How Jacob Built a Six Figure Parking Lot Painting Business

Meet Jacob, owner of Stripes R Us

How are your parking skills? Next time you pull into a spot at the supermarket, stop to think about how important the lines on your parking stall are. Without them, parking would be chaos! And business owners know it. That’s why they hire professional parking lot stripers like Jacob Allen of Stripes R Us to ensure their customers enjoy an organized, efficient, and presentable parking experience.

With a used line machine and a measuring tape, Jacob started painting parking lot lines in Southern California two years ago after time doing odd jobs like window cleaning. Instead of just taking gigs, Jacob wanted to found a business for the long term. After 18 months of part-time striping, he took  his business full-time and hasn’t looked back. Today, he has employees, multiple striping machines, and the confidence and entrepreneurial mindset to look further down the road at future success.

Let’s talk about parking lot striping

How hard is painting lines on a parking lot? It’s more complicated than you might think. And it’s more than just painting.

Parking lot striping includes painting lines for parking stalls, arrows, signage, wheel stops, accessible stalls, and more. And that’s just for repaving existing parking lots.  When it comes to new construction, Jacob has to map out a blank parking lot from scratch according to City regulations. Regular stalls are usually 9 feet by 18 feet, and measuring them out can be a big job.

He also has to ensure that accessible parking spaces are compliant with laws set out by the Americans with Disabilities Act. “A lot of it comes down to safety,” says Jacob, but failure to comply with laws could also result in fines to the property owner, which is not good for business.

Jacob started small with jobs that he could tackle on his own, eventually scaling up to take bigger contracts. Now he’s got employees, more experience, and the equipment to take on striping jobs of almost any size.

Equipment for parking lot striping

Jacob got lucky when looking for striping equipment. He found a used, broken striping machine that no one wanted to fix. The owner gave it to him, he fixed it up well enough, and started earning money with a bucket of paint, a tape measure, and an old pickup truck. Today, he operates with a bigger flatbed truck with a lift gate and three second-hand striping machines loaded with different colors of paint. 

Used paint machine $2,500-5,000, 

New paint machine $10,000-15,000

But, a line painting machine isn’t even essential. “You don’t even need the $2,000 machine, you can grab a paint roller and some masking tape.”

That means you can get started striping parking lots for less than $100.

How to price a striping job 

When Jacob first started out, he charged just $3 per parking stall. He priced his services extremely low to guarantee that he would get the contract. Two years later, with established clients and industry relationships, employees, and machinery, Jacob understands market value and charges accordingly:

Single line restripe - $6, 

Double line restripe - $8, 

New layout - $10

At these rates, an average good day turns 50-60% profit for a $4,000 to $6,000 job.

Finding customers

Of course, before you can start raking in 60% profit, you’ll need to find paying customers. Here’s what’s worked for Jacob. 

• Pay for leads on Angi Leads
• Cold call paving companies
• Build relationships with contractors
• Ask for referrals from existing clients

What kinds of customers does Jacob get? Restriping jobs tend to be for business owners who need curb appeal at their properties and those who want to avoid having their businesses and neighborhoods appear run down. New parking lot striping is almost always subcontracted by large road paving companies who handle the really big asphalt and concrete machinery.

Jacob also notes that stripers don’t exactly have the best reputation, so it doesn’t take much effort on your part to be considered reliable. Basically, answer your phone, show up on time, and do your job as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

Discovering your entrepreneurial mindset 

Going from $3 per stall to $6,000 a day isn’t just about buying better equipment. It’s about changing your mindset and really thinking about yourself as an entrepreneur. And that change doesn’t always come easy. In Jacob’s case he had to focus on taking himself seriously—calling himself a business owner was a big step in the right direction. Plus he had friends encouraging him and supporting him along the way.

Jacob also emphasizes that systems, like customer relationship management (CRM) software, are critical to running a business like an entrepreneur, and not just a side hustle. You should also consider automated invoicing and a professional website when implementing systems, since they’ll make you look like a pro to your clients and take a lot of the administrative load off your back.

Stripes R Us company structure

Another way to really embrace the move from odd jobs to a full-fledged enterprise is to register your company in your state. Stripes R Us is registered as an LLC but there are a variety of business structures available to meet the needs of different entrepreneurs.

In addition, Jacob carries liability insurance to protect him from legal action in the case of a dispute with a business owner or contractor, property damage, or injury. He also has a $2 million bond that guarantees the quality of his work.

What success looks like 

Jacob isn’t ready to sit back and relax any time soon. But when asked what his ideal future looks like, he has big dreams of building his company up and making a strategic exit at just the right time.

Eight figures is a big payout, especially considering he started with a broken line painting machine and an old tape measure. But with his drive, determination, and careful growth, he’s on his way.

What Jacob would do differently 

Jacob started Stripes R Us two years ago and went full-time six months ago, but if he could do it over again, he would have committed to the business right away. “I would have definitely started two years ago and jumped in and just figured it out as I went…It’s risky, but you’ll never know until you do.” The faster you gain experience, the faster you can level up the value you bring to your customers, and the faster your profits grow.

One other thing that comes with experience is setting realistic expectations for clients. Don’t take on more work than you can handle or you’ll risk damaging your reputation and professional relationships.

Jacob shares a ton of experiences on his Twitter account, including this thread about a job that ended up taking more time than he anticipated.

Be sure to follow Jacob to join him on his journey from odd jobs to parking lot striping success.

How to start your own small business

No matter what kind of service business you’re thinking about starting, Durable can help you get off the ground faster than Jacob paints a parking lot. You can go from an idea to a website in just 30 seconds, get paid online in an instant, and grow your business into a full-time operation, with or without paint—it’s up to you. The key is to jump in right away.