Andy Hall wrote:
- 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.

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.


- 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?

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.

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?

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.

- Regulation. You won't be able to do anything related to gas.

That suits me actually

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.

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.


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.

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.

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.

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.

Dave