Handyman Business

[m beezo]

Re: Handyman Business

Like Norm, I tend to give a lump sum at the end of the bill. I do not want to hear that someone else hangs a door for less but charges more for trash hauling or materials pick up. But I do list those things on the bill so they do not think "only an hours worth of work and it costs this much!!!!" But lots of that can be avoided by the beginning conversation that says that you charge a similiar amount to what other trades charge.

You really need a good guy to do this successfully I feel. Clean, neat in work and manners, probably wear a uniform to look professional. Well versed in all kinds of work.

I saw a guy today with handyman sign on his truck and I must be getting old. I saw multiple tattos, probably 6 or 8 piercings and hat turned sideways. My thought was I would not let him in my elderly mom's house. However, if I called a number, set up an appointment and this guy showed I would have considered sending him on his way.

[jemcon]

Re: Handyman Business

I do hanyman jobs all the time. Caulk a shower, fix a door, anything small. I even had a customer call me back that his son ripped the door off the bath vanity and they didn't want to replace the vanity. I even charged for the bit to drill the new 34mm hinge hole. harge for it all.

As far as M Beezo said I have tattoo's on my upper arms but I chose to kaap them above the elbows so a short sleeve shirt covers them. It doesn't make
me or him a bad person. I also have a shaved head. I'm sure I'm steroetyped by some but I work for people who just give me key and let me do my thing.

I understand about your mom but don't judge a book by its cover. He may be a very nice person.

[S. Donato]

Re: Handyman Business

i think these days long or short hair is less important as long as it is groomed and well kept.

Shaved is definatly well kept ;O)

I know i would prefer to have a shaved head again - if my wife wouldn't kick me out. it was so much easier to get ready in the morning ;O)

tatoos to me are less important these days, but it does matter where you work i would think.

properly dressed in my opinion is most important... no clothes with holes!!!

although, it does depends on where your working or what your working on. i know if i am doing something that i will rather through out the pants/shirt at the end of the day i will where an old pair and toss them after they are dirty. for example if i am staining a deck i may wear a old ripped pair of jeans and through them out at the end of the day and i always have a change of clothes in the truck just in case i need to make another stop.

-Sal

[jemcon]

Re: Handyman Business

I agree as far as clothing goes. People say to wear dress shirts and stuff but I hate those kind of clothes. I had t-shirts printed wih the business name and a design I drew.

I wear clean clothes for the first meeting but some of my pants have caulk or something on them when I work. I have certain clothes for painting and I always wear them to paint since I used to screw up more clothes that way.

[kreg McMahon]

Re: Handyman Business

dress is important and tats should not be showing especially if offensive. hair should look okay and pretty clean shaven also.

I usually wear a t shirt printed and my bandana. jeans are usually messed up but not to bad and not ripped up and I wear a belt. no pants falling down and boxers showing.

you charge for professional rates then you look professional. alot of times I give estimates at the end of a work day and have and let people now that also do the work.

but I also look very cool.......well most of the time... before and after

[ecopeak]

Re: Handyman Business

I really like the point of charging as much as our other trades do. It makes sense to me and would to clients as well. I have a great guy with people skills and clean looks, as do all my guys so that wouldn't be a problem. And the lump sum billing is for sure the way to go. That's what we do with custom home and remodeling contracts. Doesn't give the HO anything to tear apart. There was a Case handyman franchise in town but they are gone now. I am trying to find out what happened to them. Thanks for all the responses so far.

[S. Donato]

Re: Handyman Business

i find it hard to believe that a customer would not want to know a hourly rate before letting me start work.

my customers would want to know the hourly price before starting... Period.

Its hard for me b/c i charge more then my electrician, but less then my plumber (mainly b/c i think he is over priced - currently looking for a new one).

if i tell a customer a price per hour they know how much the labor part of the invoice should be, which leads me to then itemize every nail, screw, tube of caulk, 2x4, etc,... to make sure i don't forget to bill for anything.

when ever i get handyman jobs the first question they ask is "how much per hour."

how can i sell not disclosing a hourly rate to "handyman" type customers?

-Sal

[VTNorm]

Re: Handyman Business

Sal - How can your customer know what the labor part of the invoice should be just because you quote an hourly rate over the phone? Are they guessing or are you telling them it's only going to take X amount of time? If you already know why not just work up a fixed or estimated price and give them a total. In my opinion, the minute you become a cost-per-hour number to them your nothing more than a commodity...someone $2 an hour less will come along and they'll get the work.

Anyway, I get the "how much do you charge?" question from new customers, I always answer "I charge by the job, not by the hour, that way there's no surprises for either of us..." and people understand that. Seems that everyone has a horror story about the guy who took forever to fix something small and the meter was running the whole time. In my experience, the HO who's fixated on an hourly rate always turns out to be a clock hawk and stews over bathroom breaks, a cell phone call, and every other second of non-work time they're paying for.

For me, it has been worth every minute of my time to take a quick look at a job and then work up an estimate. As I mentioned in another post, I travel a fairly consistant route so I'm not really going out of my to way to look at a $100 job.

Once in a while I'll run across a really small fix - I stop to take a look at a job and end up just fixing it, I'm in and out in 30 minutes or less - I charge them a "minimum service call charge" of anywhere from $50 - $100 depending on the fix...try finding any trade to come to your house and fix anything for that price!

Most of my customers now are repeat business, they don't ask for an hourly rate and most don't even ask for a quote - just come and fix it. That brings up another point - cull the tightwad customers from your list.

-Norm

[kreg McMahon]

Re: Handyman Business

I get calls for small jobs and people want to know about how much it might be and I usually give them an idea over the phone. "Oh about $125 to $185.

notice I do not say 100 to 200 I use off numbers just like at the store something is 199 not 200. sounds less expensive.

it also sounds more exact to the customer. when I charge by the hour I work at a steady pace and do not talk on my cell phone, i think that is a coutesy to the customer, even though I am sure they chat on the phone a lot to family and friends at work and get paid for it, i do not like to do that.

[S. Donato]

Re: Handyman Business

Norm & Kreg,

around here i have a minimum charge like most of us do and i kind of work two counties so my area is about 1 hour in each direction. i will not go an hour out of my way to do a ten min job for $50 ;O)

however if a customer calls me and says they need some handyman work done i usually say "no problem we have a minimum job charge of $$$ and if it take longer then X hours it is $$ per hour after." if i get the job i move forward with the following...

like Norm said most are clock watchers and at the end of the day when i am done work i have had customers say "okay so that was 8 hours @ $$ so thats $$$ plus materials, right?" and then it doesn't give me much room. So what i am proposing is i will start working at a higher hourly rate for customers that want to pay per hour or i may take Norm's advice "I charge by the job, not by the hour, that way there's no surprises for either of us..." the problem with that is then i have to estimate out the job which takes time and gas....$$$

I may have to start looking at changing my over the phone quoting methods, like you two suggest, i have enough experience that i can guesstimate how long a small job will take and then may just start charging by the job and have a range to give them over the phone instead of a set pricing scheme.

i do agree with the idea when you set an hourly price your are easily replaced by the next guy that charges just a few dollars less. that is a good point and i know i have taken some business from the "large handyman chains" b/c i am a few dollars less then them.

These are a few very good points for anyone expanding/starting a handyman business.

Thank you,
-Sal

[shiloh grp]

Re: Handyman Business

Case (as in Fred) Handyman Services runs their franchises a lot like a remodeling business with a job estimator and (small) lump sum bids, etc. Mr. Handyman runs the business like a service business (this is closer to a variation of our model). Think in terms of an area plumber who does new, remodel and service work. This plumber's service business is T&M, hourly with itemized materials billed. This is the best model for us. A lot of Case franchisees have remodeling businesses as well and the businesses compliment one another

We have specific limits and all terms are in a mini contract and agreed to before an appointment is scheduled. Approx duration of work (based on customer's phone description) is given before the appointment is booked. We send out everything in PDF or fax for customer to make check list and get their signature. We are paid when completed (no deposits). This model works especially well with an existing (loyal) client base especially if they love you.

Our rates here in NJ are about 120.00 first hour, 80.00 per hr thereafter. The rate was the biggest hurdle for us but most people don't blink. Mr. H will not deviate from the hourly and materials costs no matter what. We occasionally have customers who want lump sum on jobs around the 2K range. We oblige them but they invariably pay more this way.The skill level and presentation of the technicians will make or break the business.

There was a pretty good thread here about 2 years ago on "handyman". I recommend studying the 2 largest franchises (google them) as it will help with the new mindset required for service work.

It is worth the investment to have a Mr. Handyman tech make it to your house for a 1 hour minimum so you can see their paperwork, understand the process and pick their brain about hours worked vs. billable hours etc.

Henry

[kreg McMahon]

Re: Handyman Business

another example, I had to replace my tv bulb, I orderd the bulb from mitsubishi 250 bucks and it should be a simple fix, pull out and push in... no, it pushed the plug that it goes into out. spent 1 hour trying to fix it... no.

so I called tv repair most wont come out. 2 did. one was busy till the 16th of october. 95bucks for the estimate, if accepted then they order the part and reset appt and apply the 95 to the 125 per hour bill.

2nd place could come out today, which I booked 5 days ago. $125.00 to just show up at the door! and then $95 per hour to fix. so I hired them

a guy shows up in a older sorta beat up car. comes in fixes it in 30 minutes and only only charged me 175.00. he took a little off the bill.

so 175 for 30 minutes is 350 per hour right?

but it was worth it to me to get the tv fixed so I can watch the reruns again of this old house.

so at 50-100 bucks an hour we are a deal.

[frenchie]

Re: Handyman Business

I used to do a lot of this, as fill-in between bigger jobs; I've had days where I hit 5 or 6 different customers in a day...

Hourly or by-the-job, depends on the situation. If the customer's got a clear & specific job that needs doing, I can give them a set price; I find NYers prefer a set price, by & large. But when it's a whole lot of little things, it can be difficult to give a set price. In that case I'll give them an array: an hourly rate, a day-rate, and a weekly rate. The longer you hire me for, the cheaper it is. Minimum charge is 2hrs.

Hair's short; clean Tshirt, khakis or cargo pants (never jeans). If I'm going to be getting dirty, out come the mechanic's overalls. For some reason, that always impresses them; still not sure why...

Tools are all organized by trades; even though it means I have doubles (and triples) of a lot of things. Life's just a lot easier when you can grab the right toolbag & just go. Discovering that you forgot a tool, once you're there, can cost more than you're making on these little jobs.

Every toolbag's got a small dropcloth in it. When I unpack my tools, they never touch the client's floor, countertop, table, or whatever.

I have a separate bag that carries a few large dropcloths, dustpan, handbroom, trash bags, a roll of blue tape, and the coveralls.

The roll of tape's so that, if I'm making a hole in your wall, I can tape up a trash bag to the wall right below; the dust never hits your baseboards & floor in the first place. Less cleanup, and (again) it always impresses them...

[S. Donato]

Re: Handyman Business

The roll of tape's so that, if I'm making a hole in your wall, I can tape up a trash bag to the wall right below; the dust never hits your baseboards & floor in the first place. Less cleanup, and (again) it always impresses them...

Frenchie - i love that one. i used to wet a paper towel and hold it in a u shape under the screw while installing wall hanging stuff. it does work to catch about 90% of the dust then just a quick wipe on the floor and done.

i guess i could use a baggy for that purpose but garbage bag for bigger cuts ;O)

awsome!

-Sal

[frenchie]

Re: Handyman Business

It's all old plaster in NYC. Hanging shelves in old plaster, there's only one way to find the studs... I'd have to move a sandwich bag along as I went! :)

I just brought it up because of the reaction it gets - the look on their face - from now on, you're the only guy they're ever gonna call, for anything. I love that.