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The Stability Diagnostic · Free owner’s tool

The 5 stability metrics that make a business worth owning.

The scorecard we use to value our painting companies. Score your business on the five factors of stability in about ten minutes — and see exactly where it stands.

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You want a business that pays you — for years.

You built a painting company to make a good living for a long time, not to run yourself into the ground doing it. The difference between a business that quietly drains you and one that pays you well, season after season comes down to one thing: stability.

Every year, for each company in our partnership, we measure exactly how stable it is — because a stable business is worth far more to the person who owns it. It throws off more profit, it holds up through slow seasons, and it stops depending on you for every decision. This scorecard hands you the same five factors we measure, so you can grade your own business the way we do.

  1. Read each factor and its benchmark — the real target a stable painting company hits.
  2. Pick your honest score, 1 to 5, for where your business sits today.
  3. Your total appears below — your overall stability rating, out of 25.

Your answers are saved as you go — in this browser so you can come back to them, and anonymously with us so we can see how owners score. No name or email unless you choose to email yourself the results.

Factor 1 of 5

The Team

Are the right people in the right seats — and are they hitting the standard for that seat?

A stable business doesn’t depend on the owner doing every job that matters. It runs because each seat — leadership, sales, coordination, project management — is filled by someone consistently hitting a clear, measurable standard. When 80% of the team is at or above standard, the business can grow without the wheels coming off.

The stable-state benchmark

80% or more of your team is hitting or exceeding the standard for their role.

The role standards Aleph measures against

Leader / Integrator
Cost-on-margin <35% · Gross margin 40%+ · Revenue growth 20%+ · Sales success ratio 40%+ · NPS 70+ · Net income 10%+
Salesperson
Success ratio 40%+ · Margin 40%+ · Revenue to plan · Returning year over year
Coordinator
Cost-on-margin <6% · Revenue to plan · NPS 70+ · Returning
Project Manager
Cost-on-margin <17% · Margin 40% · NPS 70+ · Returning

Score 5Nearly every seat is filled and consistently at or above standard; the business runs without you in every job.

Score 1Key seats are empty, in flux, or filled by people well below standard; the business runs on you.

Your score for The Team
Factor 2 of 5

Gross Margin

What’s left after labor, materials, and production — before overhead.

Gross margin is the oxygen of a painting company. It funds your team, your marketing, and your profit. Thin margin quietly starves everything downstream: you can’t invest in lead flow, you can’t pay for A-players, and profit disappears. Margin is where stability is won or lost first.

The stable-state benchmark

A gross margin of 40% or greater, held consistently.

What sits inside a healthy 40% margin

Labor
Less than 39% of revenue
Materials
Less than 14% of revenue
Project management
Around 7% of revenue
Gross margin
40% or greater

Score 5Margin sits at 40%+ across the year, priced and produced deliberately — not by accident.

Score 1Margin runs in the low 30s or bounces around; you’re not sure job-to-job what you’ll keep.

Your score for Gross Margin
Factor 3 of 5

Sales & Marketing Cost on Margin

How much of your gross margin you spend to win the work.

Growth is only real if you can afford it. This factor asks a hard question: for every dollar of margin you earn, how much did it cost to go get it? A business that spends half its margin buying leads is fragile — the moment ad costs rise or leads soften, profit vanishes. Stable businesses acquire work efficiently, increasingly on reputation rather than paid spend.

The stable-state benchmark

Sales & marketing cost is 35% or less of gross margin — typically around 12–14% of revenue or less.

How to read your number

Add it up
Total sales cost + total marketing cost
Divide by margin
That total ÷ your gross-margin dollars
Stable
35% or less of margin
Unstable
Approaching or above 50% of margin

Score 5You win work for 35% of margin or less, and a growing share comes from repeat and referral.

Score 1Half or more of your margin goes to acquiring the next job; growth stops the moment spend does.

Your score for Sales & Marketing Cost on Margin
Factor 4 of 5

Brand Equity & Net Promoters

How much of your growth comes from reputation — not paid ads.

Brand equity is the quiet advantage most owners never measure. When customers rave, refer, and come back, your cost of acquisition falls and your growth gets more predictable every year — which means more profit reaching you, with less spent chasing the next job. It’s one of the surest signs the business has built something durable in its market.

The stable-state benchmark

A healthy Net Promoter Score and a healthy share of revenue from repeat customers and referrals.

Stable-state targets

Net Promoter Score
Greater than 70
NPS response rate
Greater than 50%
Years in business
5 or more
Sales from repeat / referral
33% or more
Google reviews / score
200+ reviews · 4.9 rating

Score 5NPS above 70, a third or more of revenue from repeat and referral, and a deep review moat.

Score 1Reviews are thin, referrals are rare, and almost all new work is bought through ads.

Your score for Brand Equity & Net Promoters
Factor 5 of 5

Net Profit

What actually reaches the bottom line — and whether every cost band is healthy.

Revenue is vanity; net profit is the truth. A business can grow its top line for years and still be unstable if profit never shows up. This factor checks not just the final number but whether each major cost category sits in a healthy range — because durable profit comes from a business in balance, not from one good year.

The stable-state benchmark

Net profit of 15% or greater, with every major category in its stable range.

The healthy P&L shape

Gross margin
40% or greater
Sales & marketing
Around 12% of revenue
Corporate overhead
Around 13% of revenue
Net income
15% or greater

Score 5Net profit is 15%+ and every cost band sits in its healthy range, year after year.

Score 1Profit is near zero or negative despite the work; the top line grows but nothing reaches the bottom.

Your score for Net Profit
Your scorecard

Your stability score.

–/ 25
Score all five factors

Pick a score for each factor above and your stability rating appears here.

  • The Team–
  • Gross Margin–
  • Sales & Marketing Cost on Margin–
  • Brand Equity & Net Promoters–
  • Net Profit–

What your total means

22–25
Consistently StableThis is a business that works for you. It runs without you in every job, it’s consistently profitable, and it can pay you well for years. Your job now is to protect and compound it.
18–21
StableA solid, healthy business that takes care of you. Tighten one or two factors and it runs smoothly and pays reliably through any season.
13–17
UnprovenThe pieces are there, but the results aren’t repeatable yet. The profit and the freedom this business should give you stay just out of reach until the good years become every year.
8–12
Building & GrowingReal momentum, but growth is outrunning stability. Thin profit and heavy acquisition cost make this the most stressful place to own from — and the most common.
5–7
UnstableRight now the business depends on you for everything and doesn’t yet pay you what it should. That’s fixable — and it’s exactly where the biggest gains in profit and freedom are.
Painting company benchmarks

The numbers a stable painting company hits.

What is a good gross margin for a painting company?

A stable painting company holds a gross margin of 40% or greater, consistently. Inside a healthy 40% margin: labor under 39% of revenue, materials under 14%, and project management around 7%. Margin running in the low 30s, or bouncing job to job, is a sign of instability.

What net profit should a painting company make?

Net profit of 15% or greater, with every major cost category in its stable range: gross margin 40% or greater, sales & marketing around 12% of revenue, and corporate overhead around 13% of revenue.

How much should a painting company spend on sales and marketing?

Sales & marketing cost should be 35% or less of gross margin — typically around 12–14% of revenue or less. Add total sales cost and total marketing cost, then divide by your gross-margin dollars. Approaching or above 50% of margin is unstable: growth stops the moment spend does.

What is a good Net Promoter Score for a painting company?

Greater than 70, with an NPS response rate above 50%. Stable painting companies also get 33% or more of sales from repeat customers and referrals, and have 200+ Google reviews at a 4.9 rating.

What makes a painting business valuable?

Stability. We measure five factors: the team, gross margin, sales & marketing cost on margin, brand equity & net promoters, and net profit. A stable business throws off more profit, holds up through slow seasons, and stops depending on the owner for every decision — which makes it worth far more to the person who owns it.

How do you know if your painting company team is strong enough to grow?

When 80% or more of your team is hitting or exceeding the standard for their role. Aleph’s role standards include: leader/integrator cost-on-margin under 35%, coordinator under 6%, and project manager under 17%, with gross margin 40%+ and NPS 70+.

Where did you land?

Now let’s raise the score.

Every one of these factors is something we help our partners improve — margin, team, acquisition cost, brand, and profit — while you keep your name over the door and the wheel in your hands. Turn a business that runs you into one that pays you well, for years.

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