How To Start A Handyman Business? A Step-by-step Guide For Your Success

If you have a passion for fixing broken and faulty things, then starting a business as a handyman can provide a great business opportunity. You can turn your passion into your business and earn huge money.

Along with your passion, here are some other reasons to enter the handyman industry:

• According to Jchs.harvard.edu, almost 80% of American’s houses (approximately 137 million houses) are at least 20 years old. And 40% of those polled are above the age of fifty. Repairs and upgrades are a necessary component of owning an elderly residence.

• Because of the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, more individuals are choosing to work from home and reinvesting their travel funds into renovating their houses.
• More and more millennials are purchasing houses, and they expect them to be renovated to their standards

The home improvement services market was valued at $316.8 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $585.3 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 6.2% from 2021 to 2030. 

So, if you have the needed skills and want to start your own handyman business, then here is a complete guide that sets you up for success.

Who is Handyman?

A handyman is a person who is responsible for performing odd works, such as small repairs, home upkeep, both exterior and interior, hanging televisions, and other duties to guarantee that the home of the homeowner is in excellent condition at all times.

Unlike professional contractors, electricians, or plumbers, handymen don’t require specific licenses or learn new technology to perform the task and have lower rates. The target market for many handyman businesses is homeowners and property managers. Let’s look at the ten steps guide to starting your own handyman business.

How to Start a Handyman Business Successfully

So, you are ready to take the next step and start your own handyman business. Making the exciting leap from contractor to small business owner takes hard work, and creating a successful handyman business means putting in the time and effort to start things correctly.  

From making a business plan to a financing and marketing plan, we have shared essential steps for starting a handyman business.

Step 1: Create a Handyman Business Plan

Writing the perfect handyman business plan is the essential aspect that helps new business owners map and designs the business workflow for starting a handyman business.

In your business plan, you need to make sure the following key points are included:

• The ongoing expense and initial startup costs
• Based on your job skill set, you need to identify the target audience
• Decide on an expert service you want to include in your handyman business
• Do market research to understand the audience and their needs

Talking about researching marketing, gives direction for your company and assists you in staying on top of what your consumers desire. Market research is useful to assess:

• The viability of a business or product idea
• Whether you can grow into a new market or location
• Industry or economic influences

Step 2: Check the Handyman Laws in your State & Obtain the Necessary Permits and Licences

Usually, based on your specific location, licensing requirements and regulations may differ. Even some states or cities require that the experts from your business hold the necessary licenses. While some states don’t require licenses, it depends on the type of handyman work you need to perform.

Most handyman businesses start as sole proprietorships because they’re the most straightforward structure as you don’t need to register it. But registering your business will give you access to legal benefits, tax benefits, and personal liability protection, making it well worth the effort.

Step 3: Make the List of Handyman Services You will Offer

Now, you need to select the expertise you want to include in your business. Nowadays, you will come across multiple services that you can offer in this competitive world. But do not ever try to make the mistake of including a vast number of handyman services at the starting stage. You need to get started with services in which you are perfect, whether on-site or at the job site.

Some of the standard services that you can include in your business are:

• Leaking Plumbing
• Light Fixture Installation
• Drywall Repair
• Fresh Coat of Paint
• Exterior Upgrades
• Deck Repairs
• HVAC Maintenance
• Flooring Improvements
• odd jobs

In some of the handyman services, you need to opt for a license to use. If you are interested in using those services, you can include them; however, you need to invest some money.

Moreover, whatever expertise you select must be in great demand, and you can eventually run it in a more decent and well-organized way.

Step 4: Register your Handyman Business and Get Business Insurance

Next, apply for an employer identification number (EIN) with the Internal Revenue Service, and also, buy insurance. It provides your company much-needed protection against financial loss and saves you time and effort. 

Proof of General Liability Insurance is essential to purchasing a company license, instantly enhancing client credibility. Adding handyman insurance coverage to your business structure also helps with growth.

Step 5: Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card

It’s crucial to separate your business account from your personal assets by opening a business bank account and credit card.  The process is fairly simple and easy to apply:

1. Identify and contact the bank you want to use.
2. Gather and present the required documents (generally include your company’s Articles of Incorporation, driver’s license or passport, and proof of address). 
3. Complete the bank’s application form and provide all relevant information. 
4. Meet with a banker to discuss your business needs and establish a relationship with them.

Step 6: Create a Pricing Strategy for Your Handyman Services

Creating the right price strategy greatly impacts your sales and profit. This allows you to maximize profit, edging out the competition, and help you build a lasting relationship with customers. 

In short, your pricing strategy is a great tool that helps you achieve the objective of your business.  Now the question comes of how to create a pricing strategy. So, here is the guide:

1. Determine your business goal

How you make money determines everything about your marketing and sales GTM strategy.  Here are some business goal considerations to use as a determinant for your pricing:-

• Increase profitability
• Improve cash flow
• Market penetration
• Large market share
• Increase revenue per customer
• Beat the competition
• Fill capitalize and utilize resources
• New product insurance
• Reach a new segment

2. Conduct a thorough market analysis

A market analysis is a process of gathering information about a market within an industry. Your analysis studies the dynamics of a market and what makes potential customers tick.

3. Analyze your target audience

Ask yourself what problems your products and services solve, and, in turn, to whom they appeal. For example, if you operate a handyman business, your services would be attractive to homeowners and property managers, who don’t have the required skills, time, and desire to make repair their property.

So, your target audience would include groups of people such as single women, the elderly, property owners, and apartment complexes.

4. Know the pricing model of your competitor

Whether you are the lowest provider or high, knowing the pricing model of your competitor is a significant pricing strategy influencer. Here are the following steps:-

Identify at least one or two direct competitors and study the structure of their pricing. For eg, do they have component pricing or if they allow for heavy discounts? Do they bundle with other products or solutions? Or, do they employ value-based pricing where clients pay a percentage of the total ROI?

5. Formulate an action plan

Now, you have gathered information to execute an action plan. Here are some handyman pricing strategies to consider based on your competitor analysis, customer, and market.

• Penetration pricing
• Skimming pricing
• High-low pricing
• Premium pricing
• Psychological pricing
• Bundle pricing
• Competitive pricing
• Cost-plus pricing
• Dynamic pricing

Step 7: Purchase Required Handyman Tools and Equipment

Here are the essential equipment that every handyman needs:

• Claw Hammer
• Tape Measure
• Level
• Utility Knife
• Cordless Power Tool Set
• Shop-Vac
• Screwdrivers
• Wire Stripper Pliers
• Gloves
• Smart Handyman Service Software

Step 8: Make a Marketing and Advertising Plan to Get Customers

Everyone knows the importance of a business plan; however, many entrepreneurs don’t realize a marketing plan and advertising plan is just as vital. Unlike a business plan, a marketing and advertising plan focuses on promoting your business and bringing new customers. 

Here are some of the marketing and advertising plan that works!

• Prepare swot Analysis: Make a concise overview of your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

• Identify Your Target Audience: Identify your target audience based on their type of business, job title, business size, geographic location, or any other characteristics that make them possible prospects.

• Keep Track of Archived Marketing Goals: Write down the shortlist of your marketing goal and make them measurable to know when you have achieved them.

• Use the Right Tactics: The following step details your tactics to reach your marketing goals. 

• Set the Budget: The final and last step is to set your marketing and advertising budget.

Step 9: Invest in Customer Service

According to the survey from bain and company, companies that focus on good customer service grow their business by 6% above the market. That’s why small business owners need to understand the need to deliver a better customer experience and how it can benefit their company. 

A customer who has had a good experience with your company might help you generate better sales; a person with a bad experience can spoil your brand reputation in no time.    

Here are some more reasons why investment in customer service is necessary to grow your business.

• Better growth
• Improving customer relationship
• Positive word-of-mouth marketing
• Easier to set new goals
• Low customer churn rate

Step 10: Start Using Handyman Software to Schedule and Dispatch Jobs

Now you know how to start a successful handyman business. However, still, no business is completely successful without organizing. Organizing is the required framework that makes any business successful. And only the right handyman business software can help you achieve that. It can help businesses manage all the resources involved in field service management activities

FieldCamp, service scheduling software, allows you to manage your daily operations from the office or from the road. With this single solution, you can save time, stay organized, boost productivity, delight customers, and ditch all the paperwork.

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Handyman Business?

If you are wondering how much it costs to start a handyman business, here’s the answer to your question:

• The minimum startup cost for a handyman business is $62
• The maximum startup cost for a handyman business is $40,565
• The average startup cost for a handyman business is $23,428

So, the answer is that the start-up costs for a handyman business are extremely low compared to most other businesses. If you already have the tools and the skills, you can get started for under a thousand bucks. Just like with any other type of business. 

But, If you want to go big and hit the ground running, then you can easily spend over ten thousand dollars. Most handymen will fall somewhere in the middle and can expect to invest about $2,000-$5,000 to start a handyman business.

Ready To Start Your Handyman Business

We hope that this article proves helpful to you and helps you start your own handyman business from scratch. Here, we discussed the important steps on how to start a handyman business and answered many important yet common questions.

After starting a handyman business, you don’t need to manage things in excel sheets or papers, all you need to do is adopt FieldCamp. It is a service scheduling software that helps you manage your team of handymen, schedule jobs, dispatch jobs, and create reports. 

In just a few clicks from the comfort of your ergonomic chair, you can manage your entire handyman business. Isn’t it wonderful? So, what are you waiting for? You can start your free trial NOW and explore a range of features.