|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |  |
|
How to Start Your Own Handyman Business
| Guest post by: Sue Barrett |
Article Overview: Repair and maintenance services never go out of style. Businesses and individuals alike consistently need work to be done. A handyman business can be a great way to earn a living, but what does it take to run a successful handyman business - and how do you get started?
 |
Free Download - How Can an eBay Store Increase Your eBay Profits? By Sue Barrett |
How to Start Your Own Handyman Business
Handyman services are continually in demand. Whether a homeowner doesn't have time to do repairs herself, or a corporation needs someone to maintain their office buildings on a regular basis - there are a variety of different jobs and customers available to a handyman (or handywoman). But are there certain things you need to know before you start a handyman business?
First, you want to make sure you are knowledgeable in a variety of maintenance, repair and trade skills. If you already know the basics, taking a class or even buying a book can help you educate yourself to handle more challenging jobs. This can help you bring in more income. If you are a self-motivated, punctual person with good communication skills, this will help you secure more jobs. Handymen who return phone calls quickly, show up on time and have a friendly personality are more likely to be asked back for more jobs - or referred to additional customers.
It may be simpler than you think to be creative with ways to increase your income. When you are competing with other local handymen, how can you stand out among the rest? Maybe you can give a faster response time to calls, or you can offer evening or weekend hours. If you are called to a job where you can offer money-saving options to your customers, you can bet that will get their attention. If a repair job is due to lack of maintenance, you can offer ongoing maintenance services for a fee so your customer can avoid future repair expenses which tend to cost much more.
So how do you actually go about starting your handyman business?
1. Learn your business - in addition to being skilled in construction, maintenance and repair, the Handyman Association of America can help. It is an online community where members share tips on home improvement and remodeling projects. Networking with other professionals is a great way to quickly get answers to questions. NaturalHandyman.com also has a large home repair links index containing more resources than you'll probably ever need. Interview successful handymen or invest in a basic handyman business start-up guide that shows you essentials like what equipment you'll need, how much to charge your customers and how to make record-keeping simple.
2. Get customers. You want to establish a reputable track record as fast as possible, so you can then rely more on referrals and repeat customers for jobs. So how do you quickly establish a reputation where people will want to hire you? One way is to enroll in an online handyman database like Servicemagic.com or Handyman.com. These database services screen their contractors, so customers with repair jobs can browse their websites and find a professional local handyman that they can trust. Clients can leave feedback, so after you have completed a few jobs, you've already established a reputation for yourself.
3. Find out which licenses you need from your local government office. Setting up free consultations with a local insurance agent, banker and accountant (you can get referrals from other local business owners or friends) can get you helpful tips on insurance requirements, financing options and tax saving strategies.
Operating your own handyman business can offer lots of benefits to you as a business owner. If you are a problem-solver, enjoy working with your hands and appreciate the freedom of working independently, this line of "work" can actually be a fun hobby-turned-career. That said, what better time to start your handyman business than ...now?
Related Articles
Looking for a "Handy" Franchise Opportunity?
Best Small Business Franchise Opportunities For The Natural Handyman
Three Questions To Make Sure You Are Doing the Right Things
Homebased and Mobile Franchise Keeps StartUp Costs Low
How Much Is Your Sanity Worth?
Article Tags: handyman, handyman business, handyman service, home repair, maintenance services, start a business
|
About the Author: Sue Barrett RSS for Sue's articles - Visit Sue's website Click here to visit Sue's website   How to Start a Child Day Care Business 123 How to Start an Auto Detailing Business 123 How to Start a Bookkeeping Business 123 7 Ways You Can Make Money This Weekend 6 Marketing Tips for Personal Trainers |
Related Forum Posts
Re: How can I promote my site?
- To promote website online you need to hire professional SEO expert because you have to perform the below activities for your website promotion:-
Start On page optimization which includes the following task:-
1. Meta tag optimization
2. Header Tag Optimization
3. Alt tag Optimization
4. Content Optimization
5. Anchor Text Optimization
6. URL Optimization
7. Navigation Optimization
After On page optimization, Start off Page Optimization which includes the following task:-
1. Link building
2. Directory submission
3. Classified Ads submission
4. Article submission
5. Press Release submission
6. Social Bookmarking
7. Business Listing
8. Local Listing
9. Blog Optimization
10. PPT Creation & Optimization
My entry
- 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read
- this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody.
2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto.
3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book
Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Three Legged Handyman - Help or Hindrance?
- Hello,
My husband is starting a handyman business and he's chosen the name "Three Legged Handyman". Now most peoples reaction to this is "What does that mean?" with a smirk.
My husband is from the Isle of Man where the national flag is a picture of three legs and to the Manx people it means "Which ever way you shall throw me, I shall stand."
He is now questioning this name as everyone he tells always has an initial reaction that it implies something else. He is seriously considering changing the name, after already having business cards, flyers & shirts made up.
What's great about this name, besides the fact that it's part of my husbands heritage and he's a very proud Manx man, is that people remember it and it does make people smile (in an odd sort of way).
So my question is do you think a name like this will help or hinder his business?
Exclusive: Interview with Results
- Hi Forum Members,
I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles).
As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business.
This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business.
I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months.
At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews.
I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum.
If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM.
Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Books for Women Entrepreneurs
- There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here.
It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new.
In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment!
1. The Old Girl's Network
2. Mother's Work
3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women
4. Pitch Like A Girl
5. Workplace Warrior
6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer
7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery
8. She Wins, You Win
9. Napoleon On Project Management
10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do
11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years
12. The One Minute Millionaire
13. Talking From 9 to 5
14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions
15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success
16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded
17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful
18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End
19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide
20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen
21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business
22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker
23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business
24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises
25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy
26. The Promotable Woman
27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it
28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home
29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women
Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.
Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.
Featured Article
The Importance of Your Credit Rating – More than Just a Number
by: Canada Mortgage, Mortgage Canada Rates
by: Canada Mortgage, Mortgage Canada RatesTrending Articles
4 Building Blocks of an Effective Talent Management System
Simon Fuller Quotes
Lesson #3: “Tell ‘em quick and tell ‘em often”
Searching for the Stars: How Yang and Filo Took Their Business to New Heights
Salesperson Wimp-Out: I Need Help 
Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Popular Articles
What is an Adaptive Organization
SEO and the Entrepreneur
LEARNING TO HAVE FUN – EVERYDAY!
What is an Adaptive Organization
SEO and the Entrepreneur
LEARNING TO HAVE FUN – EVERYDAY!
Suggestions
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.