Start Your Own Handy Man Business

My name is Dan Dodd. I am a successful Handyman / Carpenter / Contractor. Several years ago I said "Goodbye" to a secure middle management job with a major corporation. I got tired of seventy-hour work weeks. I got tired of reporting to three bosses. I got tired of managing sixty people. I got really tired of never seeing my family and being preoccupied with work when I did, SO I QUIT.

JUST WHAT DO YOU DO? When I first entered the Handy Man business, I was willing to do any small odd job from blowing leaves to caulking tubs. I let my skill areas and requests from customers define the business. I was starting from ground zero with no customers, few tools, a little experience and a lot of motivation. I took a shotgun approach to developing new business and customers because I had no real idea where my real niche was.

As you sit down to begin putting this new enterprise together it will do you a world of good to form a very specific idea of just what it is that you will be offering to the buying public and why they will want to buy it from you.

HERE ARE SOME TRIED AND TRUE IDEAS TO HELP YOU ALONG:

THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IS FULL OF SPECIALTIES. Most construction people you meet will call themselves carpenters, plumbers, electricians, builders, remodelers and so on. While some of these specialties are indeed very broad, and many of these folks regularly branch out of them, most construction people seem to be interested in practicing a particular trade in a particular way. The bulk of these guys gravitate towards new construction during the good times and the unemployment line in bad times. Framers will gravitate to 2x lumber, painters to paint, finish carpenters to the pile of trim in the corner and on and on. With the exception of a very hardy group of remodelers who tend to have more general skills than most, you will find this to be true.

MOST CONSTRUCTION PEOPLE WANT TO WORK BIG JOBS. When the industry is up, there can be a decent amount of money to be made in most trades and a lot of money to be made for builders and developers.

The mindset of the industry is, very generally, that the larger the job, the more profit there is to be made. So most folks will do their level best to attract and sell the biggest jobs they can handle. Most tradespeople are not interested in branching out very far from their given trade. Most tradespeople are not at all interested in working their trade as a very small part of a very small job. Most have been trained to work their trades in terms of complete jobs and the little stuff just doesn’t seem to be worth the time and effort.

THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER WITH A SMALL JOB TO DO NEEDS THE HANDYMAN SERVICE TO EXPERTLY PERFORM SMALL QUANTITIES OF MANY DIFFERENT TRADES. It just doesn’t make economic sense for the customer or a General Contractor to use a system of crews and subcontractors which is designed to service large projects to complete comparatively small multi-trade projects. Your Handyman business is designed specifically to service this market, the jobs which otherwise would fall through the cracks.

What you bring to the customers who are unable to get serviced by a general contractor or a large group of subcontractors is this:

1. Diverse skills - You supply the knowledge to perform each UNLICENSED function from beginning to end.

2. Your own group of subcontractors - Electrician, Plumber, HVAC, etc.

3. Low Overhead

4. Personal trade participation in the project.

THE BUYING PUBLIC WILL BUY FROM YOU BECAUSE:

1. You can professionally complete a wide variety of jobs that others cannot or will not do.

2. You can diagnose and solve home repair/improvement/remodeling problems over a range of disciplines.

3. They can receive a full range of services from one phone call, to you.

The actual scope of the services you will provide will obviously be determined by your basic construction skills, your ability to learn new skills and the actual needs of your customers.

Over the years I developed a very diverse knowledge of the THEORY behind construction systems, the materials which are available to build, repair or remodel residential structures, and the specific methods which can be used to solve particular categories of problems. As a result, I can step into the ring in just about anyone’s bullfight.

You must take an honest look at your real skills If you have a background in a particular trade, evaluate your ability to branch out. If you have been a full service remodeler running projects from beginning to end, sit down and hash out those functions you are particularly good at as well as those you need to brush up on. Look at those trades you normally sub out like sheetrock or painting. Are you as good in their trade as they are? If you are not, you could be. IF YOU WANT TO BE YOU SHALL BE.

For now, as you think about hanging out your shingle as a Handyman, THINK ABOUT OFFERING INDIVIDUAL SERVICES FOR WHICH YOU ALREADY HAVE THE SKILLS. Pull together all the resources you can to learn every single skill you possibly can to get you through what your customer asks you to do.