How profitable are auto paint shops?

Im talking about a small size shop that has space to paint 1 car at a time etc. Normal paint jobs with good quality (maybe a little cheaper than the other guys) with a little custom painting on the side (nothing to drastic just the basic customs). 2 employees. Basically, how much does the AVERAGE paint shop owner really make and is it a good business to go into?How profitable are auto paint shops?
most of the business is insurance work which requires a bigger shop. Your talking about custom work which is a speciality field and it doesn't sound like you're that experienced. What would your customer base be?


You may consider trying to do it part time till you start to get some customers. Work for someone else and part time on your own.


Another way to make it pay is to buy cars that need repairs and fix them, paint them and resell them.How profitable are auto paint shops?
Insurance 'fixers' is overhead intensive and eats profits like you wouldn't believe - steer clear of that particular road if at all possible. Know someone who ended up with 'don't want it back' and 'cost more to fix than keep' junkers in his garage.





As for how much does the 'average' owner make, first understand there is no such thing as an 'average' paintshop owner. Someone with a ding in their 12 year old Mercedes paint will gladly pay $1,000 or more to have it gone (and it might cost you $100 to fix because you know what you're doing). Someone else with a 2 year old Toyota may think $200 is too much to get an entire left door panel repainted.





Just depends where you've set your sights in the market.