How I Keep Busy In The Winter...

duckdown

About six months ago, I was in Home Depot and ran across a customer who wanted some advice. I knew that he wanted to do it himself so as to save money. Likewise, he was skeptical of contractors in that he has gotten burnt multiple times in the past (even after checking references). He had the perspective that he can do just as bad of a job as most contractors but for cheaper.

Anyway, in talking with him, I came to realize that while I couldn't sell an entire job, I could work with him on an hourly basis. He purchased 4 hour blocks of our time to help him with whatever he desired. Lately, I have found that many customers have liked the notion of getting a few hours of help without having to validate references, write up contracts, etc.

The benefit to the customer is that they get access to contractors whenever they need, access (but not usage) of our tools (can be cheaper than renting them, especially for small jobs) and they get to learn how the job is done (Think Bob Villa).

I have managed to line up work for three people next week using this approach...

JGMConstruction

I have thought of doing this in slow times.

duckdown

The need is there regardless of whether business is slow or fast. I am currently checking out a business franchise http://www.handymanmatters.com which "feels" like it can help me expand in this area.

fez-head

That seems like a really good company. It looks like they have the same mentality that we do on having a certain kind of employee in your home.

silvertree

Some franchise advice.
I bought a franchise in December of 2005, I walked away in March 2007.
Reasons, its not your business , you just bought a job. That's not bad for everyone, but it was not a good fit for me.
My advice is to call 20 or 30 owners of that franchise and ask the hard questions. A person with no remodel experience does better with a home improvement franchise than some with experience.
I paid $50,000 for the franchise, another $30,000 promoting and more for signs, equipment ect. Total loss, but it was the right thing to do.

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duckdown

The local franchise for handymanmatters gets a lot of business and is growing. He has managed to hire lots of folks who have built big custom homes. I suspect that it is important to hire those with a variety of skills where you know how to do both carpentry and electrical with some minor plumbing in order to be successful.

If you only know carpentry, then you will be in trouble. Likewise, your folks need to be flexible in terms of the types of work they will do. I know that you can call them up and get them to plant flowers in a garden, dig a ditch, etc.

Dr Heat

what is minor pluming is that the kind that can be done without a license.

Brock

Carport King

Yes things are not what it use to be. But if you open your mind and start thinking how you can expand your products or services, you will be surprised how you can come up with more ways to make money.

Let's think about some easy ways for you to mirror image other services just to jog the mind.

When you buy a suit do they try to upsell you a shirt,tie,socks,cuff links,shoes?

Buying a new truck? Add on bed liner,tool box, ladder rack, under coating, clear coat, extended warranty?

Roofer, add on seamless gutter,soffit and facia, siding, windows?

Even if you do not do the siding or windows you should have someone that you can sub it to.

You need to look at your niche and add pillars of profit to your company. The more you add the better off you can shield the slow downs when they come.

vinylguy

why the heck don't you just go to work for home depot then at least you get a weekly salary and benifits or better yet be an installer for them? rent out my time in 4 hour slots!
look guys fall into this trap and when the good times come around again you'll be stuck there. why the hell would i want to teach someone to do it themselfs? all this does is take our work away and add another future contractor to our compatition when thier factory closes the doors.
if they got screwed before then its there fault.
u want to be a handy man then be one no problem but helping do it yourselfers c'mon get some smarts would ya?

Stone Mountain

As some of you know, I am trying to franchise my business. It is going much slower than I thought, but that is another story. One of the most important things is for the franchisor to support the franchisee. If they are not there, or give only limited help, or their advertising is non existent, or whatever, it's a lost cause. I have my first sale "on tap" so to speak, and I intend to hold his hand all the way.
At the same time, if the franchisee doesn't put his heart and soul into building the business, he might as well give it up.
I do not know your circumstances, and cannot presume to guess what happend. However, in my research into this whole area of business, it seems that franchisees as a whole are substantially more successful than people who have started up from scratch.

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Merbs

If working side by side with a homeowner is getting your bills paid then I can't fault you for that. That's the point of being in business. But, for a one man show it is not hard to stay busy in the worst of times. If you are a one man company then with proper advertising and marketing strategy you should have no problem staying busy without having to work next to a homeowner.

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