HomeServiceGuy 🔨
@homeservguy
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Home Services Commentary for Beginners/Early Stage Business • Lead Gen • Sales/Estimating • & much more • Detailed Content & Direct Access👇
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For those of you who read my tweets that are considering venturing into the Home Services industry or have already started:
I’ve started writing more detailed content focusing on the basics.
New content every few days for next few weeks and then weekly moving forward.
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Always add 10% to estimates for Indians so you can give them the discount when they inevitably request it.
Trust me on this.
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Sounds like you should do it yourself then.
$140 is barely worth answering the phone for, let alone setting up your account, acquiring part, scheduling install, and then billing it out.
To be fair though, can’t really expect customers to understand this.
I just got off the phone with an automotive shop that quoted me $140
For a part that cost $7 & I can do myself
How do you like to find honest businesses to work with?
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One solo-tradesman can (relatively) easily pull in $250k/year after getting established.
They can hire a few hands to help but it won’t make much of a difference because now they’re a part-time babysitter.
At 4-5 guys, they can’t do billable work anymore. Generally, they’re
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I do not understand the people who build their identities around refusing to buy/finance nice cars.
Ok bro, we get it. You don’t mind driving beaters. Congratulations.
Here’s the reality:
If $500-$1,000/month is going to keep you from achieving your financial goals, you’re
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Had an employee purchase a tool for personal use on company card without asking/telling.
Asked who it was, he said it was him and that he’d bring cash the next week.
Still nothing. Been waiting to see if he “remembers”
How are YOU handling it?
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I’m just gonna say it:
I think you are certifiably insane if you think it’s a good idea to acquire a trade business with no experience in the industry yourself.
Doesn’t mean you won’t be successful obviously. But you are nuts for thinking it’s likely to go well.
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X:
“Plumbers and Electricians making bank right now! Get into the trades.”
My Electrician:
“I’m trying to find an inspector job but if it doesn’t work out I’d be interested in working for you. I also know some freshly carded journeyman who can’t find work.”
🤷🏻♂️
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Based on personal experience *so far*
Unless you plan on building out a full team of 15-20 employees (minimum), you might as well stay solo.
The money isn’t that much better once you get a small team. You can’t do any billable work so you’re relying on guys to generate
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“Man I gotta start a plumbing biz, look at this bill! $500 to snake this drain? These margins must be insane.
Average age of a plumber is what, 50? And none of them know how to even run their business!”
- 🤡
Have fun wrangling in all the former (or current) drunks, drug
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Look I know it’s a difficult concept to grasp but your “per square foot pricing” is irrelevant when it comes to most remodel work.
Especially smaller products. Best example?
I’m not tiling your 6x5 bathroom for $450 brah. Get real.
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I’ve always found Indians to be very polite but they are BY FAR the cheapest mf’ers I’ve dealt with 😂
“Hello, can I get same day service? Are there discounts available? There’s nothing you can do?”
It’s like clockwork every single time. Hard for me to not laugh
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Are you a homeowner waiting on an estimate from a contractor?
Here’s what you should do (in order):
1. Make sure you’re not insane/give off crazy vibes.
2. Shoot them a call/text/email *kindly* requesting an update.
If they still don’t respond, it’s because:
- you’re
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Telling kids to “get into the trades” without any additional context or personal experience is the same as:
“You should go to college” advice.
Both require nuance. There are a lot of bad routes to take in the trades. A huge number of tradesman make $25-$30/hr.
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Plumbing & Electrical are great. Absolutely can’t go wrong entering into either field.
But if I had to do it all over again, and I wasn’t planning on actually actually scaling a company?
100% going craftsman route. Carpentry, Masonry, whatever.
Get paid to build beautiful
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“I want to get into home services but don’t know where to start!”
No skills:
- cleaning (all kinds)
- landscape maintenance
- pest control (takes some research)
Basic skillset:
- painting/staining
- LVP & Laminate flooring install
- light handyman (blinds, tv mounts,
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Why your plumber is charging you $140/hr (or more) to work on your 🏠:
1. He spent 4-6 years doing shit work (pun intended) for $25-$30/hr
2. You didn’t.
& most importantly
3. 80% of homeowners are psychotic and you probably fall into that category.
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I tell everybody I hire on day 1 that I will support them if they choose to go out on their own.
My only request is they let me know their plans beforehand and don’t try to take customers.
I’ve made it clear that I would use them on future projects as subs.
I’ve had one guy
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It’s hard to overstate how much opportunity there is for a solopreneur tradesman doing residential work.
If you’re good, it really does become a name your price type of gig. Takes 1-2 years to reach this.
I moved on from it, but there’s nothing wrong with those who don’t want
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Homeowners need “small project GC’s”
Pipe burst and flooded your room? Insurance sends ServPro out right away and they think it’s handled.
Once they realize only the mitigation is being handled, then the real work begins.
You think they want to handle lining up:
-
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Just for the hell of it I’m gonna break down how I’d have bid
@CollinJHumphrey
's bathroom job (pictured below).
Take it with a grain of salt because idk what exterior looked like and don’t know what amount of electrical work was required for heated floors.
All line items
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Don’t underestimate proper grammar/punctuation when writing estimates.
Also, write a full scope of work out. Being clear/concise on what is and isn’t included, as well as the process gives customer peace of mind.
“install flooring - $4,000” doesn’t cut it.
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I want to meet the contractor doing all of this for $5,400.
Renovation cost breakdown👇🏽
Love a good before and after.
This unit was another cash for keys situation. Rent was at $800. Tenant had not paid for months, had a crazy dog and enough was enough. Instead of a 5 month long eviction that costs $1,300 and 5 months of lost rent, we
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@justincgohn
Can’t trust other parents to ensure safety for your kids, not to mention just poor parenting practices in general.
Worst case, they end up getting sexually abused. Happens extremely often.
Will never let our kids do it, other than with a very select few who we trust 100%.
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It is so painfully obvious who has and has not operated a business in this thread.
The divide between business owner/w2 employee is wide. Even more so, those inside and outside of service industry.
Still, one can understand it to some extent. Is what it is.
Sounds like you should do it yourself then.
$140 is barely worth answering the phone for, let alone setting up your account, acquiring part, scheduling install, and then billing it out.
To be fair though, can’t really expect customers to understand this.
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“I’d like to get it done before next week if the price is right.”
🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
So you want expedited service at a discounted rate?
Next.
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Roofing is a super attractive business until somebody on your crew dies because you’re more focused on sales than safety.
It is the most dangerous occupation in construction.
OSHA fines for not being tied off can exceed $10k.
Really cannot overstate caution here.
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People love to bitch about contractors never calling back, being shady, etc etc etc
Yet when they find a decent one they beat them down on price until they’re barely making ends meet.
Can’t have it both ways folks.
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I probably shouldn’t be giving away (almost) the whole playbook, but I’m going to anyways because many of you need it.
A solopreneur tradesman gold mine:
Property Management Co’s
- what the work looks like
- how to find the right company
- & much more
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Another week, another payroll made.
Last two months have honestly fucking sucked, but things are starting to turn around.
There has been a ton of challenges trying to scale this company relatively quickly. The biggest?
Getting techs to be profitable within 1-2 months of
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A skilled tradesman with half-decent social skills & a stay at home wife can double his salary in 1-2 years striking it out on his own.
“You can’t compete against the big guys!”
👆 is nonsense.
There’s more than enough work. You just need to be more creative with marketing.
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We have officially reached “I don’t even know when we can schedule you” busy.
Of course we’re not telling customers that. But by design, we’ve always tried to be available for most small projects within 1-2 weeks and service within 1-2 days.
Big Man pouring out blessings rn 🙏
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How much can you really expect of an employee making $25 to $30/hr in trades?
Thats barely enough to afford rent in most places (if that). Maybe $5-$7 more than if they were working entry level job at large corp.
Yet customers (homeowners) expect the world. It’s a tough biz.
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Getting a lot more “you guys staying busy?” questions lately.
Not a great sign.
Thankfully we are but at the same time we are seeing a lot more competitive prices. So I must ask…
You guys stayin’ busy? 😂
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$65k in estimates sent today so far. Maybe another $15k by end of day.
Somewhere around $250k left to get done on the board and counting.
Phones ringing off the hook. We do not currently have a lead gen problem.
Time to hire 🤷🏻♂️
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Full transparency here:
I currently have about $200.00 cash.
My intuition tells me to invest it into an S&P 500 fund until I find another worthwhile venture.
For those with more knowledge than myself, is this a bad plan?
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“Man I’m tired of staring at screens all day. I’m gonna start a blue collar business and get away from all this.”
Boy do I have a surprise for you 😂
Crazy how much time we all have to spend in front of a computer or on the phone these days. Even in trades.
It’s nauseating.
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The only reason to do a “minimum service charge” type of job is the potential for upsells/recurring work.
If a customer “just needs something done really quick” and balks at the idea of paying $150, it’s a dead end and of no benefit.
Not personal, just business.
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@mikej36
People who balk at $140 for a small job are not going to be return customers of any value.
Those who value the service understand $140 is not that much money. If that amount is a lot to them, you can be almost certain they won’t be signing onto a larger job.
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Unfortunate reality:
No matter how good you are at your trade, if your personality sucks you’ll have a tough time selling jobs.
Get good at first impressions. That means:
- answering phone with positive attitude
- communicate clearly
- clean vehicle/appearance
🤷🏻♂️
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Deck building is so hard on the body, especially solo. Carpentry is easily top 3 hardest trades physically.
Leveraging all that weight, controlling it precisely, up and down ladders/steps/etc.
You’re gonna be sore if you haven’t done it. Even if you’re in-shape.
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“We’re not paying.”
*files lien*
“Can you give me a call? We’d like to settle this today and get you paid.”
Yeah that’s what I fucking thought.
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“I could probably do it myself but I’d have to go buy the tools and watch a bunch of videos. Don’t really have time for that.”
👆 is exactly right.
It’s also why, when you really think about it, paying somebody $100-$120/hr isn’t actually all that expensive.
They have the
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My DM’s are officially open for business.
I’ve largely ignored them up until now, mainly because I can’t keep up with them and work both.
However, requests for calls/consults have gotten to the point where I probably shouldn’t ignore.
I will setup a calendly this week. I
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Once you start taking on bigger projects you understand why you see boats named “Change Order”
😂😂😂
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Spent the weekend with extended family, one of which runs a $200m/year trade business.
His current plan is to sell in the next 3-4 years. He thinks he can get an 8x multiple (I have no reason to doubt him)
Was a very humbling experience. A few takeaways from listening to him:
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First thing I would do before even getting business fully up and running is set up checking & credit accounts (try anyway)
Don’t even bother searching for what’s best. I’ll tell you now:
- Chase Business Ink (we use Cash)
Make sure you have:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred or
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If you’re not a good problem solver don’t even bother starting a business.
They are never ending.
Somedays it just feels like we’re playing whack-a-mole with them. Prevent what you can, but keep a hammer handy.
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Customer reaches out looking for an estimate. Nice property, good sized project, no red flags.
Until…
“My husband’s a contractor he just doesn’t have time to do all of this.”
You still taking that job?
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If your contractor is giving you a cash discount larger than 2-3% you might want to consider the implications.
Legitimate businesses don’t play those games in my experience.
Small contractors you know personally? Bit of a different story. Anybody else?
Not a great sign.
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You make $300/day working for somebody else.
Using the same exact skills, you could double that income (conservatively), write off all vehicle costs, insurance, phone, etc.
& never have to ask anybody for a day off again.
“Yeah but that’s still a job!”
🤷🏻♂️
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“I’m not looking for anything crazy here. I’d do it myself I just don’t have time.”
👆 translates to:
“I don’t have any money and I’m not going to accept your bid.”
🚩🚩🚩🚩
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A lot of time selling a job really just comes down to vibes. Not every customer is looking for the cheapest bid.
People want a fair price and good work, yes. But they also want to feel comfortable with who’s in their home and running the job.
Gotta sell yourself first.
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There’s a rather large opportunity for “Small Project GC’s” in the residential space.
The actual scope of work can vary from contractor to contractor, but it’s a very underserved market.
Handymen don’t necessarily fit the bill here, because it requires that next level of
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Just want to reiterate:
The purpose of this account (especially moving forward) is to be a centralized educational resource for home service industry beginners.
Not doing “courses” and I will never promote bullsh*t like “make $40k/month working 5/hrs week”.
I enjoy writing
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Really cannot overstate how important it is to keep foot on pedal when momentum is in your favor.
In the past every time we got a flush of new leads I was overwhelmed and couldn’t handle it.
We’re better equipped this spring. Bullish is an understatement right now.
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Sometimes just making payroll is a win on certain weeks.
I’ve been fortunate to never miss it but I’ve certainly come close.
Curious how many people have actually not been able to pay it. I don’t think I’ve ever had somebody personally tell me IRL their employer couldn’t pay.
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I’ve been sore from working out, and I’ve been sore from working hard.
I can tell you this much:
The guy’s out there used to the latter are a different breed of men.
They basically workout for 6+ hours/day. They may not be the most “jacked”, but they are absolute work
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Exposure to X is both a blessing & a curse at times.
You get to see how the big dogs approach business in a way you never would IRL.
Problem is you start to think it’s the only way to do things.
Everybody here wants you to build for an exit, but the percentage of businesses
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Unless you’re really hurting for work, you might as well raise your prices.
People will think you’re expensive at $80/hour, and they’ll think you’re expensive at $120/hour.
It’s just the way it is. They still need the work done & if you’re good, they’ll pay it.
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IMHO when you’re choosing between a CRM for your service business there’s really only two choices:
1. ServiceTitan
or
2. Housecall Pro
The others just don’t compare. But you can’t start out with ST, it’s geared for big boys.
HCP though…👌
I’ll be writing on it soon.
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Feel like being “busy” as a business owner comes in waves.
There’s always things to do obviously, even if you’re short on work for guys (if anything you’re more busy then)
But the sense of urgency fluctuates. Some days I go golf on a Tuesday, and on others I can’t even stop
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A realistic income as the owner of a small Home Services business:
$150k to $250k
But it varies significantly based on time in business, service offered, & how many employees you have.
You’ll probably make more solo then you will the first 1-3 years with employees.
Don’t
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If a customer tells me they’re getting that many quotes, I get it done ASAP and write it off as unlikely to close.
We’re never the cheapest and most people that tell a contractor they’re getting that many just want the the cheapest guy.
No sweat though, I get it 🤷🏻♂️
@homeservguy
Quotes take a lot of time. What do you think of customers that get 3 or 4 quotes? The customer in me thinks it's a great idea. The contractor in me doesn't like it much.
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The responses to this post are ridiculous.
I am not suggesting it’s a bad route. I’m simply stating it ain’t all sunshine and rainbows.
Not everything should be taken in the context of absolutes. Nuance people.
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Insurance company:
“Your material cost is too low and labor is too high. We’re gonna need you to revise this.”
Contracts been signed and jobs completed bubs. Why they think this is negotiable…😂
Lien incoming.
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If you’re running a solo-handyman business, all it takes is ONE decent sized property management company to keep you busy.
Learn the following:
- drywall repair
- flooring
- paint
- basic carpentry work
- general home repair
NEVER do any work you’re not confident in or
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All men should own a truck.
Idc if you drive a car regularly, but not having a truck is..odd.
Wtf do you guys do when you need to haul or move something?
You can’t beat the versatility. Also, something about a truck just feels right on a deeper level.
It’s the modern
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A few techs have been sharing financial concerns lately.
Furnaces out & can’t afford replacement, cost of formula/food, selling vehicles, etc
Guys fixing your house can’t even afford to keep up their own.
Want to do more but can only do so much. Ultimately up to them to
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I’m not slinging remote home service business courses.
Don’t bother asking.
I’m here to help people build true local service businesses, with an established presence & W2 employees.
Plenty of guys here who can teach you how to setup a website & LSA account.
Not me.
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The percentage of contractors who actually know what they’re doing is lower than you think.
It’s even lower when we’re talking about general business ownership.
But that’s ok. What really matters is level of integrity & the ability to figure things out.
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Preservation of capital is important at all sizes, but particularly when just *starting out* with limited funds.
Quickest way to burn through money? Advertising. AVOID:
1. Google Ads.
There are exceptions, but if you’re going to try and run them yourself? You’ll waste
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@gas_biz
An entirely new septic tank probably. Seems unlikely it’s just the lid that’s damaged
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Most overlooked aspect of managing employees:
Dealing with all of their personal issues. They don’t get left at home, whether you think they should or not.
Some petty, some serious. Either way you have to manage around them.
It’s daunting at times. Almost forget your own.
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I’m not exaggerating when I say this:
Our most recent hire has received positive remarks from every single customer he has worked for.
People going out of their way to let us know how happy they are. Best part?
He’s 24 years old.
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$20k bathroom remodel accepted today, with another $12k around corner for next shower (& hopefully $40k in basement finishes).
$5k in change orders. $35k in estimates.
Think we booked around $50k total this week all said and done.
Wasn’t expecting to be this busy in January.
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People outside of service industry don’t understand that most customers aren’t “good” customers. More often they’re neutral/bad than good.
This varies from business to business obviously. But the saying of “customers always right” or something to that effect is complete & total
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I’m 98% positive that (almost) anybody can make at least $100k/year operating a solo home services company.
Top end is probably $175k-$200k for basic services.
$250k-$350k for skilled trades.
Will the biz be “worth” anything? No, not for most. But it probably beats their
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$35k renovation lead from Google LSA at a cost of a whopping $75.
Absolute gold mine if you’re offering higher ticket services. I cross-sell on a regular basis with these leads.
“We’d be happy to give a bid for painting. Are you guys interested in a quote on flooring as well?”
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States should not be requiring journeyman licensing for basic electrical and plumbing repairs.
Homeowners are allowed to wire and plumb their entire homes in many states.
Yet a handyman technically speaking isn’t allowed to swap out a fixture in many cases.
Complete BS.
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After 3-4 months of having your business number listed online, marketing companies will start calling. They’ll offer spots on:
- golf courses
- grocery stores
- restaurants
- realtor pamphlets
also radio shows
Great way to burn a few grand for 0 leads!
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If I was starting over from scratch, I’d do the following in order to acquire work:
(after doing all the preliminary admin stuff)
1. Tell EVERYONE you know about what you’re doing.
2. Setup Google My Business / Local Service Ads immediately & do everything they recommend
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@jhoysradt
Haha wow that’s something.
Yeah there’s no getting around that, gotta fire immediately.
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Two $25k projects cancelled in the last two weeks.
One of them was an approved estimate, the other actually had a contract signed.
Estimate backed out due to a cheaper bid, contract backed out because we requested he make the deposit by the due date otherwise we’d have to
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Just got a call on a bigger job we originally looked at back in spring.
Probably $80k or so, maybe more.
With that on the books + other projects in pipeline & day-to-day service calls, we’re basically booked for 2023.
Good spot to be in coming into winter.
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We are so busy right now I hardly have time to think during the day. Just nonstop “reacting” to phone calls, texts, emails, issues, etc
Really shining a light on all of our operational inefficiencies (of which are many 😂)
Better than being without work but good lord. Hard to
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**Home Service Biz Owner Day**
6:30 AM: wake up, get ready/check messages & emails for call outs/customer inquiries
7:00 AM: pour coffee, start truck/feed chickens, say goodbye to whoever’s up
8:00 AM: pop zyn, slam 20 oz coffee, line up crews for day, go over current
**Tanning owner day in the life**
7:45am: Alarm goes off, check bank account and if an employee called out, we’re good!
8:45am: Large iced coffee with no ice from McDonald’s. I like to watch them panic and ask their manager what to do, good way to learn management
9:00am:
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“Just gotta build some systems bro!”
I fully agree. But it’s A LOT easier said than done when you’re still the guy cranking the flywheel in your business.
Even more so when you’re growing quickly and things are changing just as fast.
This isn’t me saying “oh it’s too hard”
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We would have quoted very close to the same here.
People on X don’t understand how much variance there is across the country in pricing.
New Construction guys always lose their minds when they see remodel pricing. It is NOT the same game.
This bathroom we did went from boring to a spa in 3.5 weeks. I charged $31k not including the vanity, mirrors, fixtures, and tile. The customer was ecstatic on how it turned out and was so glad he chose my company to do the work. The year before he got ripped off from another GC
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I don’t think most people realize how much of a demand there is for contractors willing to odd-ball projects.
“Hey I had a tree fall into my house/deck. Can you give me a quote to repair?”
“We want to install some polycarbonate roofing over our pergola. Is this something you
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If you’ve just started a business & are trying to get jobs booked:
Avoid Google PPC Ads.
Why? Because you have no idea what you’re doing and if you think you can start an effective campaign yourself, you’re mistaken.
You’ll burn through $2k before you know it. Hire a pro.
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If you’re the type of customer who requests (basically demands) a discount because a job went quicker than expected:
I just want you to know that I despise you as a human being.
Only exception is if this scenario was laid out beforehand. Otherwise, flat rate is flat rate.
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Getting some major “slow down” vibes at the moment.
Companies calling/sending out emails checking in on us. Seeing if we need anything.
Customers really dragging ass on estimates (& payments)
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NO SENIOR DISCOUNTS
Sell your house that you bought for $50k that’s now worth 20x that if you can’t afford to maintain it.
You’ve had plenty of time to stack some cash. Not running an IHOP here.
(except widows, they get it for free/at cost)
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I cannot emphasize this enough:
Do NOT get into the habit of discounting work for family/friends (immediate family obviously an exception)
It’s a slippery slope. I’ve done it myself and to be honest, have probably lost out on > $100k in revenue this year alone because of it.
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So many of the guys following this account are incredibly impressive contractors.
I do plan on putting out some paid content for what I know, but my real goal?
Create a community where we can get all these guys together for mutual benefit.
Win/Win for everybody.
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