Lime Painting Franchise Capitalizes on Underserved Luxury Home Market

LIME Painting founder and CEO Nick Lopez was a first-generation college student at Michigan State University when he founded his first company. A budding entrepreneur who was pursuing a business degree, Lopez was seeking honest work during the summer after his freshman year, so at age 19, Lopez started a business called Spartan College Painters that serviced high-end homes in the East Lansing, Michigan, area.

Over time, Lopez’s appreciation for his craft grew deeper. As he continued to refine his business model through hard work and a willingness to serve, Lopez realized the positive feedback he’d been receiving from clients just for answering the phone and showing up on time revealed tremendous opportunity in the market.

“We were constantly having to overcome a lack of trust from clients in the buying process because of bad experiences with traditional paint companies in the past,” he said. “Working on homes as a teenager, I was naive to the fact that contracting lacked consistency. As I continued to work while getting my degree, I learned about competitive advantage and got more intentional about creating a business model that delivered a consistent and reliable service.”

Luxury home market

Armed with the knowledge that high-end properties were seriously lacking quality painting service options that also provided custom coatings and restoration solutions, Lopez returned to his hometown of Denver after graduation and founded LIME Painting in the image of what he’d accomplished back in Michigan. In the six years since, LIME Painting has established a new status quo and grown into the premier service option for homes and businesses valued at $1 million or more.

For Lopez, LIME Painting’s work goes beyond the business of painting to the business of people. He founded the brand with the mindset of imbuing his own purpose-driven mission into its culture down to the brand’s name.

In order to be a successful business in the marketplace, Lopez said, power and responsibility must remain on equal footing. For LIME, this responsibility is manifested in its values-driven mission established on the premise that people come before profits. Adopting a franchise model helps the brand deliver on this commitment by creating an environment where franchise owners can collaborate, grow, and establish independent businesses communally.

Values driven mission

With its strong culture continuously driving the ‘people’ aspect of the equation home, the ‘profit’ part has come easily for LIME Painting.

“Our brand growth and increased profitability each year are a reflection of what makes us a standout service in our industry,” Lopez said. “Our business model is fueled by project-specific preparation, processes and product selection that allow us to deliver a result that exceeds expectations and withstands the test of time, bringing tremendous value to our clients. The market is accepting our model and our numbers are validating that.”

Franchise opportunity

Through a service offering that touts expert services in various coatings, stains, drywall repair, restoration, carpentry, gutters and more, franchisees benefit from 15 different revenue streams. Further points of differentiation include a low entry cost at $90,000, a subcontractor partnership model that keeps labor costs low, minimum overhead as subcontracted crews supply all inventory and a quick ramp-up time of 30 to 90 days after signing an agreement.

“Our values-based company culture, mobile concept, low cost of entry and high revenue potential bolster the strength of our franchise opportunity,” Lopez said. “Our franchisees aren’t managing any employees and they make more money doing fewer projects than traditional painting concepts since our average ticket is $11,000 compared to the $2,800 industry average. As we kick our expansion efforts into high gear this year, the simplicity of our operations will allow us and our owners to scale fast.”

In 2018, LIME Painting awarded its first three franchises organically while spending time and resources developing its infrastructure, technology and executive team, further refining its model to facilitate future growth through franchising. In 2019 and thereafter, LIME Painting’s growth goals include national expansion through franchising.

LIME Painting is seeking qualified, purpose-driven franchise partners who want to share in the brand’s infectious culture and vision as they prioritize customer service to scale and grow into multiple territories. With a ramp-up time of 30 to 90 days, LIME Painting franchise owners can start their business for less than $140,000 with a $60,000 franchise fee. LIME is seeking franchisees in California with $50,000 in liquid capital, a net worth of $150,000 and a 650 or higher credit score. Multi-unit incentives are also available. For more information, visit