TOT: Adding value

[The Medway Handyman]

You can blame Clive George for this, following his comments in the Gizzajob thread :-)

I'm posting this here because you lot are a creative bunch.

The Handyman business is a success, pretty much running itself, regular income, low stress, allowing me to maintain my slightly extravagant lifestyle, but selling your labour on an hourly/daily basis is never going to make you a fortune.

Adding value is the key, e.g. selling your labour + earning a margin on the product you are installing. I've been very successful in doing this with decking, you can get your normal labour rates and a good margin on the timber.

The cwedit cwunch has slowed decking sales down significantly though. 11 large decks in 2008, only 4 in 2009. People are holding off on the bigger projects - but that will change as the economic situation improves - and thats what I'm planning for.

So, the master plan is to do more things that involve earning a margin on the product.

Current thoughts are awnings, which fit in nicely with decking. Also considering built in wardrobes, shade sails etc.

So, any suggestions for products I could sell & install? I can always sub out electrical/gas work if needed. What I need are products that are relatively easy to install.

Any inspiration?

[Clive George]

Unless you're a lawyer :-)

If you want to make real money, you need to get other people doing the work for you. This is of course risky, and potentially major hassle and stress, and thus not necessarily suitable for everybody. Things like franchising, or even a plain business expansion.

But that's by no means a recommendation to do any of that - work/life balance is an important thing, and it might simply not be worth that grief.

"Adding value" via margins on goods installed - seems you're catching up with the rest of the building trade there :-)

[geoff]

In message , The Medway Handyman writes

A few posters up in local pubs

"do you need decking ?"

Kitchen design and installation ?

If you reckon you are up to it, peace of mind cover

If you can compete with the inscos

[John Rumm]

Interesting question...

Being able to take on multi disciplinary jobs start to finish for people is an area people will often pay for (i.e. de-stressing their lives and taking on the management aspects of a larger job). Say being able to fit the kitchen but also legally being able to do all the electrical and gas work (either by being accredited to do it yourself[1], or by roping in sub contractors). Kitchens and bathrooms spring to mind as very high cost rooms involving lots of skills to assemble.

[1] Calls to mind the old joke about a chap calling an emergency plumber one night and being a bit taken aback by the bill - he said "I am a barrister and even I can't invoice at that sort of hourly rate!", The plumber replies, "no, neither could I when I was a QC".

If one could have a conscience bypass, then there is probably good money to be made flogging "eco bollox" (solar water heating, energy saving gizmos etc)

[dennis]

8<

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If you want to make money its not likely to work joining in with an existing crowd, especially in what may be a shrinking market. You need to be in an expanding market and stuff like fitting kitchens may or may not fall through depending on the costs of moving compared to the costs of improving. There is probably less cash about as people *should* be finding it harder to secure loans on their houses.

The eco stuff will only take off with subsidies and you need to be an approved installer to get the grant money ATM. I want to install ASHPs but to get a grant I can't DIY and the approved suppliers are not cheap.

[The Natural Philosopher]

helping people get their wifi/broadband working is good.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Followed by a bunch of drunken louts tiurning up at your house saying 'I came as requested to deck you'

[1501]

If anyone had a really brilliant idea wouldn't they be dumb to share it will all and sundry? Surely better to keep it to yourself and make a killing.

[Lino expert]

8><

Lapdancing - anything tucked in yer toolbelt is pure profit.

--

[The Medway Handyman]

Yerbut, I have enough trouble getting mine to work :-)

[Rob G]

It's possibly rather unfortunate that 'wifi' when read quickly looks like 'wife' !!!

[The Medway Handyman]

Tell us more! Share your experience of this market! Post pictures!

[Gordon Henderson]

That's the start of a slippery slope into PC Repairs, maintenance, etc. ;-)

However there may be a market for it - especially in the "silver surfer" generation, but while the actual ADSL, Wi-Fi, etc. is generally relatively easy, you'll get asked, "and can you tell me why my PC is running slow", and other such things, then it gets tricky, time consuming and I'm not convinced the general public want to pay the going rate for this sort of service.

But if you could limit it to just the basic installation - learn how to run/terminate cat-5 cable then you might be onto something...

Gordon

[Adrian]

Gordon Henderson gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Don't walk away. RUN away. Screaming.

Indeed. I've always tried to avoid the domestic "PC fixing" lark - not least because I have the patience of a pissed-off rhino in the face of the same question being asked for the fourth time in twenty minutes when the answer would have been blindingly obvious the first time to anybody who paused and read what was on the screen...

To my mind, there's a very big "ethical" issue when it comes to any kind of half-sensible hourly rate. And that's - does the clock tick whilst you're sat there drinking tea and watching Windows Update slowly download and install a huge backlog of patches? It's one thing if you've got the machine "back at base" - you can leave it to it in the background - but another entirely when it's on the world's slowest internet connection and they're stood over your shoulder.

[Adrian]

"The Medway Handyman" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Trouble is that you're always going to be reacting to trends in the general market - decking was always fashionable because it was being driven by the vast number of TV home-makeover shows. They've all disappeared, and I strongly suspect people are waking up to the fact that decking is ubiquitous and Really Not All That - so the slowdown just happens to have coincided with the credit crunch, but I think it's pure coincidence and would have happened anyway.

What's the Next Big Thing? Gawd knows... But you'll have to react very quickly when it becomes clear to your customers. You can pitch yourself as being the man to do it, but you can't tell them what it'll be. They need to decide that for themselves.

[Dave Liquorice]

energy

Agreed though I'm not sure that the thermal solar panel market is shrinking. The big problem is the required conscience bypass.

I'd have thought that renovation of kitchens/bathrooms would be on the increase with the stagnant housing market. People may want to move but can't get enough finance to do it but still have some cash burning a hole their pocket. So to make themselves happy in their current property they spend it on a new kitchen/bathroom.

Bathrooms must be easier than kitchens less electrickery and probably no gas work to do. Would simply changing an electric shower unit trigger prat P?

[PeterC]

If he can tuck his tool in to his belt...!

[Man at B&Q]

Depends.

Many of the most successfull products and services are based on open standards that create a huge market. The guy in the corner trying to flog proprietary solutions may make a living, but not a killing.

MBQ

[Man at B&Q]

Avocado bathroom suites?

MBQ

[Tim S]

Man at B&Q coughed up some electrons that declared:

Pink...