Make Money as a Handyman
Are you good with your hands? Do you have basic carpentry skills? Do you prefer physical work as opposed to being stuck behind a desk? Do you like working outside?
If this sounds like you, then starting a handyman business might be just the thing you’re looking for.
Whether it’s full or part-time, this is one profitable and in-demand business that fills a niche between the home owner and the professional trade person. Often, you will get called to do jobs that the home owner can’t (or won’t) do. These smaller jobs are generally not handled by a contractor.
Although people normally associate the role of handyman with a “jack-of-all-trades,” you will need to think about exactly what services you will offer. Often, this will depend on your experience.
Will you offer light carpentry services, plumbing, electrical – or will you concentrate on yard work, painting, window cleaning, gutter cleaning, and leaf raking? Will you hang doors, mud and tape drywall, install flooring, fix gutters, repair roofs, or till gardens, plant flowers and shrubs, or clean basements and garages? There are, literally, hundreds of different household tasks that could fall under the handyman designation. You need to take inventory of your skills and decide exactly what services you will be offering.
If you want to be adventurous, accept any and all jobs. Just remember that you should have people you can call on to handle any task that is out of your comfort zone. There is no shame in subcontracting out work.
Also, remember that certain trades such as electrician and plumber may require you to be licensed – depending on what country and jurisdiction you are in. Always check first.
Why is there a demand for this service?
One of the main reasons is that the population is getting older and the baby-boomers have more money than their parents and grandparents did. They would rather pay someone to do menial chores than spend their retirement doing home repairs.
Another reason for the strong demand for handyman services is that the children of baby-boomers (who are now home owners themselves) likely didn’t learn the same skills that their parents (out of necessity) learned.
Starting up
Here are some steps that should be taken to start a handyman service:
1. Go to City Hall and see exactly what the restrictions are (if any). Register your business with your province or state.
2. Take out liability insurance. Because of the nature of the business, this is pretty much standard procedure. One lawsuit and that’s it for your business and all your personal assets.
3. Incorporate to protect your assets from lawsuits.
4. Stock an inventory of basic tools and hardware. Also make sure to invest in safety gear.
5. Establish relations with suppliers and subcontractors.
6. Draw up a standard work contract that includes a warranty.
7. Distribute flyers and take out a permanent ad in the local classified ads.
8. Get a professional logo designed. Pay to have a website up and running. Get a work telephone number.
9. Have business cards, and stationary printed. Make sure you include your logo, website, and phone number.
10. Get some vehicle signs with your logo and telephone number.
As with most service businesses, your greatest marketing tool will be word of mouth. If you do quality work, word will spread quickly. This is critical to your survival since you will be doing most of your work locally.
You should be able to make over 30K per year. This isn’t bad considering most of your jobs will be done in the warmer months.
For those of you that live in more temperate climates, you can make a substantial living working all year round.
However, if you do live in a more northern climate, there is no reason why you can’t get work shoveling snow from driveways, sidewalks, and even roofs during the winter months.
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