The Handyman Startup Podcast

The handyman business is surprisingly versatile. While many outsiders assume that all handymen businesses are identical, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Since starting my business over ten years ago, I’ve seen a wide array of business models in this industry and had the opportunity to speak with several handymen who have carved out interesting (and profitable) niches for themselves. Each model has some unique benefits and, of course, some disadvantages. Some are more profitable. Some are easier to set up. Some require minimal experience. And some of them might even surprise you. In this article, I’ll provide insight into each business model so you can pick the one that works the best for your goals, skills, and lifestyle. Listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content and insights. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS034 – 7 Profitable Handyman Business Models #1 – The “Do It All” Handyman When I say do it all, I mean everything. I once spoke with a contractor from Atlanta who prides himself on serving all of the customer’s home needs. It doesn’t matter what it is. Whether it’s plumbing, electrical, bathroom remodels, a leaky faucet, or just mowing the lawn. His “We do it all” approach aims to provide the customer with the benefit of never having to call another contractor or handyman. That means he keeps them in his little web. This model often cashes in on bigger jobs like remodels and additions by providing small repairs and maintenance at very little or no charge. Although this was more common in the past, it’s rare now due to complexity and contracting laws. To pull this business model off legally in most states, you’d need to have dozens of different trade licenses, which would take decades to acquire for a single person. Of course, many people still do it; they just aren’t following the contracting laws 100%. Additionally, as homes get more advanced, many improvements require specialized knowledge to offer the highest quality products and services. Since it’s impossible to be an expert at everything, the quality of work will likely suffer with this model. But there are some advantages. The biggest one is that you’d have to invest far less in marketing because you can stay busy with just a few clients. So if you have an aversion to marketing, this might be a decent model for you. There’s also a lot of variety in the projects you take on, and you practically become family to those you serve. However, this model gets a big thumbs down from me. Other than the issues I mentioned, it’s far too complex and challenging to streamline with no added profit advantage. Plus, if I operated this way, I’d have to offer many services I hate providing to get the jobs I want. While this can be a profitable and enjoyable way to run a home repair business, it’s not my favorite. #2 – The To-Do List Handyman I didn’t know about this unique handyman business model until I interviewed Jim Copenhaver from Chicago. Since, I’ve tried it in my own business with success and have helped many others take this approach. This model takes advantage of the opportunities created by our overly busy lives. Busy working parents don’t have the time (or skills) to take care of simple repairs and maintenance, wealthy people simply don’t want to, and the elderly can’t or don’t want to either. The type of work with this model usually includes hanging pictures, small painting projects, hanging shelves, adjusting doors, furniture assembly, and countless other small things that homeowners don’t get around to. Since this model only requires basic handyman skills, the barrier of entry is pretty low from a skill perspective. A handy teenager could easily start this type of business. I’m a big fan of this business model. Even though there are more profitable models out there, this is a low-stress, simple, and reliable way to build a handyman business. It’s also easier on your body than many other models since you are doing a wide variety of small projects instead of repetitive and labor-intensive big projects. Of course, there are downsides as well. The work is often not very challenging and can be tedious at times. Secondly, while you can make a solid six-figure income doing these types of services, there are more profitable models out there (I’ll talk about those next). Making this business model work requires just four ingredients: Good customer service and communication Attention to detail Good marketing to attract customers who are willing to pay higher rates for convenience and service. The right pricing model. #3 The Specialist Don’t assume that to start a handyman business you have to do everything. In many cases, it can be more profitable to specialize. For example, you can start a business just mounting TVs. I’ve seen it done many times. Or a business that just installs trampolines. Or a business that just focuses on pressure washing. Of course, there are also the more common specialties like painting, window cleaning, Electrical, or plumbing. This business model has several advantages: It’s efficient since you only need limited tools, and you’ll tend to get faster the more you do similar projects. It’s much easier to do flat-rate pricing, which can be more profitable than charging based on time. Many people want to hire the best of the best. By specializing, you’ll likely surpass the generalist in skill and knowledge for your specialty. It can be easier to scale and hire employees if that’s your goal. It can be more profitable. However, this type of business will typically require better marketing skills to stay busy. Since you are only doing a particular service, you will need more customers than a To-Do-List or Do-It-All Handyman since you won’t have as much repeat business. Customers may only need your service once every few years as opposed to the previous two models, where some customers would hire you monthly or even weekly. I like this business model. If making a lot of money is your primary goal, then this is usually the best model to go with because once you dial in your systems and marketing, you can crank out jobs super fast, optimize your pricing to generate very high income per hour, and implement other strategies for boosting your profits. #4 The Cherry Picker Handyman This is the type of handyman business that cherry-picks jobs based on the skill set and interests of the handyman. It’s a mix between The Specialist, The Do-It-All, and The To-Do-List Handyman, except in this model, you only take on jobs you enjoy or are profitable. You can then recommend other contractors for the jobs you don’t want. I like this business model because it allows you to enjoy the higher profits of having a specialty service or two while still allowing you to enjoy the security and variety of general home repairs and maintenance. The key to making this work (as with many of these models) is to have good marketing systems. You want to get to the point where your schedule is booked out several weeks in advance so you can be picky about which jobs and customers you take on. Additionally, your marketing will help fill your schedule with your most profitable services. This is an excellent, low-risk way to transition from a general Do-It-All Handyman to a Specialist because you can rely on your repeat customers for security while moving your business in a more profitable direction. Another benefit is that this business model is enjoyable because of the variety and excitement of growing profits. The downsides are that this business is not as easily systemized or scaled and is more complex than The Specialist. But it’s important to note that it’s not all about making money. Personally, I’m happy to take a minor hit to my profits for a bit of variety in my day. #5 The Franchise Handyman The fifth handyman business model is investing in a handyman business franchise. If you prefer working in the office and still want to be in the handyman industry, here’s an option for you. You won’t be swinging a hammer, but you can take an established brand and run with it if you’re a good businessman. This is a higher-risk business to start because of the upfront costs, but handyman business franchises come with all of the business systems in place, plus some training, so you don’t need to figure it out by yourself. The downside of this model is that it’s expensive. According to this website, you’d need to invest at least $117,000 to get started. This model gets a big thumbs down from me because I don’t think the cost justifies the value. For fast-food restaurants, I think franchises are great because you get a well-known name, systems, and food that is consistent with what customers expect. With a handyman business franchise, you get the name and the systems, but the name isn’t that powerful. You’ll still need to invest in the same amount of marketing to get it going. It’s just too easy to set up a business yourself to justify the expense. In this interview, I discuss franchises with another handyman if you want to learn more about them. #6 – The Home Maintenance Membership If none of the other business models were new to you, perhaps this one is. The Home Maintenance Membership model is when you sell a monthly or quarterly maintenance package for a monthly or quarterly membership. Just like a lawn care company, you would ideally set up automatic billing and scheduling. Services might include changing air and water filters, changing light bulbs, inspecting fire and carbon monoxide alarms, winterizing irrigation systems, fertilizing lawns, trees, and shrubs, cleaning gutters, and inspecting areas of the house like a roof and crawlspace that aren’t accessed often. This is perfect for selling to second homeowners or other wealthy clients who want hands-off home maintenance and a bit of peace of mind. Another benefit often offered to members is a discounted rate on repairs and materials. This can be a great business model because you can lock in a consistent income month to month, there is minimal skill required for most of the tasks, and it would be easy to hire employees to tackle the easy stuff. The downsides are that unless you are hiring employees, the services may get boring. This model will also usually require more direct face-to-face sales since fewer people are proactively looking for this service. You’d have to sell it to your existing customers. If you don’t like to sell stuff, this wouldn’t work well. This business is a bit more complex as well. You’d need more sophisticated software to automate customer follow-up, billing, and scheduling. Dealing with membership payments can also get annoying when people fail their payments. However, if you’re a proactive, systems-based thinker, this is a great model that will increase customer retention and build a consistent income. The inspections you’d perform would often lead to bigger and more lucrative jobs. #7 The Weekend Warrior Let’s not forget the part-time handyman business. Maybe you don’t want to leave your cushy job with full benefits until you know you can make enough to support your family and lifestyle. If that’s the case, then starting a handyman business on the side is a great option. Many homeowners are happy to get their repairs done in the evenings or on the weekends. The advantages are all pretty evident with this model. The main benefit is minimal risk because you still have your day job to fall back on if things don’t work out. The only disadvantage is your business growth will be slowed because you won’t have as much time to work on it. But it’s better to get started slowly than not to get started at all! Final Thoughts As you can see from these examples, the handyman business is one of the most flexible businesses you can run. If you only want to work on the weekends, you can. If you get tired of doing certain repairs, you can stop doing them. If you only want to work in a small area within your city, you can do that, too. If you want to start as a Do-It-All Handyman and transition to a Specialist later and then dabble with memberships, you can do that. If you want to combine two or more of these business models, why not? If you want to run your business solo, that works great, but you can also hire employees and scale things up. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that if you start a handyman business, you will be stuck doing hard labor until you’re 75 (better than working at a desk). You can go in many directions, and if you stay consistent and work smart, profitability is unlimited. If starting a handyman business is something you are serious about, check out my step-by-step guide to starting a profitable handyman business here. From setting up your business to attracting customers, it will give you all of the information you need to start making money from your home repair skills – starting today. The post 7 Profitable Handyman Business Models That Can Replace Your Income appeared first on Handyman Startup.

Naming a handyman business can be challenging since so many names have already been taken. I remember struggling for weeks to lock down a name that was professional and memorable when starting my business. However, in this article, I’ll share a quick and easy way to generate a unique and professional name for your new handyman business. I’ll also share some great examples. This process has helped thousands of people worldwide, so you’ve found the right place. Let’s start with some examples… Now, listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS033 – Finding the Perfect Name for Your Handyman Business Contents 50+ handyman business name examples Best practices when naming your business How to come up with the perfect name Legal considerations when naming a handyman business 50+ Handyman Business Name Examples Catchy Handyman Business Name Ideas Handyman From Mars Odd Job Bob Mr. Handy Hands Punch-list Handyman Extra Hand Handyman Fix-It Professor Mr. Fix All Honey-Do Handyman HandyPro Home Services The House Dr. Mr. Handy Hands Handy Dan Blue Bear Home Repair Creative Names for a Handyman Business Oak Tree Handyman Silver and Blue Handyman Sunset Hills Handyman Wolfpack Handyman Blue Sky Home Repairs Whispering Oaks Handyman Cactus Jack Home Repair Franchise Handyman Business Names Mr. Handyman Handyman Connection Handyman Matters The Honey-Do Service House Doctors Handyman Services Andy OnCall Maintenance Made Simple Odd Job Bob Home Fixology Handy Pro Handyman Service Handyman Network Yellow Van Handyman Home Task Handyman Services Clever Business Names for Handyman Himalayan Handyman Medieval Home Solutions Odd Job Home Services TV Mounting Experts Smart Home Maintenance Rocky Mountain Home Repair Sierra Home Solutions Rowdy Creek Home Maintenance Professional Handyman Business Names Diamond Home Services Perry Construction Premiere Door and Window Paramount Builders Credible Construction More Handyman Business Name Ideas Kalamazoo Home Repair UpKeep Home Maintenance All Pro Fix It Handyman Service Professional Perfectionist Handyman DNA Handyman Copper Creek Handyman Overhaul Handyman 1st Service Handyman Harmony Improvements All Service Home Repair High-End Handyman Services Welcome Home Handyman The Handy Bee All American Handyman Power Pro Handyman To-Do List Handyman What a Useful Guy Gold Star Handyman Handyman Repair Guy JHJ Handyman Highlands Home Solutions Trinity River Handyman Long List Handyman Tips and best practices for choosing the perfect name As you can see in the example above, handyman business names range from creative and catchy to direct and to the point. In many cases, pros will simply name their business after themselves. Mike’s Handyman Services or Paul Jones Home Repair are two examples. Regardless of the route you take, here are some essential things to keep in mind, so you avoid common naming mistakes and come up with a great name that helps, instead of hurts, your marketing efforts. #1 – Pick a name that is easy to say and spell. If people can’t pronounce your business name, it will be more difficult for them to recommend you to others. Not only will your name be less memorable, but people also don’t like to sound dumb, so they’ll just avoid saying your business name. Additionally, if your business name is hard to spell, it can confuse customers searching for your business online. Since online marketing is the most effective way to attract customers, having a name that is easy to spell can make a big difference in your marketing efforts. #2 – Pick a unique or catchy name (sometimes). If you plan on eventually scaling your handyman business into a nationally recognized brand, then choose a unique and catchy name. You want your business name to stick in your customers’ heads and be memorable. Odd Job Bob is a great example from above that does this well. Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and Zoom are examples of large-cap companies that did this well. However, I don’t recommend modeling your name after these large tech companies because you won’t have the marketing budget to build brand recognition as they have. And that leads me to the third tip. Pro Tip If you never plan to hire employees, then having a memorable name is far less important. You’d be better off just being direct and to the point, or even naming your business after yourself. #3 – Your business name should tell people what services you offer. Being catchy or memorable is great for big businesses with a worldwide audience. But for a local handyman business, it’s typically better to simply communicate what you do with your name. You’ll never have the marketing budget to gain the recognition that bigger brands have. Catchy names may just confuse your potential customers unless the name also indicates what services you provide. You want your customers to know what services you provide by just reading your name. For a handyman business, that usually means including words like “home repair,” “handyman,” or “handyman services” in your name. However, you don’t have to be this obvious. Look at the name HandyPRO for example. It’s relatively clear what services are provided while being unique and catchy. Are you specializing in a particular niche? If so, try to work something in that says what you specialize in. A good example of this is the franchise Shelf Genie. It’s pretty obvious what they do. They install shelves. #4 – Choose an area-specific name. Are you planning to target a specific area or neighborhood in your city? Let’s say you live in San Antonio. San Antonio Handyman would be a great business name, but it’s probably already taken. But, let’s say you also live in the suburb Whispering Oaks, which is your target service area. Choosing a business name like Whispering Oaks Handyman would be a great name, and the chances of it being available are much higher. Of course, you can still offer services outside Whispering Oaks, and you probably will. But this would be an excellent way to attract customers who live in your ideal service area and choose a great name. #5 – Make sure the .com is available for your business name. Online marketing is where most of your new customers will come from, and your website is the hub of your online presence. Ideally, you’ll be able to get the domain name that matches your business name with a .com. Domain names that end in .com are always better than .net, .repair, or any other URL extension for business websites. This is because .com carries the most authority, it’s the most common (over 50% of websites use it), and it’s what customers are most likely to type in. I highly encourage you to read this guide (the part on choosing a domain name) before making a final decision on your business name. Finding a good URL is going to restrict your name options significantly. When brainstorming names for my business, I would fall in love with a name only to discover that the URL wasn’t available. I eventually found one I was happy with, and the URL was available, but it took some time. Patience is essential here. Pro Tip If you find a handyman business name that you aren’t willing to change and the .com is already taken, a .net is a good second choice. However, I would avoid any other domain extensions unless you have an excellent reason to choose them. #6 – Choose a business name that appeals to your ideal customers. Choosing a name that you think is cool may be fun, but your focus should be on the customer. Choose something that will increase their trust in you or resonate with them in another way. If you’re planning to target dual-income professional parents (a great market, by the way), make sure you pick a family-friendly name. You don’t want to scare them away with a name like “Hardcore Handyman.” Also, remember that you don’t have to appeal to everybody. Just make sure your name appeals to somebody. Read Targeting the right customers for tips on choosing profitable customers you want to work with. How to come up with the perfect name for your handyman business Here, you’ll generate dozens of unique and professional name ideas (even if you aren’t creative). Then, you can follow the rest of this step-by-step process to choose the perfect name. Step #1 – Brainstorming questions As you answer these questions, write down your answers. Try not to filter your ideas. You can edit your list later, but for now, just write them down (even the bad ones). What services will you be offering? Jim Copenhaver planned on handling customers’ to-do lists and came up with the name PunchList Handyman (click here to learn more about his business). Another great name I’ve seen is “The Door Man.” This business obviously focuses on door repairs and installs. What specific neighborhoods or suburbs will you be servicing? You may consider naming your business after one of those areas to be hyper-relevant to those customers. That’s exactly what Michael Rodriguez and it worked for him. List any words that describe you or your business. Some examples are professional, experienced, quality, fast, speedy, quick, advanced, and meticulous. Obviously, you’ll want to focus on adjectives that put you in a positive light with customers. What will you provide for your customers besides your services? This could include emotions, a state of mind, or more time. Examples might include comfort, less stress, peace of mind, more time, happiness, etc. What geological features do you have around your city or state? List all of the mountains, rivers, parks, valleys, landmarks, or anything else you can think of. You may come across something that sounds good and is meaningful to you and your customers. Are then any local plants, animals, trees, or flowers that you resonate with? Naming your business after a plant that demonstrates qualities that you will have as a handyman is a great way to imply benefits within your name and show relevance to your city. What college or professional teams do you have locally? If you’re a big fan, then consider naming your business after the team. For example, here in Reno we have the University of Nevada, Reno. Our colors are silver and blue, our mascot is the wolf, and the team and fans are referred to as the wolfpack. Some examples from this could be “Wolfpack Handyman” or “Silver and Blue Home Repair.” Step #2 – Find synonyms Now that you have a long list of name ideas and words, run them through a thesaurus to discover more. Do a Google search with any word from your list and then the word “synonym” (for example: “repair synonym”). Write down any good synonyms that you come up with from the thesaurus. Step #3 – Combine words to generate name ideas Once you have a large list of words, start combining them and see if you can find something clever. Don’t be afraid to modify a word slightly or combine two words into a single word. If you get stuck, re-read the list of examples above for more ideas. From this exercise, try to come up with at least 20 decent names that you may consider using. Step #4 – Availability quick-check Now that you have a decent list of potential names, it’s time to quickly see which ones are already taken to widdle down your list. The easiest way to do this is to search in google for each business name. To help eliminate irrelevant search results, use the following search modifier: allintitle: “name idea #1” This will only show results for web pages with the business name in the title and exactly how you type it in. If a name is already taken by another business in your area, cross it off your list. If the name is taken by someone in another city or the .com is already taken, then consider crossing it off (unless it’s a perfect name that you want to investigate further). Go through all of your name ideas to widdle down your list. Step #5 – Get feedback Share your name ideas with friends and family. This is helpful for two reasons. One, it will give you feedback on the quality of your ideas. Two, your name ideas may inspire a friend to come up with a good name that you would have never thought of. Pro Tip Your handyman business name won’t make or break your business by itself, but it will have a small impact on your ability to attract customers. A great name will make advertising slightly easier, and a bad name will make it harder. Step #6 – Dig deeper into your favorite names After this process, you’ll likely have one or two favorites. Now it’s time to dig deeper, find a good URL to match, and make sure you can legally move forward with that name. It took me several weeks to decide on a name for my handyman business. I had plenty of excellent ideas, but most were taken. Don’t get discouraged by this because there are plenty of good names still out there. Legal considerations when choosing a name for your handyman business Many handyman business names are already trademarked, or at risk of being trademarked, so you’ll want to ensure your choice is safe. In a perfect world, you would just go to a website, type in your desired business name, and it would tell you whether or not you could use that name. Unfortunately, this website doesn’t exist (that I know of), which makes this process a pain in the ass. I’ll try to make it as simple as possible for you. Please note that I’m not an attorney, and this is not legal advice. This is information from my experience. Do a quick search on Google as I described above. If it passes #1, then check to see if your name is trademarked by going to the USPTO’s website here. If the name is trademarked, you are better off not using it. However, there are some situations where you can. If the company that trademarked that name has nothing to do with anything close to your industry, and you would not compete with them, spoil their brand, or have any other negative effect on their brand, you can cautiously proceed forward. However, there are always risks when doing this. Consult with an attorney to make sure. If you want to be sure, go to the county clerk’s office and have them search the fictitious name database for your state. I didn’t bother with this personally, but I was clear on the risk I was taking. You may choose to do an unregistered trademarks search by visiting thomasnet.com and other similar websites. However, these are likely incomplete and will only give you more assurance that your name isn’t taken. If you have cleared all the checks on this list, you should be good to go! Congratulations! If you want to be extra safe, talk to a patent and trademark attorney and have them do a more extensive search. Have it trademarked if you want to lock down your new name and protect it. This is optional, though. If you will be running a single-person operation and never plan to expand, trademarking is a waste of time. Conclusion The name of your handyman business won’t make or break your business, but it can impact your ability to attract customers. It’s worth your time to put some effort into choosing the right name for your situation, but spending too much time here is just plain ineffective. If you never plan to sell or franchise your business, there’s nothing wrong with simply naming it after yourself or a local geological feature. Just keep it simple and easy to spell, make sure it tells people what services you offer, and that you can lock down a decent domain name related to it. Then move on to more important stuff, like building your website. The post Handyman Business Names: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Handyman Startup.

The handyman business is a perfect side hustle. The overhead is low, and it only takes a few hours per week to generate a profit as long as you charge enough for your services. So in this article, I’m going to break down the numbers to show you exactly how much you would need to charge to make an extra one thousand big ones each month while only working five hours per week total. If you’re starting your business while working full-time, this is a great initial goal to have because if you can accomplish it, then you have a proven formula for a six-figure income as a pro handyman. Plus, $1,000 extra each month is nice. You can buy all kinds of fun stuff and experiences with that much moola. Let’s dive into the math and get a realistic view of how to do this. Listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS032 – Make $1,000 per month in five hours per week with a part-time handyman business. How to Make $1,000 Per Month In Just 5 Hours Per Week To make $1,000 per month in just five hours per week, you’ll need to average about $95 per hour when providing services and then work about 3.5 hours per week in billable hours. That doesn’t mean you should charge by the hour, it just means you need to average that much for each hour you work. Let’s talk more about how I got to this number. The Math First, we need to figure out how many hours per month five hours per week equates to. So, let’s take 5 hrs and multiply that by 52 since there are 52 weeks in the year. Then, we’ll divide that number by 12 since there are 12 months in the year. That means that five hours per week is 21.7 hours per month. Now, many people might be tempted just to take $1,000 and divide it by 21.7, but it’s not that easy. If you did this, you would get ~$46 per hour. But if you charge that much, you’d actually make much less than $1,000 per month because you aren’t accounting for taxes or expenses – a mistake I see happening way too often. Just because your business generated $1,000 doesn’t mean you get to keep $1,000. I know that’s obvious to anybody who has been in business, but those who haven’t often don’t realize this. So let’s do some better math that includes these basic expenses. Since you are just operating part-time on a small scale, there’s a good chance you can keep your expenses lower than you would if you went full-time. Let’s say you already have your own tools and a vehicle you can use. At a minimum, you would still have the following expenses. Very basic expenses for a lean part-time handyman business: Liability Insurance: $70-$100 per month (optional but a good idea) Vehicle Mileage and Gas: $75 per month Tools and Supplies: $40 per month City Business License: $300 per year = $25 per month Marketing Budget: $50 per month Total Expenses: ~$260 per month. You’d also need to pay self-employment taxes – which, at the time of writing, are 15.3% of your gross profits. So assuming your expenses are $260 and you are, in fact, going to pay your taxes, how much would you need to charge? Well, the math gets slightly more complicated, so I’m not going to break it down here. I’ll just tell you. (You can go to this article to see the math.) After accounting for expenses, you’d have to charge $66.39 per hour to hit $1,000 per month in five hours per week. But…that still isn’t 100% correct. That’s because if all you have is five hours per week to dedicate to your business, then there is zero chance that you will get paid for all five hours. You’ll have to spend time driving, picking up supplies, following up with customers, quoting jobs, and doing things like accounting – all things you don’t get paid for. A good estimate is that those business admin tasks take an average of 1.5 hours per week. That only leaves 3.5 hours per week to actually make money – which is 15.2 hours per month. So if you spent a total of 21.7 hours working in your handyman business, you’d only bill customers for about 15.2 hours. Obviously, that will vary, but it’s a good estimate to start with. And, since you are working fewer hours, you’ll need to charge more to hit the $1k per month mark. After factoring in the time for various admin tasks, your rate bumps up from $66.39 to $94.78. So just to round up and keep things simple, that puts your target hourly rate at about $95 per hour.  How to Make $95 Per Hour Doing Basic Handyman Services To many who read this, $95 per hour sounds like a lot, and it is. There are many handymen out there who make nowhere near that much – and as much as I try to teach them how, many still haven’t found me yet. But I assure you it is totally doable. The key to making $95 per hour isn’t just charging $95 per hour. You’d probably get some resistance from customers with this rate depending on where you live and the type of services you are offering. Instead, you’ll want to charge a flat rate for as many services as possible. Or, use my favorite pricing strategy, which I share in detail in my pricing course. Here are a couple of examples of common jobs where you can make $100 or more per hour. #1 – TV wall Mount – You can easily charge $100+ to mount a TV, and it usually takes 45 minutes to an hour. #2 – Fence Repair – Bu using the method I demonstrate in this video, I have made up to $200 per hour. #3 – Door Repairs – Several small door repair jobs are easy to quote and can easily help you hit the $100 per hour mark. For more examples, download this free report: Honestly, $95 per hour really isn’t unusual once you get a handle on your pricing and marketing. And the best way to increase your rates even further is to specialize, as I talk about in this post. That allows you to become more efficient and able to provide more value to your customers in less time. What Would a 5-Hr Work Week Actually Look Like? To make $1,000 each month, you’d need to make about $332 per week in income from labor. That could be accomplished with just one fence repair on the weekend. Or by doing two or three TV wall mount installs throughout the week after work. Or a simple door repair on a Saturday morning. This would allow you to start your business and still have a life outside work. Huge bonus. Reality Check I’m not here to sugarcoat things or make them look easier than they are. So here’s a reality check. First, to reach this point, you’ll need to invest some time and effort in setting up your business. While there may be some people who will fill their 5 hours per week by simply throwing up a few craigslist ads or posting to their friends on Facebook, for most people, it won’t happen instantly. Second, to hit the $100 per hour range, you’ll almost certainly have to do some decent marketing. At a minimum, you’ll want to build a website and get some reviews on websites like Thumbtack or Yelp. And third, you’ll want to have a strong enough lead flow (jobs coming in) to where you could be picky about the kind of jobs you take on. Otherwise, you might find yourself driving too far or doing unprofitable jobs like painting – which would reduce your profits substantially and waste your time. I think these are minor inconveniences, but I want to mention them since they will take time and effort to solve. A Recipe for a Six-Figure Income The great thing about starting your business part-time is that when you’re ready to go full-time, it’s just a matter of scaling up what you’ve already created. So here’s how the math will likely work out once you go full-time. Hours invested might go from 5 to 40 hours per week, where you’ll provide handyman services for approximately 28 hours per week. Monthly expenses would likely jump from $260 to ~$1700 per month. Here’s the cool part. If you can maintain the same hourly rate of ~$95 per hour, your income will jump from $12,000 per year to $100,000 per year. So by starting with the goal of making $1,000 per month in 5 hours per week, you will essentially create the foundation for a six-figure handyman business. That amount will easily replace the income from most desk jobs. If you’ve been thinking of starting a business for a while now and just haven’t pulled the trigger, hopefully, this article will nudge you in the direction to give it a try. And when you’re ready to start a profitable handyman business, my complete step-by-step course is right here waiting for you. The post Make $1,000 Per Month in 5 Hours Per Week with a Part-Time Handyman Business appeared first on Handyman Startup.

Starting a business while working full-time is totally doable, and it even has some unique advantages that, if leveraged properly, can make building your business enjoyable. I’ve helped hundreds of people start their businesses while working full-time jobs, and in this guide, I’m going to share how you can do the same without over-working yourself. Here’s what I’m going to cover: Why starting your business while working full-time is advantageous, and how to leverage the benefits of your day job to accelerate your business growth. A step-by-step process for growing your business with limited time. The #1 reason people fail to start a business while working full-time. Quick Tip If you’d prefer to listen instead of reading, you can listen to the podcast at the bottom of this page. The Advantages of Starting a Business While Working Full-Time Starting a side hustle may seem daunting because you’re probably busy. You may even think you’re at a disadvantage. But there are some pretty sweet benefits. Personally, I quit my job before starting my first business. While this gave me a lot more time and energy to grow my business, it also made me realize that having a job can be a powerful tool if leveraged. So before I walk you through the process of starting step-by-step, I’ll reveal how to leverage the advantages of your job to accelerate your business growth. Advantage #1 – Cash flow The first advantage is obvious: when you have a job, you have more money! You’re forced to live off of your savings if you quit your job before starting. That means you have a tighter budget and less to invest in your business. But if you continue to collect a paycheck, you can instead use your savings to grow your business. That means you can do things like hire consultants and freelancers to help you get your business off the ground. You can also invest in online courses, mentorship, and other learning experiences to accelerate your success and make starting your business more enjoyable. This can actually help you reach your goals faster than having more time because utilizing these resources can 10x your effectiveness. Four hours of informed and guided work can easily exceed 40 hours of guesswork. I remember I had to bootstrap the whole process while starting my handyman business. Because of this, progress was slow, and I spent a lot of time learning things that I could have hired freelancers to do. So when time is short, and cash is plentiful, use that money to accelerate your business growth. This can also make the process a lot more fun. Advantage #2 – Low risk There is minimal risk involved when starting a side business. Even if you spend $10K and things don’t work out, that’s a relatively small loss. Compare that to quitting your job; you could easily blow through $10K in a couple of months on living expenses alone. If you choose a proven business model like a home repair business or another type of service business, the risk of failure is even lower. This limited risk relieves a lot of stress and pressure, allowing you to have a more zen approach to business and life. Lower stress can boost your creativity and help you grow your business more effectively. The key to keeping stress low is to be OK with slower progress. Since you have a job, you will have less time to work on your business, and it will take longer to build. Accept that fact so you don’t burn yourself out by pushing beyond your limits. Advantage #3 – Time is on your side By keeping that full-time job, you’re also relieved of the time pressure. There’s no need to stress and worry about turning a profit immediately. Because of this, you can think long-term. Instead of taking on customers or projects you don’t like because you need the money, you can afford to turn some jobs down and patiently build your business while only working for clients you enjoy. You can also focus your time on building systems and marketing that form a foundation for a profitable and enjoyable business. Of course, you can do this whether you have a job or not, but it’s far more difficult to invest in activities that will make next year more profitable when you are struggling to pay the bills today. So as you can see, there are some great advantages to starting a side hustle, and as long as you leverage these advantages, you can grow your business faster, easier, and with less stress than you can without your full-time job. How to Start a Business While Working Full-time (Step-by-Step) Step 1 – Conserve your energy. Starting a business will take energy (and lots of it), so managing this limited resource is important. Don’t assume you can pack more activities on your plate without consequences. That’s how people burn out. Since much of your energy is being taken by your current job, you’ll want to scale back your efforts. Give up the competitive-overachiever attitude and just do your job. Stop trying to impress your boss. Stop worrying about office politics. You’re not going for a promotion. You aren’t trying to get a raise. You’re trying to build a business.  Now, I’m not saying to stop doing your job altogether. There’s no integrity in that. I’m just saying there’s no need to stay late or pick up that extra project. There’s no reason to worry about who’s getting promoted or if your boss is impressed with your work. The moment you decide to start a business, you change the definition of success. So just do your job, smile, and watch the stress lift away. Not only will this help you conserve energy for working on your new business, but it can also make your job more tolerable. Step 2 – Carve out time in your schedule (and protect it). The most obvious challenge to growing your business is that you will have less time. You’ll just have to make the time you have count. And one powerful method that can help here is to block out uninterrupted time in your schedule to focus on your next step. Ideally, you’ll want to block out at least one hour of uninterrupted time a couple of times per week. More is better, but even working two hours per week adds up surprisingly fast when done consistently. It’s absolutely critical that you schedule this time every week and stick to it. Nothing will kill a dream faster than losing momentum, and momentum is easy to lose. If you need more help with staying consistent, read this article for more tips on getting yourself to take consistent action. Step 3 – Choose a proven business model. Starting an innovative and disruptive new company while working part-time is unrealistic. Sure, some people have pulled it off, but they are rare exceptions. That’s like trying to be a star basketball player in the NBA while practicing less than everyone else. Unless you have a crazy amount of talent, it’ll never happen. The best way to reliably build a successful business is to find something that’s already working and then duplicate that. Your best bet is a non-sexy service-based business, as I discuss here. Even if you had all the time in the world, I still recommend starting a proven business because the odds of success are astronomically higher. However, this is even more critical when you have limited time. Step 4 – Find a mentor. If you want the highest chances of success, utilize the advice of those who have come before you. They’ve already solved the problems you’re working on. Since they’ve already been where you are, they know the answers to questions you don’t even yet have. They can see a path in front of you that is unknowable to you. Failing to utilize mentors’ experience, knowledge, and training is a waste of the most powerful resource you have available. Remember, one of the advantages of starting a business while working full-time is that you have cash flow. Leverage that advantage by investing in mentorship and training. Investing your time and money to learn from others will dramatically accelerate your startup timeline and help you make more money. Step 5 – Turn down customers until you’ve built a solid foundation. Let’s say you take my advice and start a proven service-based business such as a home repair business. One thing many are tempted to do is try to find work right away. They want to skip all of the boring stuff like forming an LLC, building a website, or setting up scheduling, quoting, and invoicing systems so they can get straight to making money. However, when you have such limited time, this is a huge mistake. You don’t have time to provide services and build your business. You need to be more strategic. So instead, take it one step at a time. Set up your online marketing and the systems you need to run an efficient business before accepting side jobs. Turn down most customers until you’re ready to switch on the faucet. Once your systems are in place, then focus on making money. Turning down customers won’t hurt your reputation, either. Customers won’t give you bad reviews. In fact, the only downside is the money you miss out on in the short term, which will come back to you tenfold if you invest your time wisely. Step 6 – Stay in Test Mode. Since you still have the income from your day job, now is the time to test risky ideas – especially when it comes to pricing. If you overbid a job and don’t get it, it’s no big deal. If you try and promote a service that doesn’t resonate with customers, try something else. There is no rush or pressure. Stay in the mindset that you are trying to replace your income. Only test ideas that support that reality. For example, if your pricing model isn’t going to generate enough money to replace your current income, what’s the point of using it? Test a more profitable one. Instead of putting a cap on your income based on your own assumptions, test! Use this opportunity to learn as much as possible so that when you quit your job, you have the skills, insight, and confidence to really dominate. Avoiding Mistakes – Why People Fail to Start a Business While Working Full-time The #1 biggest challenge you will face on this journey is the temptation to give up. Starting a business is hard because you’ll inevitably run into roadblocks along the way. You’ll also be forced outside of your comfort zone. You have to put yourself in front of people. And you will be judged by your friends and family. When you don’t have a compelling reason to push through that resistance, it’s easy to give up. The pain of continuing overwhelms the pleasure of pursuing your goal, you lose perspective, and you quit. When I started my handyman business, I wanted to give up several times along the way. I would have given up, too, if I didn’t have a powerful reason to keep going. But, since I had already quit my job, I had to keep trying because I didn’t have a better option. When you have the safety of that full-time income, it’s much harder to keep going when things get tough. The good news is this challenge has a solution. To overcome the temptation to give up, you have several options. You can create self-imposed negative consequences for not following through, develop a visualization practice, or surround yourself with others who are already running a business you want to build. I recommend all three if you can. At a minimum, create an accountability contract. It might seem backward to focus on this, but success is an indirect result of your environment. If your current environment hasn’t led you where you want to go yet, it’s probably not going to. Craft your environment to pull you up instead of holding you down. Your Next Step If you are ready to start your business while working full-time, do this now. Schedule at least one hour within the next two days to work on your business. In that block of time, your goal is to lock down a schedule that you can stick to and identify your next action step. The amount of time you have matters less than how consistently and effectively you work. Don’t focus on everything you need to do; just focus on scheduling time to do something. Knock down one task, then the next, then the next. Before you know it, you’ll have a profitable business you can be proud of. If you’d like to follow a proven, step-by-step system for starting a profitable home repair business, check out Turn Your Skills Into Profit. You’d be surprised how profitable a simple home service business can be. Now, listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes additional content and insights. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS031 – How to Start a Business While Working Full-Time The post How to Start a Business While Working Full-Time appeared first on Handyman Startup.

Unfortunately, we handymen can’t just go out, buy a few tools, and start building houses. That’s illegal without a contractor’s license, and for a good reason. Without these laws in place, the quality of our homes would be seriously compromised. People with no business in construction would be scamming and endangering homeowners (more than they already do). Despite my issues with the contractor’s board, I understand that law enforcers are a necessary evil. However, many home services can still be offered without a contractor’s license. In fact, I’ve run a very profitable handyman business without one. For me, getting licensed in a trade just doesn’t make sense, at least not yet. But the real question is should you get a contractor’s license? Many of my readers have asked me this same question, and the answers I give might surprise you. Read on to learn what you should consider before studying and applying for a contractor’s license. Disclaimer:  Construction law varies significantly in every country and state. Make sure to check your local regulations to help you make and informed decision. Benefits of getting a contractors license Obtaining a contractor’s license can make your business more profitable by offering a few benefits. #1 – A boost in credibility – Credibility can help to build trust with your customers. It’s important to note that there are other, arguably easier, ways to gain credibility, but any way you can position yourself as a pro rather than cheap labor is beneficial. However, I wouldn’t expect that getting a contractor’s license will bring you a significant amount of new business. You still need to do some good marketing. #2 – Ability to tackle larger projects – Having a license allows you to tackle larger and potentially more profitable jobs. Assuming you bid jobs appropriately, can sell your services, and then work efficiently, large projects such as kitchen and bath remodels can be more profitable than small repairs for several reasons. #3 – Ability to tackle certain higher-paying projects – Speciality services like plumbing, electrical, HVAC, mold remediation, and many other projects can only be provided by contractors. That means there are usually fewer qualified people able to do these services, which allows you to demand a higher rate. As an unlicensed handyman, you are offering services that anyone can do, so in many cases, there is more competition. #4 – Ability to hire subcontractors – Let’s say you were overly busy and needed to hire some help but didn’t want to bring on a permanent employee. You may consider subbing out jobs to other pros. That means you still get a chunk of the profits from each job you sell, but you don’t have to perform the labor. Having a contractor’s license allows you to do this legally. You can also hire subcontractors to help you complete parts of a project you are hired for. While these benefits make getting a license seem like a no-brainer, here are some other things to consider before deciding. How much contracting experience do you have? If you are like me when I first started, meaning you have no experience bidding jobs, then a contractor’s license is probably the wrong choice. For example, if you have never quoted a job, what are the chances that you are going to quote it accurately? Close to zero. And you’ll probably quote too low, which means you’ll lose money. Trust me on this one. I’ve bid too low on way too many jobs. In fact, I lost over 50 grand in my first year to underbidding small jobs. If I had to learn my lesson on $10,000 jobs, I’d be out of business begging for food on the streets. Regardless of how skilled at home repairs and improvements you may be, there are several business skills you must develop before quoting big jobs. And these business skills are arguably more important than your handy skills when it comes to making money. What services do you plan on providing? Before getting a license, make sure you will still be able to offer all of the services you are planning to offer. In many states, like Nevada, where I live, getting a contractor’s license can limit the services you can legally provide. For example, without a license, I can do just about anything as long as it’s under $1,000 and doesn’t include plumbing, electrical, or HVAC. This leaves a lot open. If I was to get a contractor’s license, I would technically be limited to only performing jobs within that license. Meaning if I got a carpenters license, I would no longer be able to legally offer painting, tile, drywall repair, and several other services that I occasionally provide for my customers unless I also go licensed as a general contractor or for each trade. Even a general contractor’s license would limit my services because be limited to projects that require at least three trades. Since I like smaller jobs and quick repairs while doing a wide range of trades, a contractor’s license doesn’t make sense for my business model. Are you sure you want to provide those services? People often get licensed in a trade for the wrong reasons. Maybe because that is the trade they know how to do, or that is the trade they think they can make the most money. I recommend against this. I’m a strong believer that you should enjoy what you do. Without a lot of experience, it’s hard to even know the types of projects you enjoy. I didn’t know what types of jobs I liked doing until I had a couple of years of experience. I’ve talked to many contractors that don’t like what they are doing. I even received an e-mail from a plumber saying that he hated plumbing! Too bad he put all that effort into getting a license. So before getting a contractor’s license, you should be sure you like offering services related to that specific trade. Even though you may enjoy plumbing in your own home, this doesn’t mean you’ll like fixing other people’s toilets! Here’s what I recommend Before running out and getting a license immediately, get some experience offering several services first. Starting as a handyman is a great way to expose yourself to various projects while learning key business skills. Not only will acquiring experience help you to choose a path you enjoy, but it will also help you uncover profitable services that you didn’t even think of. Your handyman business experience will also teach you the business skills you need before risking your ass on huge jobs. After a while, you’ll know what you enjoy, what is profitable, how to get customers, and how to run a business. At that point, you can graduate to the next level and go big with a contractor’s license. Regardless of what you decide, make sure you understand your state laws by visiting your local contractor’s board website. Now, listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS030 – Should you get a contractor’s license? What do you think?  Is a contractor’s license right for you? The post Should You Get a Contractors License? appeared first on Handyman Startup.

When starting a small business like a handyman service, HVAC business, or other local service business, one of the first things you must do is choose between a Sole Proprietorship or an LLC for your legal business structure (aka business entity). This is an important decision because it affects how much you pay in taxes, your personal liability, and how much boring paperwork you have to deal with. Unfortunately, it can be a tough decision because most articles out there give you vague advice and speak far too generally. So in this article, I’m going to keep things specific to home-based service business, so I can make this decision easy for you. What’s the best business entity for a small service business? There are several types of business entities you can choose as your legal business structure, including Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, C Corporation, or LLC. However, only two of these make sense for 99% of local service businesses: LLC or Sole Proprietorship. Let’s talk about the differences and benefits of each. I am not an attorney or accountant, and this is not legal advice. This article is for informational purposes only. Please consult with a qualified professional when making important business decisions. Sole Proprietorship vs. LLC: A quick comparison Sole Proprietorships are great if you’re running a side business and have no employees and just want to keep things simple. They are free to set up, require no paperwork, and are simple to manage. LLCs are slightly more complicated and expensive to set up but have some advantages as your business becomes established. Generally speaking, the benefits of an LLC are that it provides more legal protection for your personal assets and potential tax savings. The downside is that an LLC is slightly more expensive and complicated to set up and maintain. What is a Sole Proprietorship? This is the most common business structure. In fact, Sole Proprietorships make up 87% of non-employer small businesses (source). Sole Proprietorships are easy to set up and provide you with complete control over your business. Many handymen, consultants, freelancers, and other small businesses choose this structure for its simplicity. Owners of a sole proprietorship are responsible for taxes on the net business income, which is taxed at individual rates on their personal tax returns. This is referred to as pass-through taxation because all of the business income simply passes onto the owner’s tax return and is added to other income the owner may have. Owners are responsible for paying self-employment taxes (social security and medicare) as with all business entities. In a sole proprietorship, the owner is generally liable for all debts and financial obligations of the business. This essentially means that your business is looked at as an extension of your person by the IRS and the law. If the business is in debt, the owner is in debt. If the business gets sued, the owner is essentially getting sued. Unlike a corporation, a sole proprietorship is NOT a separate entity. If you have employees working for you, then you are liable for any mistakes they make, so businesses with employees typically choose a different structure. Here’s a quick breakdown of the pros and cons of a Sole Proprietorship. Advantages It’s easy to set up. There is no state registration required unless you plan on using a fictitious name (any name other than your own). You do this by filing a DBA. If you work from home and use your own name for the business, you may have no startup costs at all. Much less paperwork and record keeping when compared to a corporation. Tax preparation is very straightforward and less costly when outsourced. Disadvantages Since a sole proprietorship is not a separate entity, the owner is responsible for all debts and financial obligations incurred by the business. The structure provides no legal protection for the owner’s assets. You can’t take advantage of tax-saving strategies that are available for an LLC or Corporation (more about this later). How to Setup Up a Sole Proprietorship A Sole Proprietorship is by far the easiest business entity to set up because it requires you to do nothing with the state. All you have to do is NOT form your business as an LLC or Corporation, and you will automatically be considered a Sole Proprietor. You will, however, need to obtain any local licenses or permits that are required to operate in your city. And, if you want to name your business anything other than your name, you’ll need to file a DBA with the state. What is an LLC (Limited Liability Company)? LLCs are also very popular as they provide business owners with many of the benefits of a corporation without most of the downsides. Like a corporation, an LLC can provide a financial and legal barrier for the personal assets of its members. A business owner who files under an LLC has basic liability protection from having his or her personal assets seized for debts or obligations of the business. This is especially valuable if you have employees and do not want to be held liable for their mistakes. In addition to providing protection to personal assets, an LLC also works the other way around. It prevents the business’s assets from being seized from personal creditors trying to settle a personal debt. A creditor can only go after the portion of the profits that the partner who was indebted has allocated to him or her. Put simply; an LLC protects you from your business’s and partner’s debts and financial obligations. That’s a very good thing if you have a business partner or take on a lot of debt with your business. By default, an LLC is taxed just like a Sole Proprietorship. The earnings pass through to the individual members (owners). The members are then responsible for income tax and self-employment taxes. This is known as a pass-through entity. However, members of an LLC can elect to be taxed as an S corp, saving big time on self-employment taxes. Advantages of an LLC Member’s personal assets are protected from business debts and financial obligations. Not subject to corporate tax or double taxation. Taxes function similarly to a sole proprietorship. Limited paperwork and record-keeping when compared to a corporation. Fairly simple to set up. Has the ability to elect S Corp status, which can save a lot on Self-Employment taxes (see below). Boost in credibility to potential customers. LLC Disadvantages More expensive to maintain than a sole proprietorship or partnership (usually a few hundred dollars per year). It takes slightly more work to set up than a sole proprietorship. Additional Considerations for an LLC To gain the legal and financial protection that forming an LLC has to offer, there are certain things you must do. The most important is to keep everything in your business separate from your personal assets. That means having separate bank accounts and credit cards and having all invoices and receipts have your LLC name on them. Make sure customers write out checks to the business and not you personally. Also, there are very few legal protection benefits for a single-member LLC with no employees. That’s because if you make a mistake due to negligence, a customer can still sue you personally vs. the business. Often times the courts will “pierce the corporate veil” and consider you and the business as the same entity. The primary benefit of an LLC is that you can build up credit in your business’s name and take out loans based on that credit. In the event that your business failed for some reason, then creditors would most likely not be able to go after your personal assets to settle that debt. This is why obtaining the proper insurance for your service business is essential. And finally, in many states, in order to be considered a separate entity from your business, you must have a partner with at least a 2% share of the business. Here’s a good article that explains this clearly. How to Save Big on Self-Employment Taxes with an LLC Despite having few legal benefits for a one-person handyman business, LLCs do have one huge benefit, which is that you can elect to be taxed as an S Corp. You may have heard of the S corp and how it can save you a lot of money in taxes. And it’s true. When I elected S Corp status for my business, I saved over ten thousand dollars each year in taxes. This is why I recommend filing as an LLC to most full-time handymen, consultants, and freelancers. You cannot have a Sole proprietorship elect S Corp status. The best part is that the more money you make, the more you save. Here’s an article that will give you an idea of how much money you can save with an S corp. Which business structure is right for you? There isn’t any single business structure that fits all handyman businesses. I recommend speaking with an accountant and potentially an attorney before making your decision. Every state has slightly different laws pertaining to business structures. That being said, I typically recommend an LLC to most self-employed handymen, consultants, and freelancers who want to generate a full-time income or eventually hire employees. A Sole Proprietorship is great if you operate part-time and never plan to hire employees or build your business into a full-time income. I structured my handyman business as an LLC, and it was the right choice for me. This allowed me to later be taxed as an S corp and gave my business a boost in credibility. It wasn’t difficult to set up, either. I simply went to the secretary of state’s website and filled out some online forms. Four hundred dollars in fees later, and I was the proud owner of an LLC. If you need help applying for an LLC, then here is a place that can help you sort through the confusing documents. There is a fee involved, but it will save you some time. Can you Convert a Sole Proprietorship to an LLC? Yes, but it may lead to some headaches with any local business licenses that you’ve already attained. Converting your Sole Prop to an LLC with the state is easy. Just file your articles of incorporation and list of members, just like when setting up an LLC (see link above). However, the problem comes with your city business license or permits. Those are most likely registered in your name and not your LLCs. So, you’ll likely have to jump through some hoops and pay some fees in order to change those licenses. Quick Recap There are two main business structures a local service business should consider: Sole Proprietorship and LLC. A Sole Proprietorship is great for a part-time business with no employees or plans of growing. An LLC is the best business structure for most self-employed handyman businesses (and most self-employed people in general) because of the potential tax savings. Once you set up your LLC and start generating a full-time income, you can elect S Corp status to save a significant amount of money on self-employment taxes. Now, listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS029 – Sole Proprietorship vs. LLC – What’s the best entity for a service business? If you found this article helpful and want to learn more about how to build a profitable handyman business, join over 10,000 people and sign up for my e-mail newsletter. You’ll get insider information, tips, and strategies that I don’t share anywhere on this blog. Sign up below, and you’ll also get a FREE ebook. The post Sole Proprietorship vs LLC – The Best Entity for Service-Based Businesses appeared first on Handyman Startup.

Starting a handyman business can be profitable and fun with the right approach. I know this because I’ve been doing it for over ten years. However, it’s important to understand that a truck full of tools and some home repair skills will only get you so far. You’ll also need to learn a few business skills to build a profitable business that generates six figures per year or more. The good news is that it isn’t hard, and you don’t need employees. Here are the steps I’d take if I started from scratch today. How to Start a Handyman Business in 10 Easy Steps Define Your Skills & Services Learn the Handyman Laws in Your State Identify Your Ideal Customers Set Your Pricing Nail Your Marketing Strategy Name Your Business Register Your Business Buy Essential Tools Get Handyman Insurance Simplify operations with the right software BONUS Content How much can you make as a pro handyman? Is starting a handyman business a good idea? How can I be certain this will work for me? Step #1 – Define Your Skills & Services The first step is to evaluate your current skills and decide on the services you will provide. You may be thinking, “Don’t I need to be able to do everything?” The short answer is no; you don’t. Very few professional handymen can repair or improve everything in a home, and even those who can still don’t. You can generate large profits by offering a limited range of services. In fact, in some cases, it can be more profitable to specialize. For example, I can’t legally provide most plumbing, electrical, or HVAC services without specialty licenses in those trades where I live. Additionally, I don’t enjoy painting, so I don’t offer that service either. Yet, I still have more business than I can handle. And I’m not unique. Almost every other pro handyman I’ve spoken to (well over 1,000) avoids certain projects and gravitates toward others. So, even though it’s common for people to think of the slogan “big or small, we do it all,” that’s not required (or even ideal) for running a profitable handyman business. Additionally, think about the other handyman-like service businesses, such as garage door companies, lawn care companies, locksmiths, home security installers, masons, etc. These businesses all focus on a specific service and can be very lucrative. As a handyman, you will have a much broader range of services that will span several trades, but you can indeed get started by offering what you know how to do and grow from there. That’s how I started my handyman business, and I’m still learning new skills every day. Starting this way also allows you to acquire the necessary tools slowly. Here’s a good list of tools to start a handyman business. So, the first thing to do is list all the possible services you can offer now. To get some ideas, I recommend reading the free report below. In it, I share ten profitable handyman services you can offer without a contractor’s license, plus some insight into how much to charge. Step #2: Learn the Handyman Laws in Your State One of the best ways to ruin your day is to start a business as a handyman, only to realize later you need a contractor’s license to provide the services you want to provide. Hopefully, you don’t discover this the hard way as I did. Before you get too excited about the service list you just made, it’s time to read about your state’s contracting laws because every state is different. Find out which services you can and can’t offer without a license, or determine what license you need to provide the desired services. In most states, you won’t need a special license to provide minor repairs for profit. However, there are usually two limitations on handymen’s services without a contractor’s license. The first is a dollar limit. Most states have an upper limit for the job size. In California, the limit is $500. In Nevada, it’s $1,000. Every state is a little different (more on that below). Secondly, most states restrict unlicensed handymen from performing electrical, plumbing, or HVAC work without a specialty license in those trades. However, they typically allow handymen to change light fixtures and ceiling fans, replace toilets and faucets, and do other minor jobs that don’t alter the plumbing or wiring of the house. These restrictions may sound very restrictive, but plenty of jobs fit within those limits—more than enough to run a profitable home repair business. In fact, despite the $500 limit in California, I’ve met dozens of pro handymen who are making a killing even without a license. To learn more about the laws in your state, visit my complete guide to handyman licensing laws here. If you can’t find the information you need there, you can get a good idea of the laws in your state by going to your state’s contractors’ board website and reading there. Typically, they will have a FAQ section for handymen, outlining small repairs and maintenance laws. Step #3 – Define Your Ideal Customer Not every homeowner is a good customer for your business. I didn’t understand this concept when I started my handyman business, so I worked for anybody I could. I’d lower my prices to get jobs, take on jobs I wasn’t good at, and try to serve everyone who would hire me. As a result, I found myself rushing jobs, compromising on quality, and getting a couple of bad reviews. Finally, I learned my lesson. Never lower your rates to get customers. Design your business around helping a specific type of customer and focus on helping them. Your services aren’t a good fit for everybody who needs a handyman. Some customers want the lowest prices or can’t afford to pay a professional rate. Other customers don’t mind paying higher rates if you provide good service. Some customers live forty miles away, while others are just five minutes away. Some customers only want the best of the best, and others just want the job done so they can move on with their lives. Profit can be made from all of these customers, but deciding on the kind of service you want to offer is essential. I can’t stress this enough. Targeting the right customers will dramatically impact your enjoyment and profits as a professional handyman. If you target customers you enjoy working for and are willing to pay decent rates for your services, you’ll be happier, they’ll be happier, you’ll get more referrals and repeat business, and you’ll make more money. If you try to please everyone, you will struggle financially or emotionally – probably both. By figuring out who would benefit most from your service and who you want to work for, you can avoid this frustration, and your success will be accelerated. Step #4: Set Your Pricing It’s time to figure out how much to charge. But first, let’s answer the bigger question on your mind. How much can you make as a pro handyman? The average handyman in the US charges between $60 and $85 per hour. With the right pricing strategies, you can easily make an average of $100 per hour. I’ve made up to $200 per hour and currently average about $125 per hour worked (although I don’t charge hourly, I still track my hourly income). It may surprise you, but it’s not uncommon for pro handymen to generate a six-figure income while providing basic handyman services. The handyman business can be surprisingly profitable IF you set it up properly. As with any business, having a good grasp on the financial side of things is essential, especially when setting your handyman rates. Deciding how much to charge is one of the more difficult parts of starting a handyman business because of the psychology and limiting beliefs involved. This is where I see the most mistakes with my readers. You need to consider things like your experience level, work efficiency, ability to sell, reputation, and professionalism, and you also need to understand what you must charge to actually turn a profit. Then, you need to have the balls to charge that much! It’s not easy when you probably have self-doubt about your skills and abilities. (Don’t worry, most people do.) But here’s the deal. This problem has already been solved. You don’t have to pick a number out of thin air or base your rates on what your friends or family think. You don’t have to undercharge, waste time, and leave money on the table while you learn pricing the hard way. Instead, you can follow a proven system for setting your pricing that guarantees you generate a healthy profit. (Nothing against your friends and family, but they probably aren’t your ideal customers, so their opinions don’t matter.) Step #5 – Develop a Marketing Strategy At this point, you should have a good idea of the services you will offer, who will buy them, and how much you will charge. The next step is determining how you will reach your ideal clients and convince them to hire you. That’s right. It’s time to form a marketing plan. The good news for you is that people actively search for your services every day of the year. Handyman services are in high demand, and the demand is growing. The bad news is that many other handymen have the same thing in mind. Don’t worry. There’s more good news. Most handymen are terrible marketers, and you can make a killing by putting a little extra effort into your marketing. There are many different methods for attracting customers to your business, but the most effective way is to build a professional website and online presence. A good online presence will help you establish credibility and attract customers, allowing you to charge more for your services and easily fill your schedule. For more details on how to do this, download this free handyman marketing report, where I share the most effective method for attracting high-paying customers. Step #6 – Give Your Business a Name Completing the first five steps is the equivalent of forming a business plan. Once you have that plan, it’s time to give birth to your business by giving it a name. You don’t need to get fancy here. Just something that sounds professional and clearly indicates the services that you provide. Including the words handyman, home repair, maintenance, fix, construction, and similar words in your name helps potential customers understand your business. Tips for Naming Your Handyman Business Make it easy to spell or say Have it communicate the services you provide Keep it as short as possible When you’re ready for this step, read The Ultimate Guide To Naming Your Handyman Business. Now, listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS028 – The First 5 Steps To Starting a Profitable Handyman Business Step #7 – Business Licenses and Registration This step may sound intimidating, but it’s one of the easiest and only takes a few hours. You’ll want to do three things here: Register your business as an LLC (here’s why a handyman LLC is best). Get your EIN (it’s free). Get the appropriate local business licenses. Registering your business as an LLC can be done online with your state licensing department, usually costing less than $500. Once you’ve done that, you can get an EIN, which is like a business’s social security number. This will allow you to set up a business bank account. The last step is obtaining the appropriate city or county business licenses. You can find out how to obtain these by visiting your local Chamber of Commerce website and filling out the appropriate forms. You can learn more about registering your business here. Step #8 – Buy the Tools You Need Don’t spend $3,000 on tools right away. In the beginning stages of a business, that money can be invested in other, higher-return areas (such as marketing). Instead, acquire tools as you need them. Let’s say you get a tile installation job, and you don’t have a tile saw. No big deal. Pick one up at the store while you pick up supplies for the job. Or, better yet, rent one until you are certain you will use it enough to justify owning it. Of course, certain tools are essential (like a cordless drill, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.), but I’m assuming that if you are a handy person, you likely already have most of those tools or at least know what they are. But if not, then I’ve got your back. I’ve compiled a complete list of the tools you need to start a handyman business. Trying to list those tools on this page would be silly since there are a lot of them. The good news is that most tools are low-cost ($10-$30) with a few basic power tools mixed in. What about a handyman truck or van? The best vehicle for a handyman business depends on your situation, just like everything else. If you already own a truck, I recommend starting with that as your business vehicle. After a few months of operating out of that, you will be clearer on the ideal vehicle for your situation. I’ve even seen people use mini-vans, SUVs, and even sedans. While this isn’t ideal for carrying tools (or looking professional), it can work in the short run while you get established. Step #9 – Get Handyman Insurance Handyman insurance isn’t required to operate a handyman business in most areas, but it is a good idea. While you can get many types of insurance, I universally recommend a general liability policy to protect yourself and your customers if you accidentally drill into a pipe or drop an expensive piece of art on the ground. As a part-time handyman, this will typically run about $40-$50 per month, which is negligible as long as you charge enough for your services. As a full-time handyman, you will pay closer to $80 or $90 for a general liability policy of up to $1,000,000 in coverage per claim. For a complete rundown on handyman insurance and my recommendation for the best place to get it, read my complete guide on handyman insurance here. Step #10 – Save Time with Handyman Business Software Some incredible software options are available that will save you time, help you provide better service, and make you look more professional. The right handyman software will make running your business easier, more fun, and more profitable. There are two types of software that I view as essential: Bookkeeping software – manages your accounting and keeps you organized for taxes. FMS (Field Management Software) – manages everything else in your business, from scheduling, estimating, soliciting online reviews, managing customers’ information, and more. Expect to spend between $50 and $200 monthly for software, depending on your choice. I’ve tested dozens of software options for my handyman business, and my top recommendation is here. Conclusion The handyman business is a proven business model. Thousands of people have made it work. Success is a matter of following best practices and consistently working hard. Start by taking the first five steps above. Once you do, you’ll have a clear path toward success and a boost in confidence. I’ve been helping skilled DIYers escape their day jobs by building profitable handyman businesses for over a decade. I invite you to join thousands of other pros (and future pros) by signing up for my email newsletter (it’s free). I’ll send you insider insights, special deals, tips for making more money, and more. Bonus Q&A Is starting a handyman business a good idea? If you enjoy working with your hands and helping people, the handyman business can be fun, fulfilling, and profitable. It’s a high-demand service, so job security is high. Also, every day is different, and moving your body all day is healthy. For me, it has been the most enjoyable career I’ve had so far, and most of my students who use my programs to get started love the businesses they create. There aren’t many careers where you can move your body, solve interesting problems, and then have customers happily pay you with money and gratitude after a job well done. However, to be successful, you must be self-motivated. Just like running any business, it requires you to manage yourself. Sure, you get unlimited control over your schedule, but that also means it’s far easier to slack off. How can I overcome the fears of starting a business? Starting a business can be scary. So can working in a customer’s home. Even if you are confident in your home repair skills in your own house, doing it for other people may frighten you. This is normal. The best way to overcome this fear is to follow a proven system and surround yourself with a supportive network. Then, take it one step at a time. You don’t have to build your business overnight, and you don’t have to get straight into kitchen remodels. You can start small, offering services you are very confident in, and work up slowly. Here’s an in-depth article on overcoming the fears. The post How to Start a Handyman Business in 10 Steps (2025 Guide) appeared first on Handyman Startup.

The cost to start a profitable handyman business will usually fall somewhere between $2,000 and $6,000, depending on how much of the process you outsource vs. do yourself. However, that doesn’t mean you have to spend that much upfront. These costs can be paid over the first several months in business while you are making money. While this may seem expensive, the start-up costs for a handyman business are low compared to most businesses, especially if you already have the tools and a work vehicle. Additionally, I don’t like to think of them as costs but as investments since you are investing in a business that will bring you freedom, high income, and fulfilling work. Of course, you can start a handyman business for just a few hundred bucks, but that means you’ll be cutting corners that will cost you in the long run. Here’s a more detailed explanation of costs. Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. That means I receive a small commission if you click on them and buy. This is at no additional cost to you and helps me to continue publishing free content. List of Handyman Business Start-Up Costs This list assumes that you already have a lot of the necessary tools and a work vehicle. If you don’t have either of those, then the cost will be significantly higher, of course. Business Licensing: $100-$1,000 This expense will vary depending on the city and state in which you plan to run your business, the business structure you choose (LLC, S Corp, or Sole Proprietor), and whether or not you pay somebody to help you submit the forms. If you go with an LLC and file the forms yourself, expect to spend about $400-$500 here. However, that is the cost for filing with the state, you’ll also need to consider other business licenses such as a city business license. But, those are usually less expensive and should only be around $100-200 for each city you plan to work in. Contractor’s License (optional in most situations): $0 – $1,000 In most states, you won’t need a contractor’s license to start offering home repairs. However, if you want to tackle large projects such as kitchen or bath remodels and don’t want to be limited to only small repairs, then a contractor’s license is usually necessary. The cost to obtain that license can vary significantly depending on where you live and other factors. This is something you’ll want to look into for your state. Liability Insurance: $30 – $200 per month Getting general liability insurance as a pro handyman isn’t required by law unless you have a contractor’s license, but it’s still a good idea and something I recommend. Here’s a guide to getting the right coverage at the right price. Tools and Equipment: $0 – $3,000 Typical handyman services only require basic hand tools and a few power tools. Usually, no expensive specialized equipment is necessary. If you already have most of the essential handyman tools, this will be a small expense. However, if you possess very few tools, then you’ll obviously spend more. Either way, it’s best to avoid throwing a bunch of money at fancy tools during the first few months. Instead, buy tools as you need them. Software: $0 – $75 There are two types of software most handymen will need: accounting software and estimating software. There are excellent free options for both, as I mention here. However, these are usually “freemium” models where you will have to pay for certain optional features. Logo Design: $0 – $1,000 You can design your own or have a pro do it for you. I’d recommend the latter. Crowdsourcing your handyman logo is probably the easiest way to get a great logo designed for about $500. But in a pinch, you could use a service like Fiverr to get one for much cheaper. Build a Website: $200 – $8,000 If you build your own website (easier than you think), you can save a LOT of money here. To have a decent website designed by a professional will usually cost a few grand. If you hire somebody who can both design and understands marketing, you can easily pay $8,000 or more. Or, you can go through my Handyman Marketing Machine course and learn how to do it yourself the right way, so your website actually generates leads for you. Uniforms: $100 – $500 Investing in a professional uniform (which can be as simple as a nice polo shirt with your logo on it) will help you build trust with customers and sell your services. This is obviously not required but will make a big difference in how customers perceive you and, therefore, how much they will pay for your services. Business Cards: $20-$100 You can get 100 basic cards for just under $20, or you can get nicer cards and spend considerably more. Truck Decals: $0 – $3,000 Branding your work vehicle is a great way to look more professional and get your name out there. I spent about $250 and applied them myself. But if you do a vehicle wrap or have somebody else design them for you, the price will be much higher. Initial Advertising: $0 – $1,000 This will cover things like paying for leads or priority placement in search engines. The cost to attract customers will vary based on the advertising method, the effectiveness of your ads, and how aggressively you approach advertising. If you have a large network of friends and family to promote your services to, or if you are smart with your online marketing, you may never have to pay for ads to keep your schedule filled. However, for most new handymen getting started, you can expect to spend at least $500 over the first few months paying for leads or ads on various websites. Bank Account: $529 It usually doesn’t cost anything to set up a business checking account, but there is usually a minimum balance of $500 plus $29 for the first checks. Bookkeeping services: $0 – $1,000 If you hire someone to handle your bookkeeping, they will often charge an initial setup fee. Of course, this is optional, and you can do your bookkeeping yourself. Business consulting and Education: $1,000 – $10,000 Paying other people for their knowledge is the best way to shortcut your path to success in business. Online courses, books, and even one-on-one consulting are all recommended because what you learn will often pay for itself within months, give you the best chance for success, and make the process of getting started more enjoyable. Different strokes for different folks Ultimately, everyone has a different style when starting a business. Some people are comfortable dropping ten grand because they know this is what they’re going to do, and they know they have the skills to make it work, and others may want to slowly dip their toes into the pool before going all-in with their startup. Below is a table that demonstrates the expected start-up costs depending on how you approach starting your business. Table 1: Estimated Start-Up Expenses for a Solo Handyman Business On the left column, you have what I call the “cheap labor” approach. This is when you don’t invest anything into looking professional or into marketing and just rely on word-of-mouth. This usually results in a poor experience, low profits, and becoming cheap labor. The next column is the “luxury startup,” which is the opposite extreme. This is what you can expect if you outsource everything and hire experts to handle everything from marketing to accounting. While this spare-no-expense approach will certainly help you get started faster, it is prohibitively expensive for most. The third column is the “Instant Pro” version, which is what I recommend. This is a good combo between frugality and investing in things that have a high return on investment, such as marketing yourself as a professional and investing in your business education. And finally, you have the fourth column, which is what you can expect to invest if you DIY almost every step of the process, from designing your own logo to doing your own accounting. It will save you money in the short term but will take significantly longer to get your business going. Conclusion The cost to start a handyman business is low compared to most businesses, or even career changes for that matter, but it still requires a financial investment. Being too frugal can cost you in the long run, but that doesn’t mean you need to have $6,000 in savings to be successful. A lot of the startup-up expenses aren’t necessary right away and can be dispersed over several months. I certainly didn’t go out and spend $6,000 in my first month in business. Not even close. Regardless of how much money you have to invest, you can start a profitable handyman business with the right approach and consistent effort. If you’re ready to take control of your time and start a profitable handyman business, check out my complete startup guide here. Now, listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes insights into where to invest your start-up capital for the highest ROI. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS027 – How much does it cost to start a handyman business? The post How Much Does it Cost to Start a Handyman Business? appeared first on Handyman Startup.

Having a career as a pro handyman can be surprisingly lucrative. For example, I currently average over $100 per hour doing basic home repairs and often make over $150 per hour. And I’m not special. Many of my students make more than this and easily generate a six-figure income each year. How do we do it? I explain how in this step-by-step guide here, but for now, let’s focus on how much an average handyman makes each year to get a good idea of how much you can make as a handyman. Contents What is the average handyman’s salary? What is the average income for a self-employed handyman? How much can you make as a self-employed handyman? Employee vs. Self-Employed handyman. Which is more lucrative? How much is health insurance for a self-employed handyman? Average handyman salaries I hunted for relevant stats regarding handyman salaries. Here are the important ones I dug up: According to Zip Recruiter: The annual salary for a pro handyman in the U.S. ranges from $29,000 to $75,500. The national average annual income for a handyman is $53,009 ($25/hour). 71% of handymen make between $42,000 and $63,500. Here are a few handyman-type careers and their annual median pay in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics: Construction laborers and helpers: $39,520 General maintenance and repair workers: $44,980  Carpenters: $51,390 Plumbers: $60,090 Electricians: $60,240 Construction managers: $101,480 Construction and building inspectors: $64,480 Figure 1: National Average Salary For Handyman-Type Jobs   Again, these numbers are the median. Some handyman workers make more, and others make less. A highly skilled handyman with a decade of experience will make more than someone less experienced or knowledgeable. Location plays a significant role in how much you can make as well. To get a better estimate of potential income in your specific area, check out a website like Zip Recruiter. As you can see from the numbers above, employed handymen tend to make more than construction helpers, but neither is rolling in cash. Plumbers and electricians make quite a bit more, but if you want to make six figures in this industry as an employee, your best bet is to land a job as a construction manager. Now, let’s look at how much you can make with a handyman business because this is much more fun and interesting. How much can you make as a self-employed handyman? The average self-employed handyman can earn between $53,000 and $120,000 annually (after expenses). This is for a handyman working solo with no employees. So, if you’re wondering if the handyman business is profitable, the answer is YES. Operating a handyman business can be pretty lucrative if you set up your business correctly and provide excellent service. Take a look at this table, which I’ve created to estimate your potential income as a self-employed handyman based on how much you charge and how many billable hours you work each week. Table 1: Estimated Self-Employed Handyman Income Table 1 is based on the following assumptions: $7,622 yearly fixed overhead expenses, $6.50 per billable hour for variable costs (gas, vehicle, supplies, and tools), self-employment taxes of 7.65% already paid from net earnings, 49 weeks per year worked. This table represents actual income. Typical handyman business expenses (insurance, licensing, tools, marketing, etc.) and self-employment taxes are already factored into the equation. This means it provides a near apples-to-apples comparison with an employee’s salary. As you can see from the table, two main variables will affect your yearly income as a pro handyman: Your rates (how much you generate per billable hour, regardless of whether you charge by the hour). The number of billable hours worked per week. Of course, other things will also affect your income, such as expense variations, but these tend to be similar for most self-employed handyman businesses. Since I’ve been nerding out about the handyman business for nearly a decade, I can estimate typical expenses with enough precision to be valid. How much can you expect to make, given your unique circumstances? To answer this question, you’ll need to estimate your rates and how many hours you will bill for, on average, each week. Here’s one way to figure that out. Estimating your self-employed Handyman rates As I demonstrated in my article about setting handyman hourly rates, pro handymen in the U.S. average between $40 to $139 per hour, with the majority charging $60 to $90 per hour. That’s a decent range, and what you can charge will depend on where you live, the services you provide, and how good you are at what you do (just like for employees). However, as a business owner, your income will also be affected by your business skills. If you learn how to market your business effectively, sell your services, and manage yourself and your expenses well, it will dramatically impact your profits and income. But, assuming you become average at those business skills, it’s safe to assume you can get between $60 and $85 per billable hour for your time (and much more if you master the business skills). Adjust a bit higher if you live in a major metropolitan area and a bit lower in a rural area. Estimating your billable hours As a self-employed handyman, you won’t be paid for every hour that you work. Unlike an employee, you’ll have to answer the phone, follow up with customers, manage your bookkeeping, shop for tools and supplies, market your services, and do other admin tasks that you will not be paid for (at least not directly). So, unless you want to work 60+ hours per week, you won’t bill for 40 hours per week. A reasonable estimate for a typical handyman is to work somewhere between 25 and 35 billable hours per week. That allows time for driving to and from jobs, following up, and other day-to-day tasks. Of course, this also assumes you can keep your schedule full in the first place. So, if you look at the table above and then match your estimated hourly rate with the number of billable hours you will be working, you can get a pretty good idea of your income. Assuming 25 billable hours per week at $60 per hour, you will make about $53,000 in a year. Figure 2: Estimated self-employed handyman’s annual income (If working 30 billable hours per week on average) If you can average ~30 billable hours per week at a rate of $85 per hour or more, you can make $100,000. Not too bad! Get a job or start a business? Which is better for a handyman? If you only look at income potential, this is a no-brainer. Starting a handyman business is by far the better option. As an employee with lots of experience, you are only looking at an income ceiling of $80,000, and that’s if you live in the right place with the right employer. The same skills and experience could earn you well over $100K as a self-employed handyman. Being self-employed has other benefits as well. You have more control over your schedule. You have more control over which customers you work for and what kind of jobs you take on. If you build your business well, you are creating a valuable asset. And owning your own business is more secure than being an employee. But, there are downsides to being self-employed. You have to manage your marketing, pricing, and yourself. This can be stressful, and if you don’t manage your business well, you can make a lot less than you would as an employee. It also takes time to get your business up and running (time that you aren’t paid for). As an employee, you have the benefit of making money right away. Every hour that you work, you are guaranteed to receive compensation. You don’t have to decide how much to charge or where to invest your marketing dollars. You just get to show up and fix stuff. Being an employee is often less stressful. However, you don’t have control over your schedule as an employee. You must work when, where, and for whom you are told. You may have to take on jobs that you hate doing. And, of course, your income potential is significantly lower. Starting a business is a clear choice for me, and the benefits far outweigh the downsides. But, if you are looking for on-the-job training, a faster route to payday, or a more consistent income, and you don’t mind following orders, then getting a job may be a better choice. What about the cost of health insurance for self-employed handymen? Many self-employed pros are covered under their spouse’s health benefits. But what if you aren’t? Are you better off getting a job with benefits than starting a business? Probably not. Let’s take a look at some numbers. According to ehealthinsurance.com: The average monthly premium for an individual in 2021 was $484 ($5,808 per year). The average monthly premium for a family was $1230 ($14,760 per year). Paying health insurance is a huge bummer, but it’s probably not expensive enough to force you to get a job. Let’s retake a look at the numbers. Above, I demonstrated that the average self-employed handyman could expect to make between $53,000 and $120,000. If we factor in health insurance, here’s how things change. Estimated self-employed handyman income after paying for health insurance: $47,000 to $111,000 if paying for individual coverage. $38,000 to $102,000 if paying for a family health insurance premium. Now, remember from above that 71% of handyman employees earn between $42,000 and $63,000. Comparing those to the self-employed rates, you can still make significantly more as a self-employed handyman, even while paying for your own health insurance. But, not all handyman employers have insurance benefits, and the ones that do probably pay their employees slightly lower salaries. So again, the winner from a financial perspective is clear – you can make much more money as a self-employed handyman. Conclusions The handyman business can be quite profitable, especially if you are willing to work hard and focus some time and effort on learning essential business skills. An effective self-employed handyman can earn significantly more than they could as an employee. If you are a self-driven person with the confidence that you can solve problems, starting your own handyman business is your best bet. And lastly, as a self-employed handyman, it’s worth it to invest time and money to learn how to raise your rates or schedule jobs more efficiently. Doing so will have a significant impact on your income. Now, listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content with deeper insights. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS026 – How much money can you make as a pro handyman? The post How much can you make as a pro handyman? appeared first on Handyman Startup.

I used to wake up every day with one single question on my mind… “How many days are left until the weekend?” I was counting down the days because, like millions of people, I hated my 9-5 job. And this wasn’t just a mild dislike. I truly, deep down, despised almost everything about it. Waking up each day and realizing I had to go to work was torture. I felt my stomach drop every Sunday when I realized Monday would soon be here. But since I’m not a trust fund baby, I needed that money. So I stuck it out. That was in 2011. Today is a completely different story. Now, I like my work (most of the time). I enjoy the freedom and free time that comes with owning a business. I haven’t used an alarm clock in years, and every Wednesday, I go mountain biking, snowboarding, or golfing. I work fewer hours, enjoy that work more, and make more money. But I had to learn a few lessons to get to this point. A lot, actually. It turns out that many of my assumptions about starting and running a business were completely wrong. One of my biggest lessons came from having to wade through all of the get-rich-quick schemes. Everywhere I looked, someone was revealing a “secret” strategy for making easy money online or generating passive income with real estate. The people sharing this information made it look like they are living the dream because they figured out some secret you don’t know and that once you pay for them to reveal that secret, money will fall into your lap. SPOILER ALERT: If it were that easy, everybody would do it! But thankfully, there is a reliable way to escape your day job. And in this article, my goal is to help you see through that bullshit, so you can actually start a business and eventually quit your job, and do it all without risking your savings or overworking yourself. Let’s start with a few major success-killing mistakes to avoid so you can one day give your boss the finger. Avoid “Winner-Take-All” Businesses I’ve been reading Nassim Taleb a lot lately, which seems to be helping me avoid stupid mistakes in life. That seems to be essential to succeed in business these days. It’s not necessarily about being smart. It’s about NOT being what Taleb calls a “sucker.” And one of the biggest sucker moves is to start a business where the odds are stacked against you so heavily that you only have a sliver of a chance to succeed. So what is “winner-take-all”? It’s characterized by any business or event where only a small percentage of people enjoy the lion’s share of the rewards while everyone settles for peanuts. Take the book publishing industry, for example. A few dozen authors sell millions of books, while 98% of books and authors only sell a few hundred copies (if any). Or look at the tech industry, where you have a few companies that dominate the market. Take Amazon, for example. It’s long been, by far, the largest bookseller on earth. Now, it continues to disrupt entire industries and accounts for 38% of e-commerce spending in 2023. Amazon is a giant among ants. The same phenomenon applies to anything where a small advantage produces disproportionate results. And more often than not, that advantage has to do with luck and circumstance. No matter how skilled you are, how prepared you are, or how hard you work, you still need a healthy dose of luck to win in an industry that is “winner-take-all.” Sure, Jeff Bezos is a smart dude, but plenty of others are just as smart and creative. They just didn’t win the business lottery. Winners like Jeff get to buy giant yachts while other smart, hard-working, and very talented losers go get a job. So you want to start an internet business? Create the next big app? Or, get a patent on some great idea you have for an invention? I wish you the best of luck. But if you want to guarantee your freedom in the next year, those are all terrible choices. Sure, you may have recently heard a story of another guy getting rich from the app store. But what about the other ten thousand people who spent thirty grand to have their app developed and didn’t even make their money back? You didn’t hear about them because they’re not all over Instagram sharing how to get rich by creating apps. They’re stuck in a day job trying to piece together their confidence. Unfortunately, seeing things clearly is hard when you only hear about the winners. Avoid “Passive Income” Opportunities There’s no shortage of experts out there teaching you how to make easy money, whether that is through real estate, YouTube, online courses, selling through Amazon, or becoming a social media influencer. These can all be amazing ways to create freedom in your life. Even though there are some “winner-take-all” effects in these businesses, the odds are actually pretty good if you stick it out long enough. But there’s the problem! You must stick with it for long enough. How long is long enough? It’s impossible to say. But, you should ask yourself… Are you willing to work your day job for (at least) 3-5 more years while spending all of your nights and weekends building a passive income business? If so, great. Stop reading and get to work. But if you’re like I was, you want the light at the end of the tunnel to at least be visible. It’s hard to imagine three years from now in enough detail to get motivated. After I quit my job, I started listening to podcasts, and pretty soon, I stumbled on the idea of starting an internet business. The experts made it sound so easy like I could just put in some hard work for a few months and coast out the rest of my life cashing big checks and working just a few hours per week. “Life was going to be amazing!” I thought to myself. “Why isn’t everybody doing this!?” So, I got started, and I worked hard. REALLY HARD. I started learning how to build a website, wrote dozens of blog posts, and worked on my business with every free second I had. Luckily, I didn’t put all my eggs into that basket and started another business simultaneously (more on that later) because all that hard work didn’t pay off until four years after getting started. It’s funny, too, because every year, I’d tell my girlfriend, “It’s going to be so nice next year when this work starts paying off.” Then, the next year would come, and success would still be just around the corner. Are there people who do it faster? Yep. But they’re the exceptions. The outliers. The ones in the right place at the right time in the right niche with the right mentors. That’s called luck, my friend. You can’t replicate luck. The truth is that it takes a LOT of time, effort, dedication, failure, and learning to create passive income. Much more than you’ll be led to believe. Despite what the guru online says about his “new” strategy for growing businesses fast, making real money is not easy. Is it worth it? Hell yes, it is. But if you’re looking to quit your job anytime soon, there are much faster and easier paths. Here’s how to quit your job in the next six months OK, so starting a business with a new, innovative idea is a bad choice. The odds of success are dismal. And trying to aim for the fences with passive income isn’t ideal either. The odds are better, but it takes way too long. You need something faster. Something with better odds. What if I told you there was a low-cost, low-risk, fast, and nearly guaranteed way to build a business that frees you from your job within this year? There is, and it’s a straightforward concept…drumroll, please… …Start offering a service and charge money for it! That’s it! It doesn’t matter what service either, as long as it pays well. You could build websites for small businesses. You could do wedding photography, video editing, manage social media, or even build Excel spreadsheets if that’s what you’re good at. Check out this guy. He drives around and shovels dog poop and makes a six-figure income doing it! It’s not glamorous, but at least he has his freedom. Personally, I started a handyman business to replace my income (thus the reason for the name of this website). It wasn’t glamorous. But it was fun and engaging, and it taught me many of the business skills I still use today. Most importantly, it gave me my freedom. Why starting a service business is the fastest, easiest, and most reliable way to replace your income. First, let me make something clear. I’m not recommending you try to invent some new service. That would give you a low probability of success. I’m talking about taking a common service that there are probably hundreds of competitors for and offering that service. The less sexy the service, the better. What, there are already 25 wedding photographers in your area? Great! That means there is demand. When I started my handyman business, do you think I was among the first? Not even close. There were dozens, if not hundreds, in my city, but my business flourished anyway because there was plenty of demand. Now, you’d think it would be hard to compete if there was so much competition. But here’s a little secret about the service industry…most service providers suck! The good ones are always busy, and the ones with availability are either just getting started or are terrible to work with. Or, they simply aren’t motivated to advertise and grow. That leaves a lot of opportunities for any driven newcomer to succeed (that’s you). You don’t need any skills Ok, we both know that’s not completely true. But you need a lot less skill than you think you do. You don’t have to be a world-class photographer to get paid to take pictures. All you need is a good camera and the ability to use it. If you bought a camera today and spent the next two weeks watching YouTube videos about photography and practicing what you learn, you’d be more than qualified to charge for your services. Then, over time, you’ll get better, your service will improve, and you’ll be able to make more money in less time. Most of my home repair skills were learned after starting my handyman business (mostly from YouTube). But customers loved me because I provided great service. Service businesses are low-risk Offering a service is about as low-risk as it gets. You don’t need employees. You can work from your home, your office, or wherever makes sense. And it costs almost nothing to start. Of course, you will need some tools. But my guess is you already have some of the tools necessary for whatever service you have in mind. But here’s the best part. If it doesn’t work and nobody hires you (which is unlikely if you do it right), just try something else! The only thing you lost was some time, and hopefully no more than a week or two. Cash flow comes quickly After leaving my job, I started two businesses simultaneously. One was HandymanStartup.com (this website), and the other was my handyman business. Within weeks of starting my handyman business, I landed a $900 job. Within six months, I generated over $5,000 per month (back in 2012). Keep in mind this was my first business, and I made many mistakes. Had I known what I do now, I’d have hit $10K per month with no problem. Now compare that to starting an online business. It took me exactly three years and two months to break $5k in a single month in my online business. Then, it took me another two years before that happened consistently. So, it took me over five years to hit the revenue that my handyman business was generating in six months. Would you rather wait six months or five years to quit your job? Once you quit your job, you can use your newfound free time to go after bigger ideas Maybe you want to have a bigger impact on the world. I’m not saying to run a service business for the rest of your life. I’m just saying that it’s an effective 9-5 escape tool. The beautiful thing about running a service business is you can work as much or as little as you want (assuming you have your marketing in order.) You can also increase your rates and find ways to make more money in fewer hours. As you increase your rates, you can make more money in less time. That allows you to work fewer hours and gives you more time to invest toward other dreams. After being in business for a year as a handyman, I started scheduling jobs more efficiently, and I increased my rates. Because of this, I was able to generate a full-time income while working just three days per week. That gave me the time to learn new things, grow this business, and have more fun. You might use that extra time to play your luck at riskier business opportunities. Maybe you’d want to travel the world. Maybe you’d just want more time with your kids. Whatever it is, you first need to take control of your time because you’ll rarely have that kind of freedom as an employee. This isn’t supposed to be glamorous; it’s supposed to work The ideas I share in this article aren’t sexy. I’m not promising you fancy cars, rubbing shoulders with celebrities, or even a beach house. And for some, that’s a deal-breaker. We all want fast, easy money. We all love the idea of sipping drinks on a beach while the chips keep stacking in the bank. That’s why all of the so-called “experts” promise these things. They know that’s what gets you to buy their stuff. But if you’re serious about quitting your job anytime soon, avoid that stuff like the plague and start a proven business model. In just a few weeks, you’ll generate a healthy side income of $1,000 or more. A few months later, you’ll be faced with a much better problem to have – how to tell your boss you quit. Then, once you have your freedom and some business skills, you can pursue bigger dreams, scale your service business, or just sleep in for a while. Now, listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content and examples of businesses. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app! HS025 – The fastest and most reliable way to escape your day job The post Quit Your Job In 6 Months Or Less – The Ultimate 9-5 Escape Plan appeared first on Handyman Startup.