# can one really make a living being a handyman???



## NWFixer (May 9, 2011)

I am in between jobs right now. I never did like sitting at a desk in an office, which i did for many years.

I'm thinking of being a handyman for hire to fix thing for people that don't have the time or knowledge to do so. 

So is there a living to made in doing so?


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

Yes, if you're good enough to get mostly good word of mouth recommendations.
(of course, you'll never please EVERYone...there will always be some whiny baby who thinks you did not do it right, (THEIR way, which is, of course, wrong but they heard it would save them a bundle!) or you maybe looked at them cross-eyed, or they think you're a bully or pushy or whatever. They will then try to get out of paying you, or apologizing for bad-mouthing your efforts, etc. That's just life, but if you just keep pushing on and doing your job, you'll be fine. 

DM


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

There can be big money in it if you know what you’re doing. Especially if you can get dialed in with a few property management companies dealing with vacation rentals and such.


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## TarheelTerp (Jan 6, 2009)

NWFixer said:


> *can one really make a living being a handyman???*


If your wife has a real job with HI and other benefits? Sure.
If your mortgage is paid off even better.


> So is there a living to made in doing so?


The biggest issue is how strict your county is about licensing and permits
for certain types of (trade) work and your own competence doing X. 
The insurance, licensing and tax reporting stuff is the real headache.


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## danpik (Sep 11, 2011)

I do it part time to augment my income. I have been at it long enough to have developed a great list of clients. With this list of people I have I can pretty much keep busy 4-5 days a week.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Sure not going to happen over night.
What do you have for tools?
Got a truck with a ladder rack?

Around here there getting nut about licencing, even a painter has to have one.
Just to get a class A which is the lowest one you have to buy over $100.00 in books, take a class which you of cource also have to pay for, then you can take the test. No class, then no test.
Order some cards on Vista, there only about $10.00.
I found the signs you put up on the street and signs on my truck to advertise worked better for me then an ad in the local paper. 
I had an ad in the paper for 2 months and only got two calls, one to seal a driveway and one to clean a gutter.


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## NWFixer (May 9, 2011)

Thanks for the input. So how do you figure out how much to charge for work??? is there reference book that spells out book hours and such? Or is it in the beginning a learning process and guesstimating?


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

NWFixer said:


> Thanks for the input. So how do you figure out how much to charge for work??? is there reference book that spells out book hours and such? Or is it in the beginning a learning process and guesstimating?


Give THIS a read.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Whatever the traffic will bare.
There's no book I've eve seen for simple handi man type jobs, there are a few for things like building dormers, additions, sheds ect.

No one here is going to know what the labor rates are in your area.

There's far more money invloved then you may think just to be and stay in business.
You will never have enough tools to do every job so your going to have to set money a side, gas, blades, materials your going to have on hand (nuts bolts, screws sandpaper, drill bit, screw driver bits.
Paper for quotes, invoice pads, cards, licence, insurance ECT.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

joecaption said:


> Whatever the traffic will bare.
> There's no book I've eve seen for simple handi man type jobs, there are a few for things like building dormers, additions, sheds ect.
> 
> No one here is going to know what the labor rates are in your area.
> ...


 
^^^^good advice there.

I'm just a home DIY'er....and every time I estimate a project...it always takes longer and costs more than I estimate....I know why they take longer...I'm always interacting with my kids and my wife....and taking the break to have a beer (and pat myself on the back for a fantastic job...or kick myself in the nuts for the fu)

With that said....any work is better than no work.

Figure out what a 'reasonable' hourly rate is.....as a gauge...find out what the hourly rate is at the car dealership...it doesn't mean you have to charge that much...but it will give you an idea....remember, that rate as to cover the techs time...his tools and the dealerships overhead.

Good luck...


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## NWFixer (May 9, 2011)

joecaption said:


> Sure not going to happen over night.
> What do you have for tools?
> Got a truck with a ladder rack?
> 
> ...



Tools i have lots of that I have accumulated throughout the years. I do need to look at the licensing requirements in my area( Seattle). 

I understand that its going to be hard in the beginning. Just like any startup buisness is. Do need to pick up a pickup style truck also.


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

NWFixer said:


> I do need to look at the licensing requirements in my area( Seattle). .


Here ya go...http://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Contractors/HowReg/default.asp


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

joecaption said:


> Whatever the traffic will bare.
> There's no book I've eve seen for simple handi man type jobs, there are a few for things like building dormers, additions, sheds ect.
> 
> No one here is going to know what the labor rates are in your area.
> ...





and THAT list goes on and on and on:furious:


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Believe it or not for me to make $20/hr I had to charge about $45.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

mae-ling said:


> Believe it or not for me to make $20/hr I had to charge about $45.


That does not sound out of line......in just about any business...the real overhead is about 100% more than the salary...


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

I started out with a 1986 ford pickup and almost no tools because I had been living on a boat for many year,
Within a few years I had up to 9 emplyees, 4, trailers, 2, trucks.
The economy tanked in this area so bad I let everyone go and I'm down to only two trailers working by myself when I feel like it, and never been happyer.
No more payroll, no one skipping out on me for payment, no more 7 days a week, And no more loosing about 30% for taxes.


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

joecaption said:


> Within a few years I had up to 9 emplyees, 4, trailers, 2, trucks. The economy tanked in this area so bad I let everyone go and I'm down to only two trailers working by myself when I feel like it, and never been happyer.
> No more payroll, no one skipping out on me for payment, no more 7 days a week, And no more loosing about 30% for taxes.


I’ll add one to the list (for me anyway)…No more of my employees assuming that all of their personal problems are somehow my problems too. 

I never would have imagined that the byproduct of the economy crashing would be getting MY life back.

Regardless of what the future holds I’ll never return to that chaos again.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

kwikfishron said:


> I’ll add one to the list (for me anyway)…No more of my employees assuming that all of their personal problems are somehow my problems too.
> 
> I never would have imagined that the byproduct of the economy crashing would be getting MY life back.
> 
> Regardless of what the future holds I’ll never return to that chaos again.


Well said.


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

I always just was myself and maybe a helper, had 2 for the summer sometimes.
Thought about going bigger but realized what many of you have as well.


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## DannyT (Mar 23, 2011)

why shouldn't you be able to make money? if you do it right and 

charge a fair amount for your time you should stay busy. there are 

countless contractors in different trade that do shoddy work and have 

been in business for 20-30 years making money.

i mean no disrespect to anyone on here.

i am sure you have seen your share of hack contractors also. 

i've been in the construction for 40 years and have seen fewer

professional jobs then hack jobs.


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## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

DannyT said:


> i am sure you have seen your share of hack contractors also.
> 
> i've been in the construction for 40 years and have seen fewer
> 
> professional jobs then hack jobs.


The crash took care of a lot of them, but since the economy is getting back on its feet, I'm seeing more and more of them coming back. 

If you can make it happen, dude, more power to you. I guess I'm too lame to not know where my next paycheck is coming from.


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Good point about the paycheck thing.

Realize all the money you get aint yours!.
Bills need to be paid, your running a business.
Some pay themselves a bi-weekly salary just like a job, put money into the 'business account' when have lots of work so when things are slow you can pull some out.


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## chrisBC (Dec 28, 2010)

Sure you can make money at it. However as mentioned above there are a few things to keep in mind:

charge enough to make a living-it is surprising how much expenses and overhead take out of your profit. 

Go into it with some money saved. I found after a year or two it was fine when I had repeat clients who would call me regularly (the problem then was being TOO busy) however at first there will probably be some lean times when a job ends, especially in the winter.

Learn to use contracts and scope of work: This will eliminate confusion between yourself and a homeowner, as to exactly what is being done for the money: IE are the closets getting painted, is the ceiling getting two coats, is the price of the door hardware included in the estimate, etc.

Get liability insurance to protect yourself.

If people try and get you down in price-Don't do it, and probably look for better customers if they make a big deal of it. The price is the price of what it will take to do the job. You are in business not a charity.

When I was self employed I always enjoyed the handyman jobs better than the bigger jobs for the most part-in and out quicker, less stress and more variety. Look to get on with property managers and the like.


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Go over to http://www.contractortalk.com/f16/pricing-estimating-success-27899/ and read the 32 page of info there.

If you are unwilling to put in the effort to figure out pricing, then you probably shouldn't be running your own business.
Lots more to running a business then just doing the Job.
Bookwork, advertising and office skills come into play.

I used to be part of that forum. Sister forum to this DIY. Some from there post here also.
Join it if you are serious lots of good info.


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## Pianolady (Jun 28, 2012)

mae-ling said:


> Lots more to running a business then just doing the Job.
> Bookwork, advertising and office skills come into play.


So true...I've been self employed since 1987 and have become an accountant, tax preparer, marketer, website developer, etc. Liability insurance and proper licensing for your area would be important, and don't forget to save money back for taxes. Will you have to collect sales tax? That's another permit you may need. If you can make a home office to write off come tax time, even better. My write off for business use of the home (600 sq. feet in my case) offsets the self employment taxes nicely. I can even write off the mileage when I drive the car for business purposes, which needs to be documented also. None of this is really difficult, just takes some time and worth it to be self employed!


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## NWFixer (May 9, 2011)

Thanks for all the great advice. I've got money tucked away for bad times. I understand the paper work involved. I really much prefer to do a quality job for people that are willing to compensate me accordingly. My hope is that my clients are middle to higher end. I've no desire to cater to the lower end that usually just care about a cheap price and not about quality product. I've had to deal with them in my previous life and they were always a PITA. 

I've got a lot of Microsoft and Boeing friends. I may start out networking through them and see what happens


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

Business cards and professional looking decals on a truck are a good start.
Truck/van does not need to be new just in good shape and kept clean.


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## havalife (Mar 23, 2011)

NWFixer said:


> Thanks for all the great advice. I've got money tucked away for bad times. I understand the paper work involved. I really much prefer to do a quality job for people that are willing to compensate me accordingly. *My hope is that my clients are middle to higher end*. I've no desire to cater to the lower end that usually just care about a cheap price and not about quality product. I've had to deal with them in my previous life and they were always a PITA.
> 
> I've got a lot of Microsoft and Boeing friends. I may start out networking through them and see what happens


You have a lot to learn, Wait until you try to get your last check and then you will see how friends are. You will need deep pockets to cover costs if you intend to have those clients. I have had to wait 120 days for final payment, no reasons they just couldn't get to it.
Maybe if I did not have a licence it would have been easier:jester:

Make sure you have proper contracts and Insurance.


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## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

I found middle class clients to be the best .


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## havalife (Mar 23, 2011)

I don't care if they are middle, high, or low. If NWFixer plans everything right he should do good, The last thing he needs to worry about would be his final payment. I always take in consideration how much I want to have vested in a job not what my client level of income is. I have had up to 6 draws for a simple bath remodel just so I have a fair level of pay.


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

havalife said:


> I don't care if they are middle, high, or low. If NWFixer plans everything right he should do good, The last thing he needs to worry about would be his final payment. I always take in consideration how much I want to have vested in a job not what my client level of income is. I have had up to 6 draws for a simple bath remodel just so I have a fair level of pay.


I guess I must be one of the lucky ones, I’ve really never had any problems getting paid. There were a few exceptions over the years (I can only think of 2 that stand out) but looking back the red flags were flying before I even started, jobs I should of never agreed to in the first place. 

My typical deal is ½ down, balance on completion. Possibly a progress payment if the job will last for more than a couple of weeks.

Six payments on a small job seems excessive and a little high maintenance too me.

Regardless, the payment schedule is always in the contract. For me it’s in a stand alone paragraph directly above the signature line. 

Even if they just gloss though the details of the contract (you would be surprised how may people do) the payment schedule is a tough one to miss.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Yep--customers really like a payout schedule---and don't seem to mind several payments on longer jobs.

That way neither the contractor or customer is ever at to large a risk----


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## Mort (Nov 26, 2008)

If you're looking for middle/high end clients, you'll do well in the Seattle area. From the research I've done (not much, and not scientific), the "new money" are more generous than "old money" because they remember what its like to starve. They're better tippers, and they pay for quality work. "Old Money" has no idea how a lawn is mowed, or a hedge is trimmed, or a light switch is wired. "New Money," that was their first job. Now they're working for Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, Costco, insert huge company here, and they need your help.

Get a good reputation in this circle, and you'll go far.


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