Not only will a competent handyman help you keep your house in good repair, but you may also find that paying someone else to do the work turns out to be an efficient use of money.
A handyman will often have the tools needed for the job, saving you the cost of renting power tools, and he may also offer a discounted or bundled rate when you hire him for several projects at once. The content is paid advertising created in partnership with Puls. Its facts and opinions are those of BobVila. Disclosure: BobVila. You agree that BobVila. All rights reserved. If you are able to hire out your work at less than the hourly rate of which your time is worth, then you hire it out.
Hi dear, thank you for sharing your very valuable information. I hope it helps price. Hi, A great blog you got here. What if only Intrested in working 3days aweek for a total of about 12 hours or so a week. Dan Thanks for the article! You are so right. If we are not charging according to your formula we will go out of business or into debt to stay a float and then eventually sink. I believe doing jobs we are fast and efficient at instead of trying to be a jack of all trades is one of the keys.
I loss count of the jobs where I totally underestimated the number of work hours, not to mention travel time and setup and store runs and reducing the hourly rate in half or near to it.
That sucks! Perry my husband has been in the construction industry for 35 years and he is very respectful, very knowledgeable on every trade, can and has done every trade except HVAC, trustworthy, takes pride in his work, I mean he still surprises the hell out of me with the knowledge and skills he has.
I just started helping him a year ago. I do everything except the actual labor. Nothing is working. Do you have any advice for us?
Thank you! I would say your best bet is to just communicate with customers when you will be late, and let them know in advance that you often are late. That way at least they know what to expect. Not ideal, but better than just leaving them in the dark and being late anyway.
Brandy from March 22, does he use Breezeworks Scheduling and invoicing? That makes it easy for me!!! I am desperate in need for a new website that will generate the right leads.
I have been in business for 30 years. Was in Illinois but moved to Las Vegas to take ccx are of my mom. My beloved father recently passed away and so I decided to move with my family to be closer to take care of her and I am in a desperate need to promote my handyman business and become successful like you. Will you be able to guide me in the right direction? I already registered my business in the state if Nevada.
Hey Dan…love your site. I retired from one profession two years ago and have recently started focusing on professional handyman services full time as my next career. I live in Colorado and focus mostly in the north end of the state.
As I have read your blog and I see pricing all over the place. With the Colorado housing market as hot as it is I feel justified at my current rate. Dan SkyBird Construction. I have been trying to figure out how trades determine their outrageous hourly rate. This is why so many people are now becoming talented DIYers. Are you in business for yourself or are you an employee? If you are in business for yourself then you should strongly consider charging more.
Please understand that I have over two decades of maintenance experience. How many dishwashers, garbage disposals, or OTR Microwaves have you installed?
If you can DIY it, great! If you are afraid of the potential damage you might cause, hire someone. Ive been asked by a property management company to be on call for them. Its really more of a pain due to having 2 phones lol. I also live in a very rural area and am going to charge an hour minimum for the first hour. My question is how do I communicate that information to the customer? Do you put it on your business card, do I tell them on the phone when they call about a job?
Hi, I just recently started a Handyman business. I need your advice on how, and when, to communicate that to customers. I know for larger jobs, I can put that info in to a quote, but what about quick small jobs? Do you put your rate on your business card? My problem with verbal communication has already created an issue for me; I did my first job last week replacing a dryer vent for a customer.
I know I told the customer my min. Since I am just starting I figured the right thing to do was admit fault, and only charge her for the 30 min. Please let me know your thoughts as I am in need of some advice as to how to proceed, and not keep loosing money. You can find it in the products tab.
But I doubt that because most of the feedback I get is very positive. I have had to raise my prices twice in my business. When I first started out I was doing work for a rental management company.
That took a year to see that I was in the negative in profit when I did my taxes. They wanted me to do everything on the cheap even my labor. I raised my price per hour and lost them but started doing commercial work and residential after I ranked my website. I was getting 10 calls a day and that turned into half confirmed projects. Which was good for a handyman just starting out. I broke even the next year with this and then the following years I kept increasing in profit with doing more projects.
Well its time for another bump because I have to rent my time and money out for 30 to 45 days with commercial and lately they have been pushier than residential customers. I warrant everything I do for 1 year and I have never had to cash in on it. This is such a fantastic resource. I love all the comments, perspectives, suggestions. It really seems to be a thing. Thanks for this, Dan. And I am seriously thinking about signing up for one of your paid courses..
Thank you so much for giving me the information to build my handyperson business with confidence. A question: I recently completed paid work for a relative whose cottage is on an island two hours and a boat ride from my home. It was work I feel proud of, she paid me and went on to enthusiastically promote the job I did on her social media. So now her friend also on an island, also two hours from home wants to hire me for a job that will likely take days to complete.
She has offered to put me up in her guest cottage during the job. Do I charge her my day rate for this, just eat the time or bill for the actual hours but discount them from the final project if she goes ahead. She could easily hire someone from her area but loved the work I did for my sister and wants to have something similar. Help, please! Just charge whatever amount will make you excited to get the job, and not dread the inconvenience.
Unless you really need the business, put the tough decision on the customer. I have been in construction management for 10 years, then started my own construction company last year. Over the last 10 years, and especially this past year I picked up some practical handyman skills. I know some trim carpentry, drywall patching, painting, installing light fixtures, power washing, changing locks, fixing doors that are stuck, etc.
That said, I just started a handyman business, and have my first job. Simple drywall repair work. When you guys first started out, did you have to turn down many jobs that were outside of your comfort zone? How do you balance wanting to hone your skills and make money!
Would you ever charge for travel time independently, or would you just have a different rate for jobs that involve a great deal of travel time? I am trying to get my husband to charge more when a job involves 90 minutes of driving round trip, but he is only on-site for a quick job that takes less than 30 minutes.
When working on job and need to run to store for material do I charge the customer for that time? In most cases, yes. Unless it was something that you should have had on hand already, like a common screw or something that forgot to pick up that you knew you would need. Hi Dan, I am retired and live in California. I collect Social Security benefits now. So I can only do handyman work part time with out being penalized by SS. Thanks for the blog, I have enjoyed reading it! Dan C. Do you know if working on electrical, plumbing and HVAC repairs are allowed?
So what about all that variability in the middle? Well, a lot of it depends on region. Southern California and New York city are going to cost more than rural Oklahoma, just because the cost of living is higher. Going through Craigslist is usually cheaper than an agency or franchise, but of course you risk oversight when you hire independently. Make sure your potential handyman understands the issues, and secure an estimate of how long they think it will take.
You may even want to propose a flat rate fee, instead of an hourly wage. Tyler, Mark C. Hicks, Ray F. Pray, Richard. Gleason, Dennis D. Russell, Jonathan. Millions of people ask HomeGuide for cost estimates every year. We track the estimates they get from local companies, then we share those prices with you. Related Articles. Handyman Services. Get Started. Handyman Near You. Looking for Handyman near you? How it Works. Handyman near me. Bathroom exhaust fan installation.
Christmas light installation. Crawl space cleaning or repair. Garage door opener installation. Garbage disposal installation.
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