Maintaining a property can be a profitable home-based business. You may consider yourself a handyman or handywoman and fix common problems/repair jobs around the house yourself. Or you don't know how to do it but subcontract these jobs. Either way, you can still start a business managing these jobs and scheduling work for other people.
Many of the jobs requested by homeowners are very easy and require little skill. Some people only need help to complete their to-do lists because they do not have the time to do it. People would rather pay someone to do the jobs instead of letting them be left undone.
Can you change a lightbulb? Cut the grass? Assemble flat-pack furniture? Drill a few holes in the wall to put up some shelves, or add a window blind? Do some painting and decorating? These are all the types of jobs that will make up the bulk of inquiries.
You don’t need to be an ex-construction worker or have been in the trade for years. These are very simple tasks that can be learned quickly. As for the more complex jobs beyond your expertise, if you wanted to complete this work for your clients, you would just subcontract to a specialist and charge this to the client with your cut on top. The service would still be offered under your business name.
Who are Your Target Clients?
A lot of the work will be from people moving into a new property. Moving house is a very stressful experience, and during all this, they have to find time for putting up curtain rails, assembling new furniture, repainting rooms, moving things around, putting up pictures, and the other finishing touches that make it more homely.
A lot of people will ask for these things to be done before moving house. Sometimes, they just want somebody else to do it while they’re there because they're already burned out after taking care of all the moving.
If you want to expand your business further, you could partner up with someone, or hire an employee, or use subcontractors as previously mentioned. This way you could offer more services that you can’t do yourself.
If you want to expand your business further, you could partner up with someone, or hire an employee, or use subcontractors as previously mentioned. This way you could offer more services that you can’t do yourself.
What Services Could You Offer?
- General carpentry
- Cleaning
- Kitchen fitting
- Door repair
- Decking
- Appliance repair
- Electrical wiring
- Fence fixing
- Flooring installation
- Door hanging
- Gutter cleaning
- Window cleaning
- Landscaping
- Painting & decorating
- Remodeling
- Roof repair
- Odd jobs
- Plumbing
- Tiling
Skills Needed to Start a Handyman Business
Handyman or Handywoman?
Although traditionally associated with the male gender, being a female handyman can have huge advantages too. Many clients can feel intimidated and untrusting by having a man in their house and would feel a lot more relaxed with a female completing the work.How to Start Marketing Your Services?
After taking care of the basic requirements of starting a business like business permits, buying basic tools and equipment, or getting some form of skills training (you could watch YouTube videos), you now need to market your business.
You can start promoting your services in your community. Create flyers about your services and hand them out in public places like your local grocery store. If you want to target condominium owners, you can ask the property management if you could handout flyers in their properties.
If you want to grow your business further, you could explore having a web presence. You could start by signing up on websites that refer handyman services. Create a profile, which is usually for free and you just pay a minimal fee when you find a client. Try Gawin.ph, Facebook, and Craigslist.
Summary
I suggest that you watch this video before starting a handyman business. It is filled with helpful tips to make your handyman business more profitable. Know what you need when choosing the services you offer, the law you need to consider, finding your ideal client, how to price your services, and marketing your business.
Handyman services are in demand like never before. As housing becomes more expensive, owners are more inclined to fix up, remodel and repair their existing dwellings. So, for sure there is steady work for property maintenance (handyman) companies. But you need to know how to set up your business right.
This is the fifth post in the series Small Business Ideas from Home. Read the other posts in the series
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5 Comments
I believe that despite the opposite we think trying to create a small business, working from home, is among the most difficult things that exist.
Laura x