How I Run My UK Handyman Business Remotely from Vietnam

For years, I was deep in the day-to-day grind of running a handyman business in the UK—on the tools, quoting jobs, chasing leads, and constantly firefighting. It wasn’t until I started building proper systems that I could finally step back and work on my business instead of in it.

One of the biggest bottlenecks I faced—right up there with hiring reliable subcontractors—was quoting. Driving out to jobs just to quote ate up time, fuel, and momentum. It was inefficient, and I knew it had to change if I wanted to scale.

Fast forward to today: I now live in Vietnam and operate the business fully remotely. The shift has only been possible thanks to the systems I’ve built—particularly around lead handling and quoting.

We’ve leaned heavily into WhatsApp quoting. It’s fast, convenient for customers, and lets us triage leads without wasting site visits. But what makes it really work is our lead scoring matrix. It helps us determine—based on a few key inputs—whether we:

• Send a WhatsApp video request,
• Offer an instant rough online quote, or
• Recommend a full in-person visit.

This automated decision-making process has transformed how we handle incoming leads. It’s a win-win: customers get faster answers, and we save time while focusing on high-value jobs.