I am in the same situation as 1HumblePainter2 . My job requires overtime to finish what is scheduled and random Saturdays with little notice. the only day to work on my business that would be unaffected by my job is Sunday. Do people really want contractors coming to their home late at night say like with a window of 5-8pm? Monday through Saturday or on Sunday?
I've got a friend who works in my business, and by the time he's out — sometimes 4 or 5 PM — he'd go run his own handyman jobs. He built that thing up doing exactly the hours you're describing.
Here in the LA area, 5-8 PM is still good daylight for most of the year. And for smaller residential homes and apartments, that's when people are actually home and free to get things handled. A lot of them love it. Same with Sundays — that's when the homeowner is around, not rushing off to work.
So I'd flip it: instead of seeing evenings and Sundays as a limitation, target the people who want honest work at fair prices without paying big-company rates, done at a time that actually works for them. Most of the big outfits won't show up outside 8-4, so you're serving customers they've already given up on. That's not a disadvantage — that's your opening.
Thank you for sharing this perspective! I really like how you turned what many people see as a limitation into an opportunity. That's encouraging for those of us who are building a business while balancing other responsibilities.
I hadn't thought about the fact that evenings and Sundays are actually more convenient for many homeowners. It makes a lot of sense that being available when customers are home can become a competitive advantage instead of a setback.
I appreciate you taking the time to share this real-life example. It's motivating to hear that someone was able to grow their business by staying consistent and making the most of the hours they had. Thank you for the encouragement!
Appreciate that. Honestly, the bigger issue I see is that a lot of guys aren't taking advantage of social media and all the free tools available now. A friend of mine runs a one-man show and has the reviews and ratings to compete with companies ten times his size — he just showed up consistently and asked every customer for a review.
The hours you have are enough if you use them well. Keep up the good work.
