You Don't Need Trades Experience to Build a Painting Team

In more than 20 years of franchising, we've talked with thousands of people considering Fresh Coat Painters ownership. And there's one fear that comes up in almost every conversation: I've never hired a trades person. How am I supposed to build a team of painters?

If that question has been sitting in the back of your mind, you're not alone — it's one of the most common concerns for anyone exploring a painting franchise. The good news is that the answer is better than most people expect.

We hire painters as employees, not subcontractors. 

That distinction matters more than it might seem. In a category where inconsistent labor is one of the biggest quality-control challenges, building your team with employees — not a rotating cast of subcontractors — gives you far more control over quality, culture, and customer experience. 

A system built for people with zero trades background. 

Because of that employee-based model, we've spent more than two decades building and refining a painter-recruitment system designed specifically for new owners who've never hired a painter in their life. It's a structured, repeatable process that walks you through where to find candidates, how to screen them, and how to present Fresh Coat as a place skilled painters want to work.

You won't be figuring this out on the fly. Every new owner receives this system as a core part of launch training — so you go into hiring with a playbook, not a guess.

 Support that doesn't end at launch. 

As your team grows and hiring needs change, you'll have an ongoing relationship with a dedicated business coach — someone who's there to help you navigate the next hire, and the one after that.

If hiring is the thing giving you pause about painting franchise ownership, it's worth a conversation.