The day job finally finished, I will end up with enough dosh to keep me going for 5-6 months.
At 54 I don't think its worth looking for another job, I doubt I would find one that paid as well as the old one anyway.
I have two 'strengths'. One is as a magician (adults, not kids parties) and the second is DIY - I can do most things well. I plan to push the magic side hard - I've been doing it part time for 10 years+ and without being immodest I'm damn good at it. It's well paid, but you really only work weekends.
To earn a bit extra Mon-Fri I'm going to start up a 'Handyman' business locally. I have all the tools and I've done most things.
My day job was in sales, so I understand the business & marketing side of things.
What I need to know however, is what consumables to carry on the van.
Screws & fixings obviously, but I reckon basic plumbing will be a common job. Plumbing in dishwashers, washing machines etc, and toilets that overflow, won't flush, taps that drip etc.
Looking through the Screwfix catalogue it makes sense to buy some van stock - they are much cheaper than B&Q or local shops.
You know, I'm giving serious consideration to doing this myself as some sort of sabattical.
I'd be very interested to know how you get on.
I'm no Magician however, so i'd be relying on the handyman business to pay the mortgage ;-)
I suggest you get hold of "PoP" via email who used to be on this group some time ago and who left to do this very thing. I'd have thought he'd be able to give some pointers.
Pretty broad question... depends allot on the type of stuff you get asked to do.
Yup, sounds likely.
For plumbing, a reasonable selection of pipe fittings, and perhaps a reel of plastic pipe in 15 and 22mm. A set of basic contract basin taps and spare washers perhaps. Washing machine valves, waste stand pipes, spare traps, plugs even. Radiator valves (including TRVs), CH inhibitor. A few types of siamp / fluidmaster / torbek type cistern valves. gas, solder, ptfe tape, silicone grease.
Basic electrical accessories like single and double sockets, light switches and pull switches. Some FCUs, cable, earth sleeving, crimps etc.
A selection of glues, solvents, and sticky tapes (gaffer obviously!)
Nothing too specialised in the plumbing or electrical range since there are plenty of specialist dealers in this sort of stuff in most places.
You will probably get through a fair bit of timber, but it is not always practical to carry that much on spec, but basic carcassing, shelving and floorboarding would seem like a good start.
I would expect identifying good local suppliers would be as much value as anything else - why tie your money up holding stock when you can use theirs!
The usual stuff - keep the money separate from your own. There might be value in getting a merchant account and facilities to accept credit cards - might make it easier to help people part with their money and to upsell value added bits as you go.
Google back on this group for others who have done similar (Andrew McKay / Kazmax / Pop / HandyMac would be one to look for)
Buy a good selection of gloves (i.e. rigger, latex, nitrile etc) - damaged or stained hands won't do the weekend job any good!
I am pretty sure that he isn't doing this any more.
When I spoke to him, there were several challenges from the nature of this type of business:
- Bittiness. In other words, lots of relatively short running jobs - an hour here, a couple of hours there. This is the nature of the typical jobs available - i.e. those that doing individual trades (e.g. plumber, electrician, gas fitter etc) either wouldn't do, or would fit in between larger jobs. The effect is that there is a lot of non productive time in between jobs when one is not making money, but effectively spending it on transport etc. People are used to paying a £40-50 call out charge for a plumber or gas fitter because often it is a distress purchase anyway and some work is included. From the plumber/gas fitter's perspective, it's a way of smoothing the time and travel costs for short jobs. Would they pay a handyman on that basis?
- Customer expectation of amount to pay. What is an old lady going to expect to pay for having a tap washer changed, or a new pendant and flex on a light fitting? A tenner plus materials? Probably no more. Relatives and friends expecting a cheap job? What if you screw something up?
- Customer impression of what you can do. Customer wants a hot water cylinder changed. You can do that, of course. However, would they call a handyman to do that, or a plumber? So this is a marketing issue. What do you position yourself as? Handyman, plumbing jobs undertaken? This takes you down the path of accepting some jobs and not others. Would you then get repeat business from customers if you turn down too many things that are beyond you legally or in the customer's perception?
- Regulation. You won't be able to do anything related to gas. Because of CORGI's marketing, in many people's minds this probably rules out anything to do with heating systems - e.g. a new motorised valve or pump - even though these are not regulated. Most people don't yet know about part P of the Building Regulations, but if you stick to the letter of the law, you are in fairly limited handyman territory.
All of this assumes that you are business aware - I am sure that both David Lang and you are - but doing the business "stuff" such as marketing, prospecting for and quoting work and billing and collecting money eats into time.
So, whether being a handyman is viable as a sole source of income, I'm not sure. It may be dependent on where one lives, although I have a feeling that customer expectation of what they will pay will track local cost of living to a fair degree.
I suspect that this is why people contemplating something like this as a longer term career objective go for one of the specific trades involving training and qualification.
As a minimum, it would be a Good Idea to make a business plan, starting from what you need to make net to live, grossing it up and adding in costs such as insurances, transport etc. Then consider that you could well have 50% down time or perhaps more (i.e. unproductive time between jobs). That should tell you what you would need to charge. You could then call a few handymen and ask them to quote for such jobs and see whether the numbers add up.
None of this is to pour cold water on the idea - a career change or sabattical are very appealing things - however I think that one also has to look without the rose tinted spectacles.
There's loads of work out there if you are any good, so you don't need to cover all bases. I'd think about which sort of work I most enjoy and move to specialise in that, joinery, roofing, plumbing, electrical repairs etc whatever. Then kit up appropriately. Jack of all trades master of non - and also you tend to get lumbered with crappo minor jobs which although easy to do are difficult to do economically, especially if you've had to go out and search for a particular component which can take all day.
Most of what you say is correct I'd just add this:
Buy the stuff you need as you get the work for it. Carrying stock is a pointless overhead to carry. It will get lost or stolen long before you get a chance to use it.
Take care what tools you leave in the van as they can even disappear from your drive if you go for breakfast without securing them properly.
Your main problem is getting work and knowing what you are doing. Going to see a job takes half a day, with no guarantee you will get it, so small jobs for people you don't know are going to be expensive if you are not careful and lucky.
If it's a littl old lady wanting a tap washer fitted by all means call and do it but don't charge her the first time. When she want's more done perhaps give her a fairly small bill to cover your petrol. Either that or tell her you can't afford to do the job.
If you are seen as honest and responsible you may get asked to do a better paying job by a neighbour. (Don't rely on that fat chance to pay any bills. It is strictly a civic responsibility. I'll do freebies for neighbours like that because I haven't got a life. There isn't a living in it, so don't bother trying.)
A customer who phones a competent and experienced local tradesman will get a rough estimate over the phone that will be pretty much on the mark. You won't be able to copy that for a while. And it would be wrong to charge too much for small jobs to make up for it as they will soon spread word around about how much of a luxury item you are.
Wherever you go, take all your tools with you at all times. So you want to carry them around in a shoulder strapped bag. Buckets and boxes are OK for reasonably secure sites.
The lad who fitted my electricity meter even put all his tools together and took them with him from room to room in my small flat. You either do that or buy cheap tools often. One way or another, losing stuff is going to be the bane of the job for you.
Going back to a place to retrieve a =A315 claw hammer is an expensive outlay. All the more so when you are supposed to be using it in someone else's attic at the time. Doing that could cost double, so it might be best to just forget the old one and buy new.
Years ago, when Spouse was unemployed, he wanted formally to set up as the Local Odd Job Man - because he was always being asked to do things anyway and he could. I was terrified at the idea - because of all the business stuff. Efficient management is vital, he wasn't capable and he though I could do it but I knew my limitations. I also knew that he'd never be prepared to charge a sensible rate for any job. Neighbours expect you to do them favours ...
Yes.
The hidden costs and overheads MUST be taken into account. A washer might only cost pennies but the structure involved in sourcing, buying, transporting, storing, knowing what to do with it, cost and time in travelling there and back and the time taken to do the job (even if it's only minutes) even without such things as protective clothing, tools, laundry, car, stock and accident insurance, pension, national insurance, bank charges, as well as the time not being paid for between changing washer jobs is expensive. For more ambitious tasks there might be plant hiring charges. And the minefield of having to employ somebody else even for occasional part time help ... There will be other costs, these are just the one I can think of off the top of my head. It's terrifying.
Very little, until you get a feel for what you need - stock is all overheads. For the plumbing, I would only carry a few compression fittings, spare olives and as many different types of washer as you can. If you need something else, you just say 'I used the last of those on my previous job - I'll have to pop down to the supplier for some more' and go and buy one. Buy your bits from Wolseley (Plumbcenter, Pipecenter, Draincenter, Hirecenter, Buildcenter, Climatecenter and Partscenter), or another trade supplier. Get a trade account if you can - you will get a discount off list prices (I only get about 7.2% off pipe fittings, but that is 7.2% more profit) and they are cheaper than B&Q or local shops to start with.
I've done a lot of research into this. The bittiness is what makes the money, The larger handyman comnapies & franchises all operate on the basis; that they do jobs individual tradesmen aren't interested in. The way they charge for thier time is by having a high rate for the first half hour, then a reasonable hourly rate afterwards. A cal out by amother name.
Most of them do't actually want bigger jobs because they are then in direct competition with individual tradesmen. So whilst they will fix a toilet that overflows, they won't even quote for installing a complete bathromm suite.
I think thats a marketing issue. I have access to the CACI listings for local postcodes and my marketing will be directed to people who have the money! Fortunately the Medway Towns are commuter land, so there are lots of cash rich/time poor potentiual clients.
The whole thing is about good marketing IMO, you are dead right. Bearing in mind I've been in sales & marketing for 30+ years I have a good head start here. For example, there are about 6 'handymen' listed in the local directory - none has a box add, none has a website. No doubt they are cheap, but they can only bill a caertain amount of hours in a week.
That suits me actually
Again, it's the quick jobs I can do that appear most profitable. For a complete house rewire I would have to compete with individual tradesmen - and I don't want to.
I do have several useful friends a - CORGI gas fitter, an electrician, a decorator etc. I've discussed a reciprical arrangement with them, in that they pass small handyman stuff to me and I pass on larger or regulated jobs to them.
Good point. The Medway Towns is a large urban connurbation with a population of 250,000 approx and is 'commuter land'. Housing is the most expensive in Kent because of that and several areas are becoming 'trendy' - lofts, riverside apartments etc.
I don't think I have much choice given the job market for my age group - and I look through the eyes of a cynic.
Thanks for taking the time & trouble to reply Andy, some food for thought which I appreciate.
I'm in the fortunate position of having about 5-6 months buffer on morgage too. But i'm pretty much burnt out in IT at the moment & need a break for a few months.
So I either take an unpaid sabbatical & go travelling, or look for something part time that'll give me some pin money to play with.
You sound pretty much like my target market. You want the job done properly, husband is a 'useless twit' away from home. If he is off to Oz I'd assume a reasonable income level?
So, how would you see paying, for example £45 to have a reliable, polite, tidy professional do the job and guarantee it?
I don't know what the local economy is like in Belfast, but I hear its doing OK?
Clearly that's the target market, as you say, plus you have a large conurbation to address.
Not altogether surprising. Thinking laterally, I wonder if it would be worth contacting these individuals and assessing whether they are any good at what they do. That's good market research anyway. However, if they are, I wonder whether it would be interesting to do some kind of local franchise/marketing arrangement with any that are. Probably not something to consider until you have a customer base yourself and an idea of the market size, but it occurs to me that this could be a way of providing local service without needing to turn work away.
Even with travelling time? I guess as long as you account for it.....
I think that there could also be a "making good" play here. In other words sorting out the detailed stuff after the main trade work is done. I bet that they find that time consuming.
Has the right ingredients.
I think that you have to do that. At the very least, you are more likely to be pleasantly surprised. :-)
Hi Dave, very interesting. I was in the same situation a couple of years ago, sort of retired but looking for things to do to occupy my time. I made it known in the village I live in (200 houses) I could do most things. I thought I would do 2-3 days a week.
I did decorating, renovate bathrooms, lay floors, tiling, electrical (pre- partP!) and other general handyman stuff except for ladder work. I charged between 12 and 14 pounds per hour. Within 6 months I was working 5 full days per week with a growing backlog of jobs, so there is work to be had.
As for stock, forget it, buy stuff on a per job basis or get the customer to buy it. Get 3rd party liability insurance and keep good books as sure as eggs is eggs someone will tell the tax man so best to tell him up front. You can offset quite a lot and in the end I did not have to pay tax. I have since finished that and take to selling on eBay as the full-time work got too much. Fortunately I do not have a mortgage so it's easier for me.
Perhaps start by gardening... mowing lawns, tidying up, and so on. This gets a moderate cash flow, a customer base, and is subject to little nannying from 2-jags.
Expand into the odd fencing and concrete'ing job, or whatever, as and when they appear.
Then dip your toe into working indoors, again as and when jobs appear from your established customer base.
I do odd jobs for older people occasionally, for free. If it was for money a neccessary part of the invoice would be the time spent having to chat to people who are lonely...... apparently cruel, but neccessary if you are in business.
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