The name says it all. A handyman is a guy who is handy at a lot of different jobs. My retired neighbor was a great example of this. We needed a fence built in our yard but there was no way I was going to tackle that job. Partly because I had no idea how to do it and partly because digging post holes did not appeal to me on a scorching hot day in August. But my neighbor said he’d do it for us, for a price. He even calculated out a materials list, picked up all he needed at the local lumber yard and hardware store and in a week we had the fence we needed. He and his wife did an incredible job and the fence is still as good now, years later, as it was the day it was finished.
One day we discovered a leak in our hot water heater and my ‘handy’ neighbor came over to take a look. He said it was in need of replacement and offered to take care of the job. We didn’t hesitate as we were heading out of town on a holiday and the neighbor already had a key to our house. By the time we returned he had the new hot water heater installed and working. He also helped us on small plumbing repairs, vehicle maintenance and various other odd jobs. Most of the time he did them as a favor by being a good neighbor. On the bigger jobs he asked for a fee, which we never had a problem with as it was far cheaper than hiring a professional to do the same job.
He did these things in his retirement and was almost always puttering around in his yard doing various projects. I suspect he was also sharing his expertise with other neighbors and depending on what he was charging, probably made a few bucks on the side. If you are a bit on the handy side, chances are you can do the same. Even if you can’t do everything our neighbor could, the internet has resources for do-it-yourselfers as do local hardware stores. In fact, since our neighbor moved away we have had to rely on advice from our local hardware store for some of the really basic odd jobs around the house and they have been a lot of help.
Think about starting your own handyman service. That can be anything from painting and washing to raking leaves or shoveling snow up to bigger tasks like deck building and electrical wiring projects. Depending on your particular skills, you could be ready for hire and didn’t even know it! Let’s say you start with small basic household repairs that guys like me don’t want to do for fear of messing up so bad the cost of repairing our faulty repair job costs more than hiring a handyman.
You can spread the word easily through newspaper advertising, flyer distribution and by contacting local hardware stores, paint shops, car dealers and whatever informing them your services are available for customers and that may lead to some referrals.
Remember, your handyman services don’t have to be just for the big stuff. Consider your senior friends and see what small chores they require help with and that may assist you with additional business. If you live in a gated community or mobile home park keep in mind you have potential customers in your own neighborhood that may be more than happy to pay you to haul away garbage or fix that leaky faucet. For a whole lot of inspiration and great advice on how to set up your handyman odd job business visit AskTheHandyman.net. Also visit Youtube.com for specific information about hundreds of projects.