Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a bath
panel.

Lady had the bath installed 2 years ago by an installer suggested by MFI
(where she ordered the bath).

Panel was 2" too short. Not surprising as the bath 'feet' were on 2" thick
timbers.

Conversation with the lady revealed that the installer had promised several
times to return & fit the panel.

Turned out that the tiles above the bath were already in place & the
installer had raised the bath by 2" so it met the tiles, obviously not
considering the size of the bath panel.

The mind boggles.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a bath
panel.

Lady had the bath installed 2 years ago by an installer suggested by MFI
(where she ordered the bath).

Panel was 2" too short. Not surprising as the bath 'feet' were on 2" thick
timbers.

Conversation with the lady revealed that the installer had promised several
times to return & fit the panel.

Turned out that the tiles above the bath were already in place & the
installer had raised the bath by 2" so it met the tiles, obviously not
considering the size of the bath panel.

The mind boggles.

Some tradesman would be best advised to cease trading before they lose
everything. Some people just dont know how much they dont know. Just
be grateful he didnt leave an array of 1" sharp screw points sticking
out at the customer.


NT

wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a bath
panel.

Lady had the bath installed 2 years ago by an installer suggested by MFI
(where she ordered the bath).

Panel was 2" too short. Not surprising as the bath 'feet' were on 2" thick
timbers.

Conversation with the lady revealed that the installer had promised several
times to return & fit the panel.

Turned out that the tiles above the bath were already in place & the
installer had raised the bath by 2" so it met the tiles, obviously not
considering the size of the bath panel.

The mind boggles.

Some tradesman would be best advised to cease trading before they lose
everything. Some people just dont know how much they dont know. Just
be grateful he didnt leave an array of 1" sharp screw points sticking
out at the customer.

In the guy's defence, it's conceivable that he *might* have originally
offered the customer the alternative of a proper job, ie including
retiling, or a cheaper option as carried out (although if so, it doesn't
excuse not fitting the bath panel).

David

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a bath
panel.

Lady had the bath installed 2 years ago by an installer suggested by MFI
(where she ordered the bath).

Panel was 2" too short. Not surprising as the bath 'feet' were on 2"
thick
timbers.

Conversation with the lady revealed that the installer had promised
several
times to return & fit the panel.

Turned out that the tiles above the bath were already in place & the
installer had raised the bath by 2" so it met the tiles, obviously not
considering the size of the bath panel.

The mind boggles.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257



Since the tiles were already in place it was hardly the previous guys fault
ie he had to raise the bath on 2" noggins to bring it level with the tiles.
Who knows what the excuse was about the panel being short and lets face it
certainly wouldn't have been left undone if the woman had the bill to pay
when the job was completed?

On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:50:51 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a bath
panel.

Lady had the bath installed 2 years ago by an installer suggested by MFI
(where she ordered the bath).

Panel was 2" too short. Not surprising as the bath 'feet' were on 2" thick
timbers.

Conversation with the lady revealed that the installer had promised several
times to return & fit the panel.

Turned out that the tiles above the bath were already in place & the
installer had raised the bath by 2" so it met the tiles, obviously not
considering the size of the bath panel.

The mind boggles.

Get her to report him to trading standards.

--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a bath
panel.



By the way what did you do for the job?

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a
bath
panel.

Lady had the bath installed 2 years ago by an installer suggested by MFI
(where she ordered the bath).

Panel was 2" too short. Not surprising as the bath 'feet' were on 2"
thick
timbers.

Conversation with the lady revealed that the installer had promised
several
times to return & fit the panel.

Turned out that the tiles above the bath were already in place & the
installer had raised the bath by 2" so it met the tiles, obviously not
considering the size of the bath panel.

The mind boggles.

Some tradesman would be best advised to cease trading before they lose
everything. Some people just dont know how much they dont know. Just
be grateful he didnt leave an array of 1" sharp screw points sticking
out at the customer.

In the guy's defence, it's conceivable that he *might* have originally
offered the customer the alternative of a proper job, ie including
retiling, or a cheaper option as carried out (although if so, it doesn't
excuse not fitting the bath panel).

I recently stayed in a B&B where the bath had been replaced
and a single row of non matching tiles had been stuck
above the bath on top of the old tiles. It looked b****y
stupid!

tim

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a bath
panel.

Boy, you get all the big jobs don't you :-)

tim

).

I recently stayed in a B&B where the bath had been replaced
and a single row of non matching tiles had been stuck
above the bath on top of the old tiles. It looked b****y
stupid!


And another thing...
....When you get a tiny square shower cubical why don't
they fit the shower head at or near one of the rear corners
instead of the middle of the back wall.

And why we are at it, why is the toilet paper holder in
the most inaccessible place.

At least they don't "chain" the TV remote to the bed-head
anymore. I haven't seen that done for a while.
It used to be quite common even in quite posh hotels.

--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

George wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message . uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a
bath panel.



By the way what did you do for the job?

Fixed some timber to the floor to bring the panel up so it would tuck under
the bath, primed it & sealed it with silicone. Lady will top coat it.

Didn't look too bad at all.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message . uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a
bath panel.

Boy, you get all the big jobs don't you :-)


I don't want big jobs. I regularly turn down complete bathrooms or
kitchens.

I can earn more doing 2 or 3 smaller jobs with less hassle.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Owain wrote:
tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit
a bath panel.
Boy, you get all the big jobs don't you :-)

Be fair, you can't fit all the bits for building a World Trade Center
in the back of a Renault Kangaroo.

You would be surprised at what you can get in the back of a Renault
Kangaroo!


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
.uk...
tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message . uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a
bath panel.

Boy, you get all the big jobs don't you :-)


I don't want big jobs. I regularly turn down complete bathrooms or
kitchens.

That I can understand.

But there's small and there's *small*!

I can earn more doing 2 or 3 smaller jobs with less hassle.

Can you really get enough work just doing small jobs
(genuinely interested).

tim

tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message . uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit
a bath panel.

Boy, you get all the big jobs don't you :-)


I don't want big jobs. I regularly turn down complete bathrooms or
kitchens.

That I can understand.

But there's small and there's *small*!

I can earn more doing 2 or 3 smaller jobs with less hassle.

Can you really get enough work just doing small jobs
(genuinely interested).

Absolutely. I'm currently booked solid until the 8 October with more jobs
coming in every day. Smallest job I've ever done is to change a single
light bulb - albeit 30' above a stairwell.

Two jobs today. Lady with a blocked gutter on an extension & some flatpack
drawers that had falled apart. Second was a church with a door parted from
the top hinge & a Yale lock that wouldn't shut properly. Took £180 labour
only.

Thats where the niche market is for me. Lady called today, wants 1 x
mirror, 2 x pictures & 2 x shelves fixing to walls. She had called 6 other
firms who all said the job was too small. That will take an hour for £45
leaving most of the day free for other jobs.

Sparkies are all Part P organised, plumbers are all CORGI registered, so
can't afford to take on smaller jobs. Putting up a new light fitting or
changing a tap washer are jobs they can't be bothered with.

My charges are geared to pay me more for smaller jobs see
http://www.medwayhandyman.co.uk/charges.htm

Three calls came in today for small jobs, 1 of which I've probably lost
because I can't do it for 3 weeks.

My 'tag line' is "For all those little jobs that need to be done".

If I get a call asking for an estimate and they say they have 2 other
companies giving quotes, I just turn it down - can't be arsed to compete.

The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the secret to
this handyman malarky.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On 2007-09-12 14:30:00 +0100, "Graham." said:

).

I recently stayed in a B&B where the bath had been replaced
and a single row of non matching tiles had been stuck
above the bath on top of the old tiles. It looked b****y
stupid!


And another thing...
...When you get a tiny square shower cubical why don't
they fit the shower head at or near one of the rear corners
instead of the middle of the back wall.

And why we are at it, why is the toilet paper holder in
the most inaccessible place.

At least they don't "chain" the TV remote to the bed-head
anymore. I haven't seen that done for a while.
It used to be quite common even in quite posh hotels.

Try Formule 1 in France.

These have the TV remote in a plastic box and you operate the buttons
through holes.

Fortunately Accor has some better brands where this isn't the case.

Unfortunately I stay in far too many hotels to describe any of them as
"posh". It's more a case of which are the least bad.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message . uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit
a bath panel.

Boy, you get all the big jobs don't you :-)


I don't want big jobs. I regularly turn down complete bathrooms or
kitchens.

That I can understand.

But there's small and there's *small*!

I can earn more doing 2 or 3 smaller jobs with less hassle.

Can you really get enough work just doing small jobs
(genuinely interested).

Absolutely. I'm currently booked solid until the 8 October with more jobs
coming in every day. Smallest job I've ever done is to change a single
light bulb - albeit 30' above a stairwell.

Two jobs today. Lady with a blocked gutter on an extension & some
flatpack drawers that had falled apart. Second was a church with a door
parted from the top hinge & a Yale lock that wouldn't shut properly. Took
£180 labour only.

Thats where the niche market is for me. Lady called today, wants 1 x
mirror, 2 x pictures & 2 x shelves fixing to walls. She had called 6
other firms who all said the job was too small. That will take an hour
for £45 leaving most of the day free for other jobs.

Sparkies are all Part P organised, plumbers are all CORGI registered, so
can't afford to take on smaller jobs. Putting up a new light fitting or
changing a tap washer are jobs they can't be bothered with.

My charges are geared to pay me more for smaller jobs see
http://www.medwayhandyman.co.uk/charges.htm

Three calls came in today for small jobs, 1 of which I've probably lost
because I can't do it for 3 weeks.

My 'tag line' is "For all those little jobs that need to be done".

If I get a call asking for an estimate and they say they have 2 other
companies giving quotes, I just turn it down - can't be arsed to compete.

The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the secret to
this handyman malarky.

That's interesting.

It's just that it's the opposite of what the guy from Cambridge
who came here 3-4 years ago said (I wonder if he's still
lurking?).

Some of you will remember that he moved over to trying out
being a handyman, as he was then finding little work in IT
due to ageism (which is pretty much where I am now).

After about 2 years he gave it up because he couldn't find
enough small customers to make it worthwhile. He said
that there was enough work if he was prepared to take on
the bigger jobs but that he didn't want to (or couldn't) do
that.

I wonder if your high density location is the difference?

tim

On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 21:26:37 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

tim..... wrote:

Can you really get enough work just doing small jobs
(genuinely interested).

Absolutely. I'm currently booked solid until the 8 October with more jobs
coming in every day. Smallest job I've ever done is to change a single
light bulb - albeit 30' above a stairwell.
....
The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the secret
to this handyman malarky.

Agreed but how do you juggle the timings? The problem I find is that the
job that ought to take 5 minutes takes half the day and then you're phoning
up the next person to put them off. Or the half day job takes 5 minutes or
the client is out or whatever and you've got to find something else to do.

My ideal is to have a biggish (bread and butter) job I can go to when it
suits me and book in a small one first thing (my jam), moving onto the b&b
one when I'm ready.


--
John Stumbles

Procrastinate now!

In message , tim.....
writes

My 'tag line' is "For all those little jobs that need to be done".

If I get a call asking for an estimate and they say they have 2 other
companies giving quotes, I just turn it down - can't be arsed to compete.

The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the secret to
this handyman malarky.

That's interesting.

It's just that it's the opposite of what the guy from Cambridge
who came here 3-4 years ago said (I wonder if he's still
lurking?).

Some of you will remember that he moved over to trying out
being a handyman, as he was then finding little work in IT
due to ageism (which is pretty much where I am now).

After about 2 years he gave it up because he couldn't find
enough small customers to make it worthwhile. He said
that there was enough work if he was prepared to take on
the bigger jobs but that he didn't want to (or couldn't) do
that.

I wonder if your high density location is the difference?

More likely they are too busy setting fire to waste bins and stealing
cars to be bothered doing it themselves



--
geoff

"raden" wrote in message
...
In message , tim.....
writes

My 'tag line' is "For all those little jobs that need to be done".

If I get a call asking for an estimate and they say they have 2 other
companies giving quotes, I just turn it down - can't be arsed to
compete.

The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the secret
to
this handyman malarky.

That's interesting.

It's just that it's the opposite of what the guy from Cambridge
who came here 3-4 years ago said (I wonder if he's still
lurking?).

Some of you will remember that he moved over to trying out
being a handyman, as he was then finding little work in IT
due to ageism (which is pretty much where I am now).

After about 2 years he gave it up because he couldn't find
enough small customers to make it worthwhile. He said
that there was enough work if he was prepared to take on
the bigger jobs but that he didn't want to (or couldn't) do
that.

I wonder if your high density location is the difference?

More likely they are too busy setting fire to waste bins and stealing cars
to be bothered doing it themselves

But do you want that sort of person as a customer?

tim

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message

The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the secret to
this handyman malarky.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257








But there is not enough hours in the day to make a real profit doing the
smaller jobs.

Most of wasted time is based around getting to and from the next job, an
hour or so is wasted discussing with the punter what they want and getting
your tools on the job and then getting them together in the van for the next
job and also you might end up having to stretch a 1 hour job which usually
ends up being 2 hours.
You then could find getting to the job you have to leave the job to go and
get items required for the job which amounts to another hour or so?
I bet if you were to do a time and motion study for one week or even one day
your hours amount at least 3.5 to 4 hours lost due to none related work,
thats not forgetting the dinner hour also.

Been there and done that and ended up taking on the 1 or 2 larger jobs in
the past.

"tim....." wrote in message
...

The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the secret
to this handyman malarky.

That's interesting.

It's just that it's the opposite of what the guy from Cambridge
who came here 3-4 years ago said (I wonder if he's still
lurking?).

Some of you will remember that he moved over to trying out
being a handyman, as he was then finding little work in IT
due to ageism (which is pretty much where I am now).

After about 2 years he gave it up because he couldn't find
enough small customers to make it worthwhile. He said
that there was enough work if he was prepared to take on
the bigger jobs but that he didn't want to (or couldn't) do
that.

I wonder if your high density location is the difference?

Or could it also be the 3-4 years? I reckon the home improvement bug is
still around, but some people are getting bored of doing it themselves. This
only needs to be a slight effect to give TMH a lot of work.

cheers,
clive

"George" wrote in message
.uk...

The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the secret
to
this handyman malarky.

But there is not enough hours in the day to make a real profit doing the
smaller jobs.

I think you've discovered why TMH is doing well - he's worked out a pricing
structure to allow him to do this, where all the other tradespeople think as
you do. Ie he's got a niche. His location probably helps - not much travel
time. Check out his website where his charges page explains how he covers
your worries.

Most of wasted time is based around getting to and from the next job, an
hour or so is wasted discussing with the punter what they want and getting
your tools on the job and then getting them together in the van for the
next
job and also you might end up having to stretch a 1 hour job which usually
ends up being 2 hours.

Covered by charging strictly by time, not by job.

You then could find getting to the job you have to leave the job to go and
get items required for the job which amounts to another hour or so?

Charged for - see posts passim.

cheers,
clive

(hmm, would I be engaged in displacement activities here?)

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Owain wrote:
tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit
a bath panel.
Boy, you get all the big jobs don't you :-)
Be fair, you can't fit all the bits for building a World Trade Center
in the back of a Renault Kangaroo.

You would be surprised at what you can get in the back of a Renault
Kangaroo!

Cramp? ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 2007-09-12 16:25:34 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
said:

George wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message . uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a
bath panel.



By the way what did you do for the job?

Fixed some timber to the floor to bring the panel up so it would tuck under
the bath, primed it & sealed it with silicone. Lady will top coat it.

Didn't look too bad at all.

What about the panel?

On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 05:33:35 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

On 2007-09-12 16:25:34 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
said:

George wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message . uk...
Back in the 4th floor flat again today, one of the jobs was to fit a
bath panel.



By the way what did you do for the job?

Fixed some timber to the floor to bring the panel up so it would tuck under
the bath, primed it & sealed it with silicone. Lady will top coat it.

Didn't look too bad at all.

What about the panel?


yea marks out of 10?

On Sep 13, 12:28 am, "George" wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message







The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the secret to
this handyman malarky.

--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

But there is not enough hours in the day to make a real profit doing the
smaller jobs.

Most of wasted time is based around getting to and from the next job, an
hour or so is wasted discussing with the punter what they want and getting
your tools on the job and then getting them together in the van for the next
job and also you might end up having to stretch a 1 hour job which usually
ends up being 2 hours.
You then could find getting to the job you have to leave the job to go and
get items required for the job which amounts to another hour or so?
I bet if you were to do a time and motion study for one week or even one day
your hours amount at least 3.5 to 4 hours lost due to none related work,
thats not forgetting the dinner hour also.

Been there and done that and ended up taking on the 1 or 2 larger jobs in
the past.

You may not have been able to hack it. What makes you think you are
such an expert that you can comment on others' ability without a full
audit of their business?

MBQ

wrote in message
oups.com...
On Sep 13, 12:28 am, "George" wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message







The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the
secret to
this handyman malarky.

--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

But there is not enough hours in the day to make a real profit doing the
smaller jobs.

Most of wasted time is based around getting to and from the next job, an
hour or so is wasted discussing with the punter what they want and
getting
your tools on the job and then getting them together in the van for the
next
job and also you might end up having to stretch a 1 hour job which
usually
ends up being 2 hours.
You then could find getting to the job you have to leave the job to go
and
get items required for the job which amounts to another hour or so?
I bet if you were to do a time and motion study for one week or even one
day
your hours amount at least 3.5 to 4 hours lost due to none related work,
thats not forgetting the dinner hour also.

Been there and done that and ended up taking on the 1 or 2 larger jobs
in
the past.

You may not have been able to hack it. What makes you think you are
such an expert that you can comment on others' ability without a full
audit of their business?

MBQ


Perhaps being ****ed at the end of each day driving being the most tiring of
the days work made me realise this is not worth the hassle when I can aquire
the same amount of money doing 2 larger jobs a day rather than stupid little
jobs like fixing a door back on its hinges and leaking taps.

George wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message

The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the
secret to this handyman malarky.

But there is not enough hours in the day to make a real profit doing
the smaller jobs.

Most of wasted time is based around getting to and from the next job,
an hour or so is wasted discussing with the punter what they want and
getting your tools on the job and then getting them together in the
van for the next job and also you might end up having to stretch a 1
hour job which usually ends up being 2 hours.

I charge from the time I arrive, so if the punter wants to chat they are
paying me.

You then could find getting to the job you have to leave the job to
go and get items required for the job which amounts to another hour
or so?

If I need bits I couldn't have known about in advance, or need to measure up
then I charge for the time taken to go shopping.

I bet if you were to do a time and motion study for one week or even
one day your hours amount at least 3.5 to 4 hours lost due to none
related work, thats not forgetting the dinner hour also.

I don't have a dinner hour.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Clive George wrote:
"George" wrote in message
.uk...

The market for small jobs is huge & very profitable. That's the
secret to
this handyman malarky.

But there is not enough hours in the day to make a real profit doing
the smaller jobs.

I think you've discovered why TMH is doing well - he's worked out a
pricing structure to allow him to do this, where all the other
tradespeople think as you do. Ie he's got a niche. His location
probably helps - not much travel time. Check out his website where
his charges page explains how he covers your worries.

The location certainly helps, 251,100 people in a Postcose area of 120 sq
miles. Thats roughly 10 x 12 miles and I don't work in all of that,
normally don't drive more that 5 or 6 miles to a job.

Covered by charging strictly by time, not by job.

Absolutely, I only ever quote a price per job when I do decking and the
margin is very flexible :-)

When quoting of r smaller jobs I will always hand the customer an A5 leaflet
which explains the charges and tell them 'between 3 & 4 hours' or whatever.
Thus they are chuffed if it takes 3 but prepared if it takes 4.

You then could find getting to the job you have to leave the job to
go and get items required for the job which amounts to another hour
or so?

Charged for - see posts passim.

Indeed. If I should have had the item on the van I don't charge, if I
couldn't reasonably be expected to I'm shopping whilst being paid.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

George wrote:
wrote in message
You may not have been able to hack it. What makes you think you are
such an expert that you can comment on others' ability without a full
audit of their business?

Perhaps being ****ed at the end of each day driving being the most
tiring of the days work made me realise this is not worth the hassle
when I can aquire the same amount of money doing 2 larger jobs a day
rather than stupid little jobs like fixing a door back on its hinges
and leaking taps.

Don't talk to me about driving, before I started this I was a rep doing
40,000 miles a year +. Because of the population density I rarely drive
more than 5 miles to a job.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

tim..... wrote:


That's interesting.

It's just that it's the opposite of what the guy from Cambridge
who came here 3-4 years ago said (I wonder if he's still
lurking?).

Some of you will remember that he moved over to trying out
being a handyman, as he was then finding little work in IT
due to ageism (which is pretty much where I am now).

After about 2 years he gave it up because he couldn't find
enough small customers to make it worthwhile. He said
that there was enough work if he was prepared to take on
the bigger jobs but that he didn't want to (or couldn't) do
that.

I wonder if your high density location is the difference?

A difference yes, I live in a very densely populated area, many of the
people working in London, so they are 'cash rich time poor'.

The area is relatively small so travel costs are minimum.

The real answer is effective marketing. I use two local 'free' magazines
with relatively small circulations, but high readership, a website, a highly
visible signwritten van, corporate clothing, fridge magnet business cards &
several church magazines. What they call a 'multi channel marketing
strategy.

The result is more enquiries than I can handle, so I can pick & choose what
I want & don't want to do, and the customers who will pay what I want and
those who wont.

When I say I don't take on big jobs, I mean that I don't attempt to compete
with specialised kitchen fitters, tilers, bathroom fitters, flooring fitters
etc. They can undercut me by being much more efficient at a single task.

I do often spend an entire day with one customer, sometimes two days,
occasionally three days. During that time I will be doing a huge variety of
different jobs so I can easily justify my daily rate.



--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
.uk...
tim..... wrote:


That's interesting.

It's just that it's the opposite of what the guy from Cambridge
who came here 3-4 years ago said (I wonder if he's still
lurking?).

Some of you will remember that he moved over to trying out
being a handyman, as he was then finding little work in IT
due to ageism (which is pretty much where I am now).

After about 2 years he gave it up because he couldn't find
enough small customers to make it worthwhile. He said
that there was enough work if he was prepared to take on
the bigger jobs but that he didn't want to (or couldn't) do
that.

I wonder if your high density location is the difference?

A difference yes, I live in a very densely populated area, many of the
people working in London, so they are 'cash rich time poor'.

The area is relatively small so travel costs are minimum.

The real answer is effective marketing. I use two local 'free' magazines
with relatively small circulations, but high readership, a website, a
highly visible signwritten van, corporate clothing, fridge magnet business
cards & several church magazines. What they call a 'multi channel
marketing strategy.

Do you have any similar competition.

There's already a 'small job' man in my area (which
happens to be near you, but not near enough to compete)
who advertises in a free mag that comes through my door.

tim

tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
tim..... wrote:


That's interesting.

It's just that it's the opposite of what the guy from Cambridge
who came here 3-4 years ago said (I wonder if he's still
lurking?).

Some of you will remember that he moved over to trying out
being a handyman, as he was then finding little work in IT
due to ageism (which is pretty much where I am now).

After about 2 years he gave it up because he couldn't find
enough small customers to make it worthwhile. He said
that there was enough work if he was prepared to take on
the bigger jobs but that he didn't want to (or couldn't) do
that.

I wonder if your high density location is the difference?

A difference yes, I live in a very densely populated area, many of
the people working in London, so they are 'cash rich time poor'.

The area is relatively small so travel costs are minimum.

The real answer is effective marketing. I use two local 'free'
magazines with relatively small circulations, but high readership, a
website, a highly visible signwritten van, corporate clothing,
fridge magnet business cards & several church magazines. What they
call a 'multi channel marketing strategy.

Do you have any similar competition.

I have competition, but its not similar. There are a dozen handymen in YP,
but I have only found one professional handyman - met him in Wickes car
park. The rest are numpty odd job men.


There's already a 'small job' man in my area (which
happens to be near you, but not near enough to compete)
who advertises in a free mag that comes through my door.

What area is that?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

In message , The Medway Handyman
writes
tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
tim..... wrote:


That's interesting.

It's just that it's the opposite of what the guy from Cambridge
who came here 3-4 years ago said (I wonder if he's still
lurking?).

Some of you will remember that he moved over to trying out
being a handyman, as he was then finding little work in IT
due to ageism (which is pretty much where I am now).

After about 2 years he gave it up because he couldn't find
enough small customers to make it worthwhile. He said
that there was enough work if he was prepared to take on
the bigger jobs but that he didn't want to (or couldn't) do
that.

I wonder if your high density location is the difference?

A difference yes, I live in a very densely populated area, many of
the people working in London, so they are 'cash rich time poor'.

The area is relatively small so travel costs are minimum.

The real answer is effective marketing. I use two local 'free'
magazines with relatively small circulations, but high readership, a
website, a highly visible signwritten van, corporate clothing,
fridge magnet business cards & several church magazines. What they
call a 'multi channel marketing strategy.

Do you have any similar competition.

I have competition, but its not similar. There are a dozen handymen in YP,
but I have only found one professional handyman - met him in Wickes car
park.

Chatham doggers ?


--
geoff

In message , The Medway Handyman
writes
There are a dozen handymen in YP

YP?

--
Si

On 2007-09-24 10:08:14 +0100, Si $3o&m said:

In message , The Medway
Handyman writes
There are a dozen handymen in YP

YP?

Pages Jaunes
Gula Sidorna
Yellow Pages

I wonder if they would have chosen that logo if they had realised what
it looks like upside down.

In message , Huge
writes
On 2007-09-24, Si $3o&m wrote:
In message , The Medway Handyman
writes
There are a dozen handymen in YP

YP?

Yellow Pages

ahhh - I was trying to make MT out of YP.

thanks

--
Si

Andy Hall wrote:

Pages Jaunes
Gula Sidorna
Yellow Pages

Pagine Giallo

Although that makes it sound like a crime novel.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
tim..... wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
tim..... wrote:


That's interesting.

It's just that it's the opposite of what the guy from Cambridge
who came here 3-4 years ago said (I wonder if he's still
lurking?).

Some of you will remember that he moved over to trying out
being a handyman, as he was then finding little work in IT
due to ageism (which is pretty much where I am now).

After about 2 years he gave it up because he couldn't find
enough small customers to make it worthwhile. He said
that there was enough work if he was prepared to take on
the bigger jobs but that he didn't want to (or couldn't) do
that.

I wonder if your high density location is the difference?

A difference yes, I live in a very densely populated area, many of
the people working in London, so they are 'cash rich time poor'.

The area is relatively small so travel costs are minimum.

The real answer is effective marketing. I use two local 'free'
magazines with relatively small circulations, but high readership, a
website, a highly visible signwritten van, corporate clothing,
fridge magnet business cards & several church magazines. What they
call a 'multi channel marketing strategy.

Do you have any similar competition.

I have competition, but its not similar. There are a dozen handymen in
YP, but I have only found one professional handyman - met him in Wickes
car park. The rest are numpty odd job men.

what's wrong with being a numpty odd job man?

There's already a 'small job' man in my area (which
happens to be near you, but not near enough to compete)
who advertises in a free mag that comes through my door.

What area is that?

http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/assets/...rictlife28.pdf

go to page 2/3

On 2007-09-24 11:40:30 +0100, (Steve Firth) said:

Andy Hall wrote:

Pages Jaunes
Gula Sidorna
Yellow Pages

Pagine Giallo

Although that makes it sound like a crime novel.

In certain areas it probably is.....