How to start a handyman business from scratch
Do you dream of working for yourself? Are you a handy sort of person? This post will detail how to start a handyman business from scratch.
Many people dream of the freedom that comes with working for themselves but are afraid to move forward or are unsure how to put their plan into action.
Follow this guide and you will be able to get started on the road to freedom by working for yourself.
1. Are you up for the journey
Ask yourself if you have what it takes to work for yourself? It can be a lonely journey as you are where the buck stops.
Do you have the positive attitude to take on the many aspects of running a business. Can you motivate yourself or do your need encouragement to get things done.
Being positive and motivated will enable you to push through tough times as having your own handyman business has it’s ups and downs.
What do you envisage your handyman business look like. Will you want to do mostly small commercial work or are you looking at servicing the domestic market, working for home owners.
What goals are you wanting to reach, for example do you want to build your handyman business into a large business with employees or just a one man business. What services will you offer, you can’t do it all, pick 2 or 3 services and excel in these.
Do you have the energy required to run your handyman business? Besides fixing and building things you will have to market, keep records and many other tasks to keep your business doors open.
Once you have determined that you want to get into your own handyman business, the next step is to decide what services you will offer.
2. Choose what services you will offer
First figure out what skills you have, are you good at woodwork, may be you enjoy putting flat pack furniture together or use skills you’ve learnt from your previous jobs. What services can’t you offer, like electrical and plumbing as these require a trade licence. Do you like working indoors or outdoors? Will you offer only yard services or house hold services such as painting and fixing things inside the home.
What tools do you need check out our post here
Make a list of services you can offer now, this will give you a starting point. As you learn more skills you will be able to offer these in the future. You may want to specialize and only offer niche services.
Some handyman specialties include concreting, fencing, painting and gardening. All of these only need basic skills to complete competently.
3. Define your market
What does your ideal customer look like? Do you want to work for people that appreciate your services and pay you accordingly.
You can’t please all the people all the time, but you can do the best job you can for the services you offer. Determine what you can deliver and excel in this niche, you’ll be happier, your customers will be happy and you’ll build a better business.
Some clients only want the lowest price, others may live out of your area of business. Other clients just want the job done and are happy to pay for a professional handyman.
You can make a profit serving all these customers, but not all at the same time and you must decide which segment of the handyman market you want to serve.
By deciding on who your ideal customer is will help you succeed with a minimum of frustration and financial struggles.
4. How much should you charge
How much to charge as a handyman can be one of your first challenges when starting out.
You need to charge enough to make a profit, otherwise you won’t have a viable business.
There are many expenses to take into account when working for yourself from vehicle and equipment costs to insurances and running costs such as accounting fees and income insurance. Get your free self employed hourly rate calculator here. You can edit the calculator with whatever figures you wish.
5. Get your first customers
By now you should have worked out what services you are going to offer, who your customers will be and how much you will charge for your services.
You need to get your business name out into the market place. Tell everyone you know that you are now offering what ever services you have decided on and start a social media page.
The best advertising is word of mouth by getting referrals from happy customers. To ensure your customers are happy always exceed your customers expectations. Good customer service can come down to telling your customer what they can expect and making sure that you deliver more than you said.
Always communicate with your customers so they are not left wondering what is going on. If you are running late, let your customer know, you will be far ahead of your competition as your customer will appreciate you thinking enough of them to let them know you’ve been delayed.
It’s the little things that your customers will remember and make them your best source of new customers. Remember it’s cheaper to keep a current customer happy than to go looking for new customers.
How to budget, checkout our post here
Tips for marketing your unique handyman business
- Letterbox drop – always have a few business cards you can drop into the neighbors letterbox. It doesn’t take long to drop 5 to 10 cards around your customers home when you’ve finished their job.
- Community bulletin boards – put a flyer on your local community boards with your business name and phone number.
- Sponsor local kids sports – sponsoring local junior sports is an excellent way to get your handyman business in front of people in your community.
- Social media pages – start a Facebook page and Instagram account with your contact details. You can show case your work on these social media platforms, giving your potential customers a good idea of your workmanship.
6. The most important step
Now you know how to start a handyman business from scratch, you must put your new knowledge to work.
By following this guide you can plan how and when to put each step into action. Without action your dreams will always remain dreams and the future you want will never come to fruition.
Have a go, you’ll never know financial freedom unless you try, even failures can be seen as a learning experiences giving you new skills and knowledge.
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