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.

The Best Vehicle For a Handyman Business

When you are first starting out in the Handyman Business, you can use just about any vehicle that you have. That being said, its easier to function with a truck or a van. Both vehicles have their advantages.

A truck is nice because of the bed. You can easily haul large items, and you have plenty of room for tools and supplies. The downside to a truck is that unless you have a toolbox or a shell installed all of you tools are left unsecured and will be exposed to the weather. If you plan on doing any type of hauling for your business, a truck is a good choice.

Vans have many advantages as well. The main benefit is that you can lock up all of your stuff easily with a van. Also, if you live in an area with a lot of foul weather you will benefit from your tools being sheltered at all times.

Don't let the fact that you don't have a truck or van stop you from starting up right away. With a little planning and ingenuity you can make any vehicle work for you. There is a handyman company in Portland that does everything with a bicycle and he is doing it successfully! If he can run his business on a bike, you can surely run your with any vehicle you have available.

5 Low Cost Advertising Stragities for your Handyman Business

1. Flyers - Flyers are a lot of work to distribute, but when you are trying to build a customer base from nothing they work fairly well. Keep them simple with just your name, phone number, maybe email, and information about the services you offer.
2. Craigslist - You can advertise your new business for free on craigslist. The quality of leads craigslist produces varies, but it is free.
3. Newspaper Ads - I would only place a small classified ad in your local papers business and services directory. Other types of ads cost to much and don't produce much better results.
4. Yelp - Get your business listed on Yelp as quickly as you can. Its free and Yelp is a great source for business.
5. Website - You can try a free website or you can spend a little money and have one designed and optimized. Once your site is online you just have to pay the hosting fees and maintain it. You can get hosting for about $8 a month.

Tips for Pre Screeing Customers on the Phone

You don't want just any customers, you want exceptional customers that pay their bills quickly and won't nickle and dime you on each job you do. I offer free estimates but if a customer specifically ask for a "free written estimate," that raises a red flag for me. I have learned over the years that approximately 80 percent of customers that ask specifically for a "free written estimate" want a few things but normally they will not hire you to do the job. They either want multiple written bids for their home owners insurance so they can get the money and do it themselves or have a friend do it or they want a written bid to negotiate with another contractor on price. I don't want to waste my time on dead end leads so I will normally let these calls go. 

Unit Cost Makes Bidding Small Jobs Easy

    After you have been in the Handyman business a while, you are going to know about what it cost to do simple everyday jobs. You should record your cost and labor associated with the jobs you complete so you can build a database of what your Handyman jobs cost. This will eventually allow you to save time and money by quoting small jobs over the phone instead of having to travel to the job site.

    After you quote a price over the phone be sure to tell your customer that any deferral from the norm may result in additional charges. That way you are covered if the job is different than described.

Top 5 Reasons to Start a Handyman Business

1. It has very low start up cost. You can start the business with tools and the vehicle that you already have and upgrade from there.
2. You can earn as you learn. You don't have to know a lot in the beginning. Just make sure to only take on jobs you are comfortable with.
3. Handymen are in demand. If you do quality work and provide a good service to customers the word will spread quickly. You will have more work than you know what to do with.
4. You can run the business out of your home. This is a low overhead business. All the materials you need can be billed to your customer. 
5. Its fun! You get to do a variety of work and meet lots of people. You make a lot of friends in this business.