When developers are building, they're busy; when the market turns (as it did hard across most of Australia after the 2021-22 rate cycle), the work dries up fast and the forward order book collapses. I've seen businesses that looked brilliant in the good years turn into genuine headaches eighteen months later because every contract was tied to a development pipeline that stopped.

A business with commercial maintenance contracts is a different animal. Strata schemes, government facilities, retail fit-outs, aged care facilities, industrial properties — these clients repaint on a schedule. They don't care what's happening with the housing market because repainting a commercial property is maintenance, not discretionary spending. If the body corporate has resolved to repaint the complex this year, they're going to repaint the complex.

Other things that improve the investment case:

Recurring contracts with institutional clients — public housing maintenance panels, shopping centre groups, aged care chains
A supervisor or foreman who runs the crews day-to-day — the owner doesn't need to be on the tools to keep jobs moving
Multiple business development relationships — if the owner has three strata managers, two facilities managers, and two project managers they regularly quote for, that's a spread of risk
Current licenses and clean compliance history — licensing requirements vary by state, but in NSW and Victoria you need a valid contractor licence to do residential work above a certain value threshold; check these are current and have no conditions

Gross margins in a well-run painting business typically sit between 30% and 45% — that's after materials (usually 15–25% of revenue) but before labour overheads. Net margins are lower, obviously, but a business doing $800K in revenue with a good commercial client base can generate $150K–$220K in owner's earnings. That's the range where the acquisition math starts to work.

For a detailed look at what these businesses actually sell for, read how much a painting business is worth in Australia.

What kills the investment case

The fastest way to destroy value in a painting business acquisition is buying one where the owner is the business.

If the business runs because the principal knows every strata manager personally, quotes every job himself, and is the first call when something goes wrong on site — you don't have a business, you have a well-paid person with a van. The day he hands you the keys is the day a portion of that value walks out with him.

Owner dependency is a real risk in every trades business, but it hits painting businesses particularly hard because the relationships are the asset. A plumbing business has licensing protection and emergency call-out work that's less relationship-dependent; a painting business is more about "who does the strata manager call when she needs quotes." If the answer is "Dave, the owner" — and Dave isn't staying on post-settlement — you need to model that risk carefully.

Other red flags:

Revenue concentrated in residential new builds (more than 50% is worth scrutinising)
Crew turnover — good painters are hard to find; if the team keeps leaving, there's usually a reason
No formal quoting system — everything priced from memory means you can't verify margin consistency
Licensing history with complaints or conditions — check the relevant state licensing authority
Cash-heavy revenue — painting businesses sometimes run a proportion of jobs informally; this creates a financing problem when you're trying to prove EBITDA to a bank

This module of the Playbook — finding profitable businesses — is covered in depth in Module 2 of the Playbook.

The valuation reality

Painting businesses in Australia typically sell at 2x to 3.5x normalised EBITDA for businesses in the $200K–$1M EBITDA range. The multiple depends heavily on:

The proportion of commercial vs residential revenue
Whether the business has documented repeat clients or is purely project-based
How removable the owner is from day-to-day operations
Crew depth (can you lose a couple of tradespeople and still deliver?)

A business at the low end — mostly residential, owner-driven, minimal systems — might sell at 1.8x to 2.2x. A business with commercial maintenance contracts, a documented client base, and a supervisor who can run jobs independently might attract 3x to 3.5x. The spread is meaningful when you're talking about a business doing $400K EBITDA: that's the difference between paying $720K and $1.4M for the same headline earnings.

For context on how different trades industries compare, the EBITDA multiples for trades businesses article covers the benchmarks across plumbing, electrical, painting, landscaping, and cleaning.

If you want a structured way to compare painting against other trades investments, the industry multiples cheat sheet is worth downloading.

What to actually check before you buy

Beyond the standard trades business due diligence, a few things are specific to painting businesses:

Licensing. Each state has different requirements. In NSW, you need a Home Building Act licence for residential painting above $5,000. In Victoria, it's a Domestic Builder licence. Check the relevant state authority — the seller's licence should transfer cleanly or you'll need to get your own before you can operate legally.

Vehicle and equipment condition. Scaffold, EWPs (elevated work platforms), spray equipment, and the fleet — these depreciate fast and cost serious money to replace. Get independent assessments on anything over three years old. I've seen buyers get surprised by $80K in equipment replacement within six months of settlement because they assumed good condition from a 20-minute walk-through.

The crew's knowledge of the handover. Key staff need to know about the sale at the right time — not too early, not too late. Painters who've been with the business for years can walk if they feel uncertain about the new owner. Have a plan for this conversation before settlement day.

Insurance currency. Public liability and contract works insurance are non-negotiable. Check the policy limits are adequate for the size of jobs the business takes on, and make sure there are no claims history issues that would make renewal difficult or expensive.

Supplier terms. Long-standing painting businesses often have trade accounts with paint suppliers at discount terms. These accounts are in the seller's name and may not automatically transfer. Understand the process for establishing your own accounts.

Want a structured checklist to run through this process? The trades business assessment checklist covers the key evaluation criteria.

The verdict

Painting businesses are a legitimate investment for Australian buyers — but they're not all the same. A commercial-focused painting business with institutional clients, a senior foreman, and documented systems is a proper asset. A residential-only operation where the owner quotes everything and knows every client personally is a lifestyle business that depends on that person staying interested.

The price difference between those two types should be substantial. If it isn't — if the seller is asking 3x EBITDA for a business that's entirely dependent on his relationships — that's the negotiation conversation you need to have before you sign anything (which is more than most buyers think to check before they get emotionally attached to a deal).

Painting is a good sector. Australia's housing stock is aging, commercial properties need ongoing maintenance, and the licensing requirements keep the serious competition limited. The question is whether this particular painting business is a good investment. That answer comes from the numbers and the customer list, not the website.

FAQ

Do painters make good money in Australia as business owners?

A well-run painting business owner in Australia typically earns $120K–$250K per year in owner's salary plus profit distributions. Commercial-focused businesses with strong recurring contracts sit at the higher end. Owner-operators doing mostly residential work tend to earn less.

What is a typical painting business profit margin in Australia?

Gross margins for Australian painting businesses typically run 30–45% after materials. Net margins after all overhead — including the owner's salary, vehicles, insurance, and admin — usually land between 12% and 22% for well-run operations.

How much does it cost to buy a painting business in Australia?

A small painting business in Australia (under $500K revenue) might sell for $150K–$400K. A larger commercial-focused operation with $500K–$1M EBITDA could sell for $1M–$3.5M depending on contract quality and owner removability.

Is commercial or residential painting more valuable for an acquisition?

Commercial is more valuable because it tends to be contract-based, recurring, and less tied to housing construction cycles. Residential new build work is more cyclical and often more dependent on the owner's individual relationships with builders.

How do I find a painting business for sale in Australia?

Painting businesses come to market through specialist trades business brokers, business-for-sale platforms (SEEK Business, Bsale, BusinessForSale.com.au), and occasionally through accountant referrals when a principal is planning retirement. Off-market approaches to owners directly can also work if you target the right age cohort.

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