Cash In On Home Repair Business

With the economy being challenging for business owners, keeping existing customer returning and getting new customers is a main concern for business owners. People who are just starting a handyman business will need to think outside the box when it comes to keeping and obtaining customers.

Get letter of references that you can use to show other potential customers. Make sure you hand out your business cards to everyone and put them everywhere. Partner with someone who does work that you do not do (like painting or roofing) and make up flyer's to put up around your area. You can also mail these out to past customer or customers that have inquired about hiring you.

Get trained in other areas. Find out what your customers are having a hard time getting done around the house and see if its an area you can expand into. Some possible areas might be locksmith, pest control, property management. Ask your customers what they need and then find a way to fulfill their need.

The most important point is to make sure that you keep your name in front of people. so that when they need a handyman for their home repair project, you are the person they call.

For more tips on obtaining customer, enter your first name and email address in the box to the right and download my free report.

This idea is not new, many of you may have even received a checklist before. However, when you start a handyman business you will be surprised by how much you get bogged down in the daily routines that you forget to send this simple list as a way to stay in touch with your customers.

Send your customers a seasonal checklist for their home.

This should be on your to do list for every spring and fall at the least. If you like, (and you should) add in the summer and winter and you have four times a year when you are contacting your customers. Make up a list to send to your customers about what they should be checking around their home each season. This list really does not need to change, just send them a note with the checklist letting them know this is their summer reminder from you (or whatever season we are in) and give them the list of items they should be checking.

I have a small decorative pond in my yard and every spring and fall I receive a letter from a store that sells items for ponds about what to do. It is the same checklist for what to do each season, they usually mention what they have on sale, and I read it every time I receive it, because even though I have been on their list for a couple of years, it helps remind me what I need to do. And yes, I do purchase stuff for my pond from them.

If you have been collecting people's email addresses this will not cost you a dime, just a little bit of time.

Make sure you take the time to come up with at least two checklist and then make the time to send them out.

Whether you are already in business or just starting your handyman business getting customers is always priority number one. So what can you do in your handyman business that is different than your competitors. Try offering your service for a day. Hire a Handyman for a Day and set a time period of up to six or seven hours for a set amount. You will come out and spend a day fixing all the little things that people need done, but just either don't bother to fix it themselves or just live with the inconvenience because they can not find someone to fix it for them.

What type of jobs can you do in a day? Fix a dripping faucet, fix a toilet that runs, fix a door that sticks. These are just a couple of examples of what people might need fixing.

Set your rate at what would be a reasonable rate for you, but at a discount to your regular hourly rate. . Hourly rates for a handyman will vary by region, however an example would be any where from $25.00 - $80.00 per hour. Of course this rate all depends on what you can do, licenses you hold, your expenses. So an example of a daily rate would be $175.00-$250.00. This would be for labor (up to a certain amount of hours) and small material. You would not want to start buying things like faucets, lights etc.

If you can get one job per day that is not a bad way to get started. You can then build from there.

Let's face it, you can have the shiniest truck and the fanciest tools, but without customers your business is doomed. When you started your handyman business you should have made at least a marketing plan on how you are going to obtain customers. If you did not make a plan, now would be a good time to stop what you are doing and ask yourself some important questions.

Who is my target market? What service do my customers want? Am I meeting my customers needs? What can I do to better serve my customers? How can I stay in touch with past customers?

These are a few of the questions every business owner should be asking themselves, continuously.  In order for your handyman business to survive, keeping up with the needs of your customers, and providing excellent customer service is your number one priority.

When you have your own business, keeping current customers coming back and obtaining new ones is always a challenge. Offering incentives for people to do business with you will sometimes give you an edge over your competitor's. This article on Lowe's web site give some tips on reaching out to people. Although it is geared to finding tenants, the concept works for any business.

http://www.lowesforpros.com/marketing-in-a-down-economy