# Handyman with Too Much Work



## Handy Matt (Jun 6, 2010)

I'm hoping to get some advice for help with my situation. I've been a handyman for 8 1/2 years. My schedule fills to the point where I have too much work to do. I currently have over 40 projects on my list and estimate I'm booked for 12 weeks. All my business comes from referrals. I don't have time for anything but my business. The one thing I don't want to do is hire any employees. Is there anyone who has experienced this and can offer some suggestions? Thank you.


----------



## S.R.E. (Apr 8, 2010)

Welcome to CT. :thumbsup:
Just raise your prices and that should help solve your problem.:cheesygri


----------



## Bowtechian (May 18, 2012)

I'm the same way right now, trying not to take any more on and then another phone call that I can't say no to. I've just been pushing through the pain. Just about burnt out. good luck


----------



## Friend (Oct 30, 2010)

When I get to much on my plate there are a few other guys in town I refer people to. It works out that when I am slow one of those guys is booked up and throws me a job.


----------



## gastek (Mar 29, 2011)

If you need time for yourself, then just say no and block a week or whatever time you need and don't work during that time. If it's referrals that you get your work thru then they will understand. If you don't take a day or two here and there you will burn yourself out and then sometimes your business will suffer. You will lose the drive to keep going and then look out.


----------



## aptpupil (Jun 12, 2010)

if you don't want to hire a helper to lug stuff around for you on the bigger jobs or an office assistant to help you so you can be out in the field instead of taking phone calls and doing the books...then i would say you need to raise your prices.


----------



## CSB (Nov 17, 2007)

Handy Matt said:


> The one thing I don't want to do is hire any employees.


Why?


----------



## Shellbuilder (May 14, 2006)

Handy Matt said:


> I'm hoping to get some advice for help with my situation. I've been a handyman for 8 1/2 years. My schedule fills to the point where I have too much work to do. I currently have over 40 projects on my list and estimate I'm booked for 12 weeks. All my business comes from referrals. I don't have time for anything but my business. The one thing I don't want to do is hire any employees. Is there anyone who has experienced this and can offer some suggestions? Thank you.


I've been busy since 1976. Just tell your customers they have to wait until you can get there. Only a few wont.


----------



## AustinDB (Sep 11, 2006)

why not hire a 'helper'-even a young guy can serve a purpose. this might require your business model to change-if you are charging T&M, adding the extra guy may be a little more tricky.


----------



## sunkist (Apr 27, 2012)

theres nothing wrong with having a couple of ******, we all gotto learn to hunt and skin the the kill, pass on the skils and traits that are good.


----------



## Spike7 (May 18, 2012)

*spike7*

are you legal ?
if not , i really wouldn`t want to help you .
i know this sounds shi##y ,
but these days guys who say they are " handymen" are just basically people who slip under the law , and take work away from legal contractors who have to pay the whole cost , and lose out to illegals who don`t have overhead , like license , and insurance..
they don`t want to hire people ,because they are illegal , and don`t want to get caught.


----------



## Rob1954 (Jun 22, 2010)

Here we go again............


----------



## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

CSB said:


> Why?


That was my question too, why not hire people? I did years ago and never looked back.


----------



## mbryan (Dec 6, 2010)

Deciding to hire help is kinda scary but if your that busy than its probably time. Get them working with you and get some trust in them and you'll be able to send them out do little stuff.

If your not losing jobs due to price than you need to raise them. Raise your price 10% and you can do less work and make more money. You may even get time for yourself!


----------



## Shellbuilder (May 14, 2006)

IMO a good handyman is hard to come by.


----------



## Handy Matt (Jun 6, 2010)

Thank you for the responses. I've been busy and have not had time to reply.

First, I need to answer one contractor who was questioning my 'legality'. I carry a $1,000,000 liability policy for my business. I have handyman insurance for my tools and equipment. I am licensed and bonded. If a project permit is necessary I apply for it. I call in outside contractors for projects I can't take on officially (like breaker boxes) or need assistance with. There, that's taken care of.

I have never wanted to hire employees because of the added responsibility and an added aspect of the business. Now I have to manage not just the jobs but people as well. In Ohio there's a requirement for Workmen's Compensation when you have people working for you. That's an expensive undertaking. That is why I've kept it a one man operation.

I've considered raising my hourly rate. I've never looked into the going rate for a handyman in the northeast Ohio area, however, so I don't know if my rate is high or low at the moment? There was a suggestion for raising the rate by 10%. Does anyone have insight for finding out what the acceptable rates are for independent trade professions?

I do have a vacation planned for the first week of July. And this year I was called for jury duty at the end of March. I lost an entire week's work right there, but it did give me a break. The jobs kept piling on, though.

That's enough for now. I look forward to additional feedback.


----------



## A-1 Interiors (Oct 12, 2011)

Hey Matt
i get the not wanting to hire someone 
i personally think the advice i agree with the most is to schedule jobs on your terms 
and explain to some customers that yes you want to do their job , but they have to take their place on your schedule and explain why it is worth it for them to wait for you And the value you offer .
If they cant wait for you then well that just helps with the problem of too many customers 
I am from mass and every one i know or most guys have the opposite problem there just isn't enough work right now , our state has been hit extremely hard for the last few years and most of us are scraping by 
I think having too much work is really a blessing and you will figure out the best way for you to get some time for yourself 
Good luck


----------



## Ohio painter (Dec 4, 2011)

Matt, I am also in Ohio and as a painter find myself in a similar situation. All my work is referrals and my schedule is full. 
I like to think I am not the cheapest in town, I am hired to do about 50% of my estimates so I think I am pricing OK. I keep slowly raising my rates to see what the market will bare. 
I make sure that my customers are willing to wait, and it could be months. Most are, if not then I try to referre them on. 
I work set hours, I like to start as early as the job will allow and always stop at 5:00pm, very few exceptions. I have worked for other painters in the past and there wasn't enough hours in the day or week. I always said I would not be like this. 
My wife is willing to do most of the office work and that helps considerably.
Take a break if you feel you need it.


----------



## carolinahandyma (Jan 6, 2006)

Matt
You will always be limited in how much you can earn if you are the sole person doing all the work and there is nothing wrong with that. If you aspire for growing a business then you need help. There are a few ways of getting help with the work (referring it out, hiring employees, hiring sub-contractors, using a PEO to deal with workers comp and employer headaches etc.)

You have already done the hardest part of business and that is attracting an abundance of customers and recurring work. Kudos to you!
Regards,
Chuck


----------



## KennMacMoragh (Sep 16, 2008)

Handy Matt said:


> I'm hoping to get some advice for help with my situation. I've been a handyman for 8 1/2 years. My schedule fills to the point where I have too much work to do. I currently have over 40 projects on my list and estimate I'm booked for 12 weeks. All my business comes from referrals. *I don't have time for anything but my business. The one thing I don't want to do is hire any employees. * Is there anyone who has experienced this and can offer some suggestions? Thank you.


If you want to be a one man show, you really need to raise your prices. You'll need extra days to work on the administrative portion of your business, you need some days off as well. Personally, I don't understand the people that are against having employees. To me that's like telling yourself your time is no more valuable than the people doing the work. Why not use employees and free up more of your time to do the things they can't do? Such as market your business? Run your company?




Handy Matt said:


> Does anyone have insight for finding out what the acceptable rates are for independent trade professions?


They range from $10 an hour to $80 an hour. I'm not joking, those are rates I've seen and had to compete with. Keep in mind 9 out of 10 contractor's fail within the first five years, and the reason is mostly due to not charging enough for the work you do. So whatever this "acceptable rate" is, it's probably so low that it will make you go broke, because that's what most contractor's are doing. Just stay on top of your books and if you are making enough to cover your overhead while earning a wage with a 10% profit, then your rates should be fine.


----------



## Ohio painter (Dec 4, 2011)

KennMacMoragh said:


> Personally, I don't understand the people that are against having employees.


I can't speak for Matt but I find myself in the same situation, I find myself debating whether or not I should have employees. 

I like to think I do quality painting and wallpapering, I am not into production work in rentals or commercial, I turn that work down.

Here is why I can't convince myself to have employees:
Workers Comp costs in Ohio, just like Matt said.
Spend my time managing people and so less time for working myself.
Will employees have my standards when I am not looking over their shoulder?
Employee issues / grief and all that goes with that. 
Lots of people who say they can paint simply can't, at least not day in and day out.
I find the younger people dont want to work, or spend more time looking at their phones wanting to know how much longer they have to work. 
tTen again I do remind myself that an old timer was willing to train me , but I was willing to work hard and willing to learn. 

I didn't mean to hijack your thread Matt.


----------



## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Spike7 said:


> are you legal ?
> if not , i really wouldn`t want to help you .
> i know this sounds shi##y ,
> but these days guys who say they are " handymen" are just basically people who slip under the law , and take work away from legal contractors who have to pay the whole cost , and lose out to illegals who don`t have overhead , like license , and insurance..
> they don`t want to hire people ,because they are illegal , and don`t want to get caught.


Really? There are better ways to address your concerns. :thumbsup:


----------



## cabinetsnj (Jun 10, 2012)

Might be a good idea to refer some of the work to someone else who you can know that does equally good work. I have to assume you are doing good work and providing good customer service, otherwise you would not be getting so many referrals. Maybe you can work out some arrangement with the person you are referring your leads to. Just a thought.


----------



## Handy Matt (Jun 6, 2010)

I appreciate all the suggestions. It would be nice to find someone to refer some of my work to. I don't have the name of anyone right now, however. I will begin a transition to raise my hourly rate for customers not currently on my project list. I will also try to limit the work hours in a day to free up some time for myself and family. Learning to say "no" to a potential project will be the toughest. The fun begins!!


----------



## carolinahandyma (Jan 6, 2006)

*update please*

Matt
How are things going for you now? Please give us an update.


----------



## Paradox (Sep 11, 2011)

Handy Matt said:


> Thank you for the responses. I've been busy and have not had time to reply.
> 
> First, I need to answer one contractor who was questioning my 'legality'. I carry a $1,000,000 liability policy for my business. I have handyman insurance for my tools and equipment. I am licensed and bonded. If a project permit is necessary I apply for it. I call in outside contractors for projects I can't take on officially (like breaker boxes) or need assistance with. There, that's taken care of.
> 
> ...


You appear to be very good at what you do. Fortunately it seems that a lot of people have noticed. To find out what you need to do, you need to answer a few questions:

*Do you want to make more money? If so, how much?*
Being the sole worker you are very limited to how much money you can make. You're limited because you only have 24 hours in a day like everyone else. If you raise your rates by 10%, like you mentioned, and cut back to 8-10 hour days, you'll possibly come out to making the money you are now at the grinding pace of 12 hours. But do you want to make more $$$?

If you want to make more money, you've got to take a calculated risk and hire an employee. You could start out with the employee being with you on each site, teaching him while making money. It may slow your pace down a bit, but in the near future you could be sending your guy out to do a job you've seen him do ten times before without a fault. It frees up your time to go on to the next job that maybe is a little more difficult or to go home and spend time with your family or TV! :thumbup: Why work yourself to the bone if you'll never be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor?

The risks of hiring an employee can be significantly reduced through intelligent planning. Worried about him starting out on his own after a year? Have him sign a non-compete clause in the contract. Worried he won't be a hard/honest/etc. worker? Take your time hiring the right guy, pay fair (or more than fair since you have so much work and want to retain quality work), and have steps in place in case he screws something up (un)intentionally. 

Remember - by taking on one employee, you're not starting a Fortune 500 business or venturing into an area where you'll need past HR experience. Managing an employee is not your area of expertise, but you've already proven you can master something not many others can! Almost every $1 you refer to someone else is $1 you could have easily made if you had an employee! An at your rate of gaining referrals, that $1 is worth a lot more than face value!


----------



## Handy Matt (Jun 6, 2010)

Greetings,

I wish I could say that there's been a dramatic turnaround. Change does not take place that quickly, however. My project list has grown to 44, and I have 6 estimates possibly changing over to real projects. I'm looking out about 12 to 13 weeks with confirmed work. A few projects that I've started have grown into bigger items; either uncovering surprises, or requested customer changes. I've had a few customers go elsewhere when I've told them I'm booked into September. With my vacation coming up I've been trying to get projects completed so I don't have to carry them over when I return. I guess not much has changed yet!

Money was not the driving force when I requested input from everyone. It was the overwhelming amount of work I was trying to manage. I spoke with my uncle last night. He owned a tannery business in Chicago for many years. He also talked about hiring people to ease the burden. Many that have responded have mentioned the same thing. That may be the direction I need to focus on even though I've been reluctant to go down that road. I'm hoping the time off during my vacation will give me an opportunity to reflect on my situation and offer me some insight on what to do and how to do it.

I sincerely appreciate the input I've received. Thank you.


----------



## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

Handy Matt said:


> I'm hoping to get some advice for help with my situation. I've been a handyman for 8 1/2 years. My schedule fills to the point where I have too much work to do. I currently have over 40 projects on my list and estimate I'm booked for 12 weeks. All my business comes from referrals. I don't have time for anything but my business. The one thing I don't want to do is hire any employees. Is there anyone who has experienced this and can offer some suggestions? Thank you.


Raise your prices. :thumbsup:


----------



## dtmhomerepair (Aug 20, 2011)

*I am in northeast Ohio*

I am trying to do it by myself as well and it gets a little crazy sometimes. My web site is Dtmhomerepair.com. If you would like to develope a business relationship I may be able to help you out with some of your work. I like you am avoiding workmans comp because my work is so sporadic. I have a lot of repeat customers but nothing keeping me as busy as you are. If you are in the northeast Ohio area and are interested let me know. If not that's fine too. Thanks


----------



## bwiab (Mar 17, 2006)

what are you doing as a "handyman"? When I hear that term, I think of property management services, the kind of stuff that can't wait twelve weeks out. If I were you're potential customer, I would have a hard time waiting 12-13 weeks for service if I was ready to go today. You may start to lose work because of your backlog. I would take good, repeat customers over new referrals if you have to chose. I would second the opinion, if you have that big a backlog and are turning down work, it's time to hire someone.


----------



## I Mester (Aug 21, 2011)

double your prices.
you'll lose half your customers, do half the work and make the same money!


----------



## mbryan (Dec 6, 2010)

ISM37 said:


> double your prices.
> you'll lose half your customers, do half the work and make the same money!


Actually you could do less than half the work. Raise your prices 10% and you can do 34% less work and make the same profit.


----------



## Handy Matt (Jun 6, 2010)

I was hoping I'd be able to update this thread but that will have to wait. My vacation begins in less than 12 hours. I'll give more information sometime the week of July 16 after I return.

I did read an article about salary.com and payscale.com but have not yet visited the sites. They are designed to provide information on wages and salaries in regions around the country. I don't know if that includes a category for handyman.

Have FUN!


----------

