On 14/03/2014 08:33, Stephen wrote:

Yes, born profoundly deaf in bopth sides. I need to lipread as well....

Sadly, shamefully even, this will be a really major problem for someone
starting up a new handyman business. I would strongly expect that most
customers currently ring up and discuss the work that they want done.

If you go down the email/sms route that will be a new experience for
most of your customers. I think you will have to be very up-front about
this and try and make it a positive selling proposition. There must be
some people for whom it is beneficial to book by email/sms.

You would have to explain why it is necessary, and you will rule out say
90%+ of your potential customer base. After all, TMH reports that he
does jobs like assemble flat-pack furniture. Anyone incapable of that is
probably incapable of booking a handyman by SMS.

It matters where you are geographically. If you are in London, say, you
can afford to rule out 90% of potential customers. You just make your
catchment area a bit bigger. In some areas, though, ruling out 90% of
the customer base will leave you with too little business to survive or
leave you travelling huge distances.