The day job looks like it may be going to disappear fairly soon, which has got me thinking about the future.
Being 50+ I'd guess the job market isn't going to welcome me with open arms.
Looking at what I'm good at and concentrating on my strengths lead me to think of starting up as a handyman/property maintenance. I have the knowledge, experience & equipment.
Quick Google seems to indicate that people are charging reasonable hourly rates.
Anyone running a similar business who has any advice?
One of my relatives set up a property maintenance company, initially he just decorated places that people let out, but it grew and grew, he now employs several other people. All in the space of a few years. Start small with the equipment you have, don't get bank loans 'to start you off' Preferably have a guaranteed income from a part time job while you find your feet. Don't get conned into putting up your money to repair some one else's property, they will shaft you. Keep records of everything, take pictures of your work. Decide on an hourly rate and don't deviate down. Don't accept just any job, if it smells wrong leave it, there are loads more and you have lost nothing by turning down a job. I work for myself and have developed my own rules as to who I will work for, decide your own and stick to it, the one time you think, oh just this one will be ok, things will go pear shaped. The richest people I have ever met are similar in that they never do something unless they can see the profit in it, so no favours for friends.
Initially don't spend money on advertising, the son of a friend set up just over 2 years ago and has to turn jobs down, all has spread from word of mouth. If you give value for money then I honestly don't think jobs are hard to come by.
Initially don't spend money on advertising, the son of a friend set up just over 2 years ago and has to turn jobs down, all has spread from word of mouth. If you give value for money then I honestly don't think jobs are hard to come by.
A friend of mine used to work for a government department and he has been longing for them to retire him early. Finally at the beginning of this year he was retired at 57 Y/O. Since that time he has started his gardening and maintenance "firm" i.e. himself and the dog;)
He tells me he has never worked harder in his life , been happier, and has lost THREE stone in weight which all the dieting and excersize machines failed to remove. He looks about 10 years younger, has more work than he can handle and reckons he's happier then he's ever been!.
He posts here periodically, and I've met him at a couple of UK.D-I-Y meets locally here in the Thames Valley.
Andrew started a similar type of idea in the local area, but has now stopped and moved on to other things.
I can remember him saying that a couple of the issues that he had was the trade off between length of jobs and travel time in between, and quite a lot of customers having very low expectations of what they would pay.
However, it may be that it's a different story depending on area of the country, local situation and willingness of people to pay a reasonable price for work done - and of course your expectation of income.
His web site "handymac" I think has gone, but I think you should be able to contact him through
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It's worth emailing him, because I'm sure he'll be able to tell you what he found worked and didn't and some of the snares and pitfalls for the unwary.
"David Lang" wrote in news:nckxe.85165$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk:
It's interesting, but I'm not alone round here, reasonably prosperous, but not wealthy (maybe the problem is all the wealthy folks hereabouts), who would kill (well, maim) to find a skilled reliable person like you.
I'm sort of skilled, but not multiskilled, I like to plumb and electric, but I certainly need someone to clear up the wreckage, and tosh it over!
I also am allergic to real ie. hard, work!
I can't plaster, paint or paper or do wet trades worth a damn. I'd like my really manky paving repointed just to keep the weeds down, not replaced for megabucks.
I've been screwed before and marched to the bank to withdraw cash by gypsies, who I was too slow to spot; but after you've hired them you do what you're told, and are glad to get out and put it down to experience. You never forget they now know where you live!
I should think with just an ounce of common you'd do very well; first thing is to overcome suspicion in your prospective clients, who may well have experience like mine - 0nce you've got a bit of provenance I think you'd be turning away work.
Age discrimination in the workplace will become illegal later this year. That may mean that companies start to fall over themselves to prove that they are not discriminating, by employing more older people, even though that, in itself, will be discriminatory against the younger ones. However, I wouldn't rely on it.
A couple of sites that you may find useful.
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Link, mentioned in the latter, is probably quite useful for a small business.
My local authority also holds meetings and events for local businesses. It would probably be worth while finding out whether yours does. They can be valuable places to meet other businesses working in your area.
You will need public liability insurance and it will impress customers if you have insurance to cover your work, even if you go out of business.
Personally, I would ignore the domestic market and look at selling yourself as an on-call maintainer for local businesses. Many are too small to have their own maintenance staff and it is surprisingly difficult to find reliable workmen to do minor repair / maintenance jobs. If you are prepared to be called out at any time, you can charge really good rates for out of hours calls. There are many businesses that run 24 hours a day and they will be all too happy to pay well over the odds to get something fixed in the middle of the night.
Whatever you do, make sure that you look professional. First impressions are important and your flyers must look good. That probably means professionally printed multi-colour, but you can do almost as well if you have a colour laser printer and use 160gm paper. Also, have lots of business cards with you at all times. Particularly on a business estate, you are likely to have passers-by ask you for one. Those can be done at home on a laser printer, using sheets of pre-cut cards.
A sign written van also looks good. A self-employer vehicle repairer I know uses magnetic sheet signs, but it only cost me £60 to have my company van (a Renault Master LWB high roof) professionally sign written a couple of years ago. These days, it is done by cutting out plastic sheet on computer controlled equipment, then applying that with a heat gun. Ideally, get a van with a solid bulkhead behind the cab and no windows in the back doors. Otherwise, add security grilles in these places. Tool theft is a serious concern and, in any case, you should never leave valuable tools in your van overnight. BTW a solid bulkhead behind the cab also makes it easier to keep the cab warm in winter.
Finally, forget about taking holidays. You don't earn when you are on holiday, so they are doubly expensive.
Get yourself a bloody accountant that works for you not themselves. Get registered with the local council, the local police and fire services and, if your really want to make a go of it, get registered with companies house.
Look forward to much bloody, sweat and tears for the first two to three years, but after that you should be able to settle down in to a good routine for yourself. Save every penny you can for the lean times, and always try to give yourself a full day a week to do all your paperwork and things.
Never ever try to do a job in one day if materials are needed from a local merchants. Always, in cases like this, tell the customer you'll be back tomorrow with everything needed for the job, and always take slightly more things than "THINK" you'll need. Look at the work required fully, and don't assume that the job is like every other one of its kind that you've done in passed. They never usually are "all" the same.
I've been self employed now for 20 odd years, and all I can really say to you is "Good Luck my man".
Not running a similar business, but: your most important tool is your Henry. If you don't henry up properly after finishing a job you won't get repeat business. And it costs 6x as much to find a new customer as it does to keep a customer.
Don't work for peanuts. These days people judge everything by how much it costs. If you don't charge much, you can't be much good. Also beware of being too much of a treasure. People won't recommend you in case you get too busy to do their work.
Always have clean pair off smart overalls on each day. Have good quality "attractive" to look at tools; chrome and the likes, as customers like shiny tools. Have smart modern tool boxes and Workmates, etc, that are not filled with rubbish. Always use "clean" dust sheets. Be very clean as in preparation, when working and afterwards.
80% of the job will not be on-hands craft skills. It will be driving, paperwork, telephone, cleaning, preparing, buying materials, giving estimates, etc. When you master the 80%, the 20% comes in easy. The customer is more concerned at how clean you are, how clean you work, how clean you leave the place, your appearance and attitude. Always be polite, return calls, keep them informed before and as the job progresses.
The customer will pay extra if you master the 80%.
Not a bad idea, at least in that they should look clean. Many workwear suppliers will embroider your business name on your overalls for a modest charge, which also looks professional.
That would make me think he was new at the job, with a new set of tools. Well-used, but well-maintained, tools are the mark of the craftsman.
But you are not the customer. They like shiny professional looking tools.
Turn up in old scruffy clothes an tool bag full of crap and half rusty cheap iron tools and instantly you are branded a cowboy. The Brits have not grasped this yet. The Americans figured this out decades ago. In the recent TV prog, Posh Plumbers, the owner had the right idea. The men, and women, had to look smart at all times, otherwise you were reprimanded, and the vans clean, looking like new. The van with your name on is also an advertising board, so must be clean at all times.
One heating fitter I came across was brilliant. He did exactly what I described, and had the overalls with the RAF type zips all over them. On fitting a heating system, he would have a special trolley that rolled out of his van with tool boxes attached. He would wheel this into a room with a workmate and make this room of the house his base for the week. Dust sheets were laid everywhere. He had special tools with angle chucks for drilling walls at skirting level. He made minimum mess. People would wait 9 months just to get him.
I said to him you never served your time in the UK. He said he did, but went to the USA/Canada on passing out and took it up from there. He just did it the way they did. I described the Brits as third world in their approach, and he totally agreed.
I think that that's true if you are hiring a craftsman. For example, several years ago, I hired a carpenter to do some specific joinery in oak in the house, including stairs, doors, skirtings etc. This was before I was equipped with the tools/machinery that I could do it myself.
This guy was coming up to retirement age and his tools were certainly in the well used and maintained category and he was able to cut boards to length and angle by eye. Quite incredible.
He was reasonably neat and clean but not sparkling. He cleaned up reasonably well, but not spotlessly each day. It was fairly major work, so a certain amount of mess while work is proceeding is reasonable.
So in the context of hiring a craftsman, I would tend to agree with you. I don't thing that he did this for any marketing type of reason
- it was just him, he was his own person if you like.
However, for the handyman, my sense is more of someone who does relatively short jobs that the householder can't or doesn't want to do
- perhaps the busy professional person etc. is the typical person. I think that in this case, appearance is quite important as is neatness and cleanliness. This type of customer wants the tradesman to arrive on time, do the job as quickly and cleanly as possible and leave no mess (ideally not make any in the first place).
I suspect that this type of customer is going to be willing to pay a price premium for this kind of service. However, it is going to be the professional with disposable income and rich old lady market.
With qualification, I actually agree with you. There is a part of the market for this type of service that I suspect would pay a price premium and would be impressed by the kind of cleanliness, smartness and image that you describe.
However, the old lady and corner shop market which is more minded to expect a lot for a little, either deliberately or because they don't know what things cost.
Doing a good job is important, but so is leaving a good lasting impression in the customer's mind. Cleanliness and neatness as described is part of that, I think.
I'm sure that we've all seen Eddie Stobart trucks in our travels. This firm gets 11/10 for marketing in my book. Road transport hardly has a fancy image, but they've managed to achieve great fame in a variety of ways - fan clubs the lot. One of the original ideas was to have the drivers wearing a shirt and tie and shaving. It raised the firm's image and profile. It's now changed somewhat, and he's now able to sell the branded clothing as well.
It seems to me that the handyman market would be a great franchise opportunity for somebody to invent.
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