Introduction: How to Become a Successful Handyman
About: Ivan Dimitrijevic is a seasoned blogger and SEO consultant with years of experience. His skill sets include Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and blogging on a wide variety of topics. He is a …
Becoming a handyman isn’t as easy as most people think. There are really a lot of options in terms of education and practical experience acquisitions. Most aspiring handymen have a bit of experience with doing work around their own homes and perhaps they have helped a few of their friends with some problems they had around their home. This doesn’t make you competent enough to promote yourself as a professional and a lot of people have learned this the hard way. They started offering their services to people in their neighborhood and quickly destroyed their reputation by attempting to resolve issues that are beyond their professional expertise.
I’m going to go through a list of things that you will need to take care of in order to avoid getting in your own way. Make sure that you go through each and every one of them.
Experience and education
Nobody is going to hire a handyman who has no practical experience and no formal education. Ok, your friends might, but only to avoid hurting your feelings. Having practical experience and going through some sort of formal education is also something you will need in order to acquire a license. Here are some of the options you can choose from:
Vocational schools
Volunteering
Community college
Online courses
I would recommend that you volunteer regardless if you already have finished a course and gotten your certificate. Knowing the theory and handling problems in a controlled environment is a lot different from actually handling problems in peoples’ homes. For example, a simple plumbing issue can become very complicated if it is in an inaccessible place. Safety is also important and although they teach you how to deal with safety when you attend a course, it is often not enough and you need the experience that comes from working alongside an experienced professional.
Tools & Safety equipment
Before you start offering your services, you need to make sure that you actually have all the necessary tools. There is nothing worse than running around town looking to borrow some tools from a friend or having to buy some piece of equipment even if you don’t have the means to afford it. The alternative is to abandon a job and lose credibility, which is equally frustrating.
A lot of people consider themselves far too experienced to use safety equipment. This kind of confidence has a tendency to do more harm than good. Accidents happen to everyone! A lot of very experienced handyman got hurt, or even died in a work related accident. Prevention is your best bet and having proper safety gear is crucial. Don’t be a cheapskate here, after all, it’s your health that is on the line.
Advertising
In the old days, some 20 years in the past, people went around advertising their handyman services differently. Flyers were the thing back then and the word of mouth, as well as Yellow pages for big cities. These days, people usually search for handyman online because they can check out user reviews and see what kind of services they offer before actually consider hiring them. This is why it is crucial to have a website. While most people assume that creating a website is expensive, this doesn’t necessarily need to be true. IMCreator is a cheap alternative you can use to build a decent website for your business. It is an easy to use website building platform that requires no familiarity with code or web design experience.
Reliability
This is one of the most important things you need to focus on. By not leaving a good impression on your customers, you are actually lowering the chances of being called back again. People don’t like changing their handyman. They are actually looking for a handyman they can rely on and call upon whenever they run into trouble around their home. In a lot of cases they are forced to reconsider their choice and search for somebody else the next time they need a handyman’s services. Don’t allow your customers to get away from you by trying to trick them and cheat them out of their money. Make sure you do good and you will have more work than you can handle.
I hope you found some useful information in these lines. I wish you the best of luck with your new business and remember - safety first!
I’m going to go through a list of things that you will need to take care of in order to avoid getting in your own way. Make sure that you go through each and every one of them.
Experience and education
Nobody is going to hire a handyman who has no practical experience and no formal education. Ok, your friends might, but only to avoid hurting your feelings. Having practical experience and going through some sort of formal education is also something you will need in order to acquire a license. Here are some of the options you can choose from:
Vocational schools
Volunteering
Community college
Online courses
I would recommend that you volunteer regardless if you already have finished a course and gotten your certificate. Knowing the theory and handling problems in a controlled environment is a lot different from actually handling problems in peoples’ homes. For example, a simple plumbing issue can become very complicated if it is in an inaccessible place. Safety is also important and although they teach you how to deal with safety when you attend a course, it is often not enough and you need the experience that comes from working alongside an experienced professional.
Tools & Safety equipment
Before you start offering your services, you need to make sure that you actually have all the necessary tools. There is nothing worse than running around town looking to borrow some tools from a friend or having to buy some piece of equipment even if you don’t have the means to afford it. The alternative is to abandon a job and lose credibility, which is equally frustrating.
A lot of people consider themselves far too experienced to use safety equipment. This kind of confidence has a tendency to do more harm than good. Accidents happen to everyone! A lot of very experienced handyman got hurt, or even died in a work related accident. Prevention is your best bet and having proper safety gear is crucial. Don’t be a cheapskate here, after all, it’s your health that is on the line.
Advertising
In the old days, some 20 years in the past, people went around advertising their handyman services differently. Flyers were the thing back then and the word of mouth, as well as Yellow pages for big cities. These days, people usually search for handyman online because they can check out user reviews and see what kind of services they offer before actually consider hiring them. This is why it is crucial to have a website. While most people assume that creating a website is expensive, this doesn’t necessarily need to be true. IMCreator is a cheap alternative you can use to build a decent website for your business. It is an easy to use website building platform that requires no familiarity with code or web design experience.
Reliability
This is one of the most important things you need to focus on. By not leaving a good impression on your customers, you are actually lowering the chances of being called back again. People don’t like changing their handyman. They are actually looking for a handyman they can rely on and call upon whenever they run into trouble around their home. In a lot of cases they are forced to reconsider their choice and search for somebody else the next time they need a handyman’s services. Don’t allow your customers to get away from you by trying to trick them and cheat them out of their money. Make sure you do good and you will have more work than you can handle.
I hope you found some useful information in these lines. I wish you the best of luck with your new business and remember - safety first!
