How to find consistent work when you're also offering free services?
Hello. I have been struggling to find jobs. Any ideas? I am trying to get enough jobs so I can continue to give free services to the elderly and so I can invest into the next generation of blue collar workers. We have a career tech center for construction trades. The rate at which they actually go into a trades job is slim now. I want to hire some of them and teach and invest into them. When they graduate they would be gifted with their own company and I help them keep growing their companies and teaching them. My goal is to have the next generation of the trades to have their own companies and to become Jack of All Trades. I would pay for all their certifications if they choose that. But finding jobs to start this has been difficult. Any ideas?Why I Went Away From the Handyman Brand
I remember when i first started doing coaching programs, a lot of coaches told me that anyone that was a handyman would eventually turn in to a remodeling contractor or something more. I didn't want to believe it. I was thinking, "I'm going to be the first to really elevate the handyman brand". I fought it for years and years. I even was able to do $1.2 in revenue as a "handyman". But I also felt like i was fighting against a head wind. Anytime I told someone our rates, I got SOOO much price resistance. I was sort of immune to it. I mean, I was still getting people accepting quotes. But I also started noticing the small jobs were a lot of work for just a couple hundred bucks profit. I still had to get all these job details and vet the jobs, then if it went sideways, POOF we're working for free. When I was on my own it was kind of a dream. Just being professional, showing up on time, and doing what I said I would do made me stand out and it was like shooting fish in a barrel. But when I had employees ... the cost to have people was very expensive, everyone is belly aching about price, and those big remodel jobs were hard to sell because who's going to pay a handyman $40k for anything? Especially a kitchen with high end finishes? That was the turning point. I had a bathroom where they wanted all this crazy stuff but I could tell they were second guessing me. They could tell I knew what I talked about but they hit up a knowledgeable handyman for a price break, not to be charged full price. I wonder how many times this happened and I didn't notice. smh So I changed my name to "Home Pros" instead of handyman. What's the first thing I noticed? My employees were relieved. Turns out a carpenter of 25 years doesn't want to be called a handyman. Now I notice when people call me that, my belly turns and I get a little offended too! haha My initial discovery calls were a little easier. My walk throughs were a little easier. I started booking bigger jobs with ease. The brand identity flowed with the service we were offering instead of running against it. I'm writing this not to dissuade anyone from being a "handyman". I think it's noble to be a handyman. You have to think about so many different thing just to do something as easy as a faucet install. What's the condition of the cabinet and countertop, are the shut off valves shot, am i able to fit under the sink, etc etc. People don't appreciate how many different ways simple jobs can go sideways. BUT in my opinion, Handymen are great for one person shows. Why? The handyman brand can be a lead machine. EVERYONE searches for that. As one person, you could easily make $250k per year by yourself with really low overhead. That's great money. I do know a couple larger handyman companies but they're services offered are very fixed, they don't take on special projects. This means that a lot the higher ticket stuff is off the table. Which means you need a lot more jobs to get to that seven figure mark everyone wants to get to. For me, it wasn't worth the head ache. I wanted to do the larger projects. Also, because of the variability of handyman projects, it's hard to have a good team, and it costs a lot so the required revenue amount to sustain things when you have employees is a significant jump than when you are operating on your own. And those experienced guys, might not be attracted to being called a handyman. Now this is just my opinion and lived experience so I'd be curious to hear if anyone actually read this whole thing but had a opposing view point. But much love to the handymen out there, you have my respect!Roll call! Meet & introduce yourself to other Service-based Skilled Trade pros
If you’ve ever thought, “How are other businesses like mine handling this?” you’re in the right place! This space is for Service-Based Skilled Trades pros to connect, compare notes, and talk shop with others who understand the day-to-day realities of running your type of business. 👋 Introduce Yourself Drop a comment and tell us: Your name Business name Industry Years in business Location (City/State/Province) Let us know if you’re joining us for LIVE networking on March 17 (more details below) The more context you share, the better connections you’ll make. 🙌 Pro tip: Search your city or state in the forum to easily find other pros in your area. 📅 Want to connect LIVE? We’re running a pilot to host virtual weekly LIVE Industry Networking starting on March 17, running until April 7. If you’d be interested in joining for the first or following sessions (don’t need to commit to all but you're welcome to join!), make sure to let us know in the comments. 🤝 Culture of this space Think of this forum board like a room full of peers who understand your world. Share what’s working. Ask real questions. Talk through challenges. The goal is to power your success and raise the standard of home service industries together. 💬 Looking for conversation starters? This space works best when conversations are industry-specific and experience-based. You might jump in with something like: “How are other [your industry] pros pricing this service right now?” “Is anyone else seeing this shift in their market?” “What’s been working for you when it comes to ____?” 🤔 Why are industries grouped together? We’ve intentionally clustered similar industries to keep conversations active and relevant. These groupings reflect shared business models, operational challenges, and pricing conversations so you can learn from peers who “get it,” even if they’re not in your exact trade. If your question applies to all home service businesses, feel free to post in our broader forum boards. Pro tip: Check out the industry tags to get even more specific Looking forward to seeing this space come to life. 🚀
Section for Vendors or Subs
Please help develop a functions to add 3rd party vendors/subs that may be used as needed or 1-time. The primary point would be contact and database of vendors with info and docs needed for our team to access if needed as well as would be nice for them to have scheduling, invoicing with pics and job tracking capabilities.How I Finally Delegated Estimating (Without Hiring Another Person)
For years, estimating was the one thing I couldn’t take off my plate. We changed the org chart. We hired roles. Delegated everything we could. But estimating? That was always me. Even if I wasn’t doing anything else in the business... I was still stuck quoting jobs. It was the bottleneck I couldn’t fix—until now. I built a ChatGPT-powered estimator trained with my systems, my pricing, and my language. It asks the right questions, runs the math, and delivers estimates like I would—without me being involved. Now I’m no longer the bottleneck. Customers get quick answers. I get my evenings and weekends back. Want to build your own? Map out your estimating logic. Plug it into ChatGPT. Test and refine. If you're stuck working all day and doing estimates at night and on Saturdays anddddd, sometimes even Sunday mornings when everyone's sleeping—this might be your way out. Heres my direct Zoom link if you'd like to learn more: https://calendly.com/ryaan-besthandymancompany/bh-plan-phone-consultationWhat's Standard Gross Profit for Your Industry?
I once listened to Tom Reber preach about 50% gross profit and how if you aren't aiming for that, you are going to hurt yourself short/ longer term. He was basically saying, for every dollar you make, you need to make two. This has been super impactful for me and my business but I'm noticing on my really big projects, it's so hard to keep that. I have one $120k exterior BBQ that has definitely had some inefficiencies but we are probably looking at 35% end of day. But that's 35% of a large $$ so that is kind of ok. For those of you who do a good job tracking this (btw Jobber's gross profit calculator is objectively amazing for this btw)- what is your gross profit and what do you usually shoot for?
