I just hired one to unstick a drawer. Is that me being just to lazy?
As a home owner, there will come a time when you will feel that your house needs some tender loving care. Maybe it’s the garage door hanging off its hinges, or it’s the living room window that was broken by your nine year old tarzan or it’s the shower that has stopped working for some mysterious reason. At this point in time, you have an important choice to make. The two choices open to you is either to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself or call in a contractor to fix the problem for you.
Although there is nothing wrong with asking for another person’s help to carry out your home repairs, especially if you feel you don’t have the necessary DIY skills, there are some really good reasons why you should consider doing the job yourself if this is possible.
The first reason is an opportunity to actually fix your home the way you really want it. All of us have an idea how we want our house to look and feel. Even if the job is given to a contractor, most people will still find themselves following the hired worker around the house in order to make sure they are not messing their home up. Opting to do the home repairs yourself will remove this problem by giving you the opportunity or power to make the final repair work look exactly the way you want.
The second reason has to do with the huge savings you will make carrying out the repairs yourself. The cost of labour takes up most of the home remodeling expenses and by doing your home improvement yourself, you won’t have the need of paying any huge labour cost. In this economic climate, that alone is a huge incentive to consider handling your house repair yourself.
The third reason is that you can actually be more creative with your material selection than any third party would probably be. Some unscrupulous contractors can actually cause more damage on the long run to your home by buying sub-standard materials to use in the repairs. If you were to select the building materials you will use, you would probably put more thought into this selection and choose what is best, in the long term, for you and your home.
The fourth and final reason why you should do the work yourself comes from the sense of pride and satisfaction that comes from the realization that you have done a really good repair work on your home single-handed! When the job is finally completed and you stand back and look with pride at your handy work, there is usually a glow of pride welling up within you when you see how well everything has turned out in the end. The proud feeling of a job well done is something no amount of money can buy and it still remain one of the stongest reasons for tackling your home repair work yourself.
Benjamin Afolabi is a well-known DIY Home Improvement Enthusiast. For more DIY home remodeling and repairs advice, and lots more comprehensive home improvement guides, visit his homepage: http://www.homediyrepair.com. You can also download his free report – Creative Home Lighting, on the website.
There are a lot of people that believe that in order to start a handyman business all you need to do is slap some signs on a truck and you’re in business. Yes, you can do that, however if you want to be in business for longer than a few months then you need to follow these 9 steps to starting your business.
1. Start with yourself. Evaluate your likes and dislikes and then decide if being self employed is right for you. Not everyone is cut out to own their own business.
2. Decide what you will name your business and how you will operate your business. For example there are many forms of businesses, sole proprietor, LLC, corporation. You will want to get advice from qualified account and attorney. Have them help you decide which entity is best for you.
3. Next you need to look into what insurance you may need. In some instances your state may dictate that you have workers compensation insurance. You may also need general liability insurance and possibly commercial insurance for your truck. Some municipalities may require that you carrying insurance. Get in touch with a qualified insurance agent to help you. Make sure you know what you need before you start.
4. Licenses may also be required. The municipality you are working in may require a business license. You may need an electrical or plumbing license. Does your state require any type of license? It’s very important that you have these in place before your open your doors. If you do not, you may find yourself in some hot water if you are operating without the proper licenses.
5. Know thy customer. Research and see what is needed in your community. Do you have a lot of senior citizens that need help? What about landlords and real estate agents? Are their areas with older homes that will need repairs. It’s important that you know who you are targeting. This information will be used later to put a plan together.
6. Know thy competitor? Why? Because knowing what your competition does well, what they do not do well, and what services are not being offered will help you in deciding what to offer and possibly how much to charge.
7. Use your research. Take the research you did on your customers and competition and use this research to decide what services to offer and what prices to charge.
8. Get your tools in order. Make sure you have what you need to get started. You may need to purchase some basic supplies like nails, caulk, and screws. Small things that you will need to do the jobs you are offering.
9. Put this into a plan. Write out a business plan. This does not need to be complicated. Take what you did above and put it into writing along with what type of advertising you will be doing. Come up with a budget. Having a plan will go a long way toward keeping you on track and helping you become successful.
Follow these 9 steps before you open your doors and you will be way ahead of most people who attempt to start a handyman business.
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