How do you get started in a handyman business? Part one of a two part series.

By MARK RIFFEY for the Flathead Beacon

A young man I know is getting started in business. He provides handyman services for homeowners. In a display of wisdom beyond his years, he asked his Facebook connections for things to read and people to talk to re: business advice.

Getting started means wearing several hats

Running a business on your own means you get to do all the jobs, including:

1. Getting organized.
2. Deciding who you are best suited to work with
3. Deciding who you shouldn’t work for even if they’re throwing $1000 bills at you. Almost everyone does this at least once because we start out under the illusion that everyone can be our customer.
4. Letting people know that you’re available to help them. This includes discussing what you’re really good at and staying away from everything else (ie: learning to say no).
5. Pricing your work
6. Selling / reaching an agreement to perform work
7. Doing the work and creating a repeat customer who refers work to you
8. Following up

The hard work

When getting started in your own business, there’s some “hard work” that has nothing to do with your service. I say “hard work” because they’re often things you don’t want to do, don’t have the time or money for, or don’t see the purpose of.

This includes “Getting organized”, which include making sure your bookkeeping is under control, getting all the permits and licenses that you need, doing whatever is necessary to make sure you are operating legally wherever you live, and getting the proper bonding (if needed) and (definitely needed) insurance to protect you and your customers so that if and when you make a mistake, it doesn’t cost you everything you own now and ever will own.

These things will seem like a pain, but the reality is that the pain they cause is much smaller than the pain created by not taking care of them.

Marketing and sales

OMG Seriously?

Items two through five may generate an “OMG, seriously?”

A few thoughts about them…

If your typical happy customer is married, lives in 59912, works outside the home, and has a spouse who travels, then you’ll want to focus on identifying and attracting those specific people to your services. Don’t waste time advertising to 100,000 people who don’t “fit the profile”.

Come up with a one page (both sides) piece of paper that tells EXACTLY what you are great at (and what you actually want to do). Include your contact info.

Get a box of your business cards made into fridge magnets. Old school, but people will leave them on the fridge forever once they trust you. Even if you’re in their phone contacts, that fridge magnet is in their face every day. Make sure the visible side has your name, phone number, name and what you do. It’s OK to make a special card for magnets.

Figure out what you need to make from each job, including the expenses you might not be thinking of, like insurance, fuel, uniforms, marketing, downtime, taxes, etc. If you do everything else right and mess up your pricing, you won’t be happy.

Be humble, but don’t be shy. If you’re great at something, simply tell people you love to do that work.

As you prepare to leave the customer’s home, ask for more work. Say “ Is there anything else that you’ve been meaning to get fixed? “, then let them think long enough so they’re the next one to speak. If they say no, say “ OK, I’ll be happy to come back if you something comes up. ”

Ask your mom, your grandma, and the moms of a few of your friends these questions:

• “What frustrates you about repair guys that you’ve had in the house?”
• “Who is your favorite repair company?”
• “Why are they your favorite? What makes them so special?”

I can predict the answers, but I want you to ask anyway. YOU need to hear these words coming from folks who resemble your customers. These conversations will help you prepare to sell to the customers you want. It isn’t about convincing them to do the work. It’s about showing them you’re the right guy for them.

Next week in part two, we’ll talk about how to polish what the customer experiences while you’re in their home – and control what they find after you’ve left.

Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a strategic, operations or marketing problem? See  Mark’s site , contact him on  LinkedIn  or  Twitter , or email him at  mriffey@flatheadbeacon.com .

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Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a strategic, operations or marketing problem? See  Mark’s site , contact him on  LinkedIn  or  Twitter , or email him at  mriffey@flatheadbeacon.com .