Welcome to my December 2012 monthly report! This is my thirteenth monthly report and also marks the end of my thirteenth month in business as a handyman.
For those of you that are new to the blog, I write these monthly reports each month. In them, I detail how much money I made, marketing methods that worked for me, and any other insights that I believe to be helpful. I also recently started included a featured service each month.
Be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the post if you have any questions or just have something useful to say!
December was an awesome month and I have record profits to show for it. This is really exciting considering that I took and entire week off for Christmas. Most of my income was from existing customers, which is so much nicer than dealing with new customers. It makes the business more enjoyable to have clients call for more work instead of having to constantly search for new leads.
This increase in return business has led me to make few changes as well… [continue reading…]
The right vehicle can make running a handyman business easier, more profitable, and more fun.
So let’s talk about what the best vehicle for a handyman business is.
In this article, I’m going to break down the various available options and the pros and cons of each.
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Welcome to the 12th Handyman Startup monthly report! That means I’ve officially been in business for a year and what a great year it has been.
I’ve learned a ton along the way and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned with anybody interested enough to read it.
If you are new to the blog, I write these reports each month to show how my handyman business is doing. In them, you will find useful insights, tips on how to grow your own handyman business, and how much money I made in the last 30 days.
This is a special monthly report and I have something new to share with you. In last month’s report you had the option to take a quick, 3 question survey. (Thanks to everybody that took the time to fill this out. I really appreciate it.) Based on the results, I’ve decided to include information on profitable services that I offer in my handyman business. [continue reading…]
Once you’ve built a professional website for your handyman business, it’s time to start generating traffic to that website.
Without traffic, your website isn’t going to help much (outside of building trust with your existing customers).
This is where blogging comes in. [continue reading…]
Last week I had the opportunity to interview Steve, a successful handyman in California with over twenty years of handyman business experience.
It was certainly eye-opening to get an inside view into another handyman business. It really made me realize the potential and I’m excited to share his insights with you.
Steve’s journey as a handyman started when he was just a kid, helping his father re-plumb the entire house. Since then, he has been a city electrician, a union journeyman carpenter, high end furniture designing business owner, and finally a handyman business owner.
“I’m the poster child for ADD,” Steve mentioned. “This business is the first business I’ve ever been happy in as well as the most lucrative business of all my ventures. I just can’t do the same thing every day. This business provides me with the variation I need to keep me happy.” [continue reading…]
Are you looking for a way to win more bids without dropping your price? Ok, good. Me, too.
Do you know WHY your customers hire you? If not, you may want to give this some serious thought.
Understanding why customers hire you instead of the other handyman businesses in town can give you serious leverage when bidding on jobs.
In this post, I’ll discuss the importance of getting inside your customers’ heads to find out exactly why they are hiring you. I’ll also provide some tips for selling your handyman services that will add to your bottom line.
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Welcome to my October 2012 monthly report!
This marks the end of my 11th month in business as a handyman. It’s been a wild ride and I can’t believe I’m approaching the one year mark.
If you are new to the blog, I write these monthly reports each month to basically let you know how my business is going. I include a detailed analysis of my income for the month including which marketing strategies paid off. I also offer my insights on events and lessons that I learned.
I write these monthly reports so I can give insight to a new business owners or people considering starting their own business.
My goal is not to boast about my income, but to use it as an indicator of how I’m doing.
October was a great month and business was steady all month. In fact, at one point I was booked out for two weeks! This was a really good feeling because it allowed me to turn down a lot of jobs I didn’t want to deal with. It also gave me the ability to test higher pricing without worrying about whether or not I’d be able to pay the bills.
Since I didn’t need anymore business, I was able to demand a higher rate from some customers and test their reaction. The great thing about this was that most customers went for it. Some didn’t, but I’m probably better off without them anyway. [continue reading…]
Welcome to my September monthly report! This marks my 10th month in business and I can’t believe that it’s been that long already. What an amazing ride!
If you are new to the blog, I write these every month detailing how much money I make and what marketing methods I gained my business from. I also share insightful stories and lessons that I learned along the way.
I’m not doing this to boast about my income, but only to share what it’s actually like to start a one man service business such as a handyman business. It’s meant to help others and hopefully inspire them to leave their jobs and do something they love.
I hope it motivate you to do something you love. [continue reading…]
Are you thinking about starting your own gig, but just haven’t mustered the courage to dive in?
I regularly get e-mails from handy people that aren’t quite sure if they are skilled enough to run their own handyman operation. After digging deeper to find out more about these pre-entrepreneurs, the answer is almost always a resounding YES!
To be completely honest, I didn’t have much experience when I started my business. Other than my last job working as an engineer, I held a part-time job installing granite counter-tops for a couple of years, and before that, a job installing car audio.
But, I had little or no experience with most common handyman tasks. I had to learn as I went. In fact, as I write this, I’m still not nearly as experienced as most handymen out there, yet I’m still able to pull in a decent income. [continue reading…]
I’m a handyman. I LOVE tools. I can never have enough tools. My iPhone is without a doubt my favorite and most powerful tool for my handyman business. Almost every part of my customer interactions are handled through my iPhone including scheduling, taking notes, billing, and tracking payments. I’m also always on the lookout for that new app that is going to make my life even easier. In my quest to find the best iPhone apps for a handyman business, here are the top 5 that I’ve managed to uncover. [continue reading…]
