File the necessary business documents. For starters, you’ll need a general business license to begin taking on contract work. You may also have to have other specific licenses that permit you to operate in off-limits zones or handle certain materials. A separate home business permit will be required if you plan on using your own residence as the headquarters for your contracting business.

Complete the EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) program. As of 2010, all painting contractors in the United States must be officially certified to work with lead-based paints. The purpose of the RRP program is to inform new contractors about the risks and proper safety procedures for working on properties that contain hazardous materials.[2]
YP - The Real Yellow PagesSM - helps you find the right local businesses to meet your specific needs. Search results are sorted by a combination of factors to give you a set of choices in response to your search criteria. These factors are similar to those you might use to determine which business to select from a local Yellow Pages directory, including proximity to where you are searching, expertise in the specific services or products you need, and comprehensive business information to help evaluate a business's suitability for you. “Preferred” listings, or those with featured website buttons, indicate YP advertisers who directly provide information about their businesses to help consumers make more informed buying decisions. YP advertisers receive higher placement in the default ordering of search results and may appear in sponsored listings on the top, side, or bottom of the search results page.
Research the licensing requirements for your area. These laws governing professional contractor work will be different depending on where you live. It’s important to be aware of these laws and what they mean from the outset. Contact the licensing board for your state or district to find out more about what you’ll need to do to get your business off the ground.
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Flying Colors is wonderful! Steven Totilo is incredibly responsive and professional. He provided a detailed contract upon assessment of my home and was very communicative throughout. The team of painters he employs are kind and incredibly skilled! They did everything from power washing, priming, painting the entire house, trim, doors, and gutters, and light carpentry work to replace damaged cedar and trim in just a few days! They worked diligently throughout the heat and were very kind and communicative. The painters did a beautiful job! I appreciated the carpentry work which saved me from sourcing a contractor/carpenter myself. We used Flying Colors about a year ago as well to paint our kitchen and the gentleman on the job was the very same that came to paint my house - and he remembered me! They did a wonderful job then, which is why I reached out to Steven for a much bigger project. The price point is very reasonable for a young person like myself to afford, one of the more reasonable I encountered in searching for a painter in the Stamford area. All in all, a job very well done. If I ever need painting done in future, Flying Colors will be the first people I reach out to. Thank you so much for your work!
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