Making a Good First Impression

As a Handyman Business owner your customer base is your business. Without your customers you would have no work. 

As you start your business you are going to meet a lot of potential customers. You want to make a good first impression on each customer that you meet. On a first visit to a new customers home or business follow this simple checklist to ensure a good impression.

• Make sure to have business cards handy. I like to give one to a new customer as soon as I walk in the door. Seeing that you have a business card that looks professional kind of pre-qualifies you as a professional and it also puts the customer at ease because they will think you perceive you as someone of value and service.
• Make sure you appearance is up to snuff. Everyone will realize that as a Handyman you are bound to get dirty during the course of your work, but you should still be wearing clothes that are free of rips and tears. And make sure you are well groomed. 
• Have a tape measure and something to write with and on. 
• Check your shoes for mud or dirt and if needed use shoe covers or remove your shoes before entering their home.
• Actively listen to what your customer needs from you and then explain to them how you can be of value to them. Its not all about the cost, its also about perceived value. 
• Be interested in helping your customer and not just their wallet. The more value you add to the relationship the more money you will eventually make. Its a simple principal that has been proven true time and time again.

 

Ideas for making more cash for your Handyman Business in the Fall

Here are some easy ways to make money with your Handyman Business in the Fall Season.

1. Clean out Some Gutters! There are tons of people out there who need their gutters cleaned every fall. Make sure to do a good job and clean up any messes you have made and they will call you back annually. Plus, when you are there cleaning the gutters you can explain to your customer that you are also an awesome Handyman.
2. Advertise home weatherproofing. The extent to which you weatherproof a home depends on where you live. It can be as simple as wrapping exterior water lines. 
3. Start working on a marketing campaign to hang Christmas lights. This is a big business. I know of a few companies that do this exclusively during the winter. You would be surprised how much someone would pay you to do this.
4. Offer to clean some hard to reach windows. Diversity is one of the best things about the Handyman business. You can do anything you'd like. And hey, if someone is willing to pay you to clean hard to reach windows, take advantage of a few easy bucks.
5. Look for opportunities. If you see a house that has gutters overflowing with leaves, leave a flyer on the door explaining how you can help.

Make a Price Sheet for Quick Bids for Your Handyman Business

No matter what type of work you plan on doing in your handyman business, you will want to have a listed price for jobs under $500 to avoid having to go do bids for small projects. You are going to be very busy doing work and running your business, so your time will be very valuable.

I have a large list of prices for common jobs handy so I can quickly quote a price over the phone or in person. It save you time and it makes you look more professional if you can quickly quote prices to customers.

Make sure every item on your list is accurate. There is no worse feeling that doing a job only to realize that you have underbid and made little or no profit. Material prices change rapidly in the current market place, so you will want to update your list frequently.

For ease of access I organize my list by category (i.e plumbing, electrical, carpentry, painting, etc)

I have an extensive pricing sheet that comes with the eBook "Start and Run a Successful Handyman Business" You can find a link on the blog to purchase it for $9.

Coming up with an Hourly Rate for Your Handyman Business

One of the first questions a potential customer will ask you is what is your hourly rate. You need to have you answer ready before you speak with your first customer.

There are a few ways to come up with an hourly rate. In the beginning you may want to call other Handymen in your area and find out what they are charging. Prices around my area ( San Francisco Bay Area in California) range from $25 an hour (way to low) to $125.00 per hour (too high to quote as an hourly rate). I can show how to make $125 and hour or more using a few techniques that add perceived value to your business. (There is complete details about this subject in the Handyman Success eBook available through this website)

When I am asked that question my response is "I don't work by the hour, I work by the job". Its best to stick with that once you are experienced enough to know what jobs cost to do.

If you are more comfortable working hourly (which will be the case for many people in the beginning), you should price yourself somewhere in the mid price range of what you survey other businesses hourly rates. You don't want to start out low in the beginning because you will have a very hard time raising rates to those same customers later.

Why is Social Media Important to Your Handyman Business?

Social Media is something that is at the forefront of lots of people's minds. Statistics show that 31 percent of smartphone users generally check a social media site before they even get out of bed in the morning.  With a captive audience like that you would be a fool not to use Social Media to your advantage.

The main forms of social media that I use in the businesses that I own are Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Pinterest. There are many more than those, but those are all popular one and a good place to start.

How to use social media to market your Handyman Business:

Use Twitter to build a following and post industry advice and specials you may be offering

Use a Facebook Fan Page to post industry specific articles, advertisement, special promotions, and job site photos.

Use Linkedin to network with other business professionals in your community,

Use Pintrest to Pin Pictures and descriptions of recent projects you've done and possible promotions.

Cheap Promotions for Your Handyman Business

There a lots of inexpensive ways to promote your handyman business. Here are a few of my favorites.
By far the best is a website. It sounds expensive, but with all the technology available today it is really cheap and easy. You can register a domain name for as little as $.99 at godaddy.com, register.com, or bluehost.com.  The all have simple website design tools and you can have a fully function website within a few hours. Hosting is about $8.00 a month. You will use this site to drive traffic from Yelp, Yahoo Local, and Google after you have reviews posted in these locations.

Yard Signs - These are great, they get business, an they are cheap. You can get some really inexpensive ones from Vista Print. www.vistaprint.com

Magnetic Business Cards - These look just like your business cards except they are magnets. I have literally seen magnets that I gave out 10 years ago still on a customers fridge. That's a pretty good bang for your buck. You can also stick them on things like garbage disposals and water heaters so they know to call you if they have an issue.

Niche Market Idea for a Handyman Business

There are many niche markets you can enter as a handyman. One of the most profitable is catering to local real estate agents. If you can lock in a few agents that have lots of homes listed you have found a gold mine.

The common jobs they want you to do are:

House Clean Outs

Hauling

Changing Locks

Installing Signs

Securing the Property

Small Repairs

Installing Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Repairing Fences

I have found its fairly easy to market to real estate agents because their signs and cards are everywhere. A personal email works best.