Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. In fact, handyman hourly rates are all over the map. So, where do you fit in on this scale? Write down a list of all of your expenses and an approximate monthly total for each. Spend time and try to think of all of your expenses, even the ones you only pay once a year. Make sure not to leave anything out. Include entertainment and even a little extra for unexpected expenses. The idea here is see how much living actually costs.

If saving money for retirement is part of your lifestyle, make sure and include that, too. Now, list your handyman business expenses and assign a monthly value to each expense. Once again, include everything. Here is a list of most handyman business expenses. Figure out your tax responsibilities by doing a little research. Here are some taxes you will be required to pay.

However, this list is not all inclusive and you may have other tax obligations outside of these. I am not a tax professional and am only providing the following information as an example. Your specific tax obligations may be different and you may consider consulting with a professional.

Self Employment Tax — For the year of , self employment taxes are set at The more you make, the higher the percentage of taxes you will pay. For the purpose of figuring out your hourly rate, you will need to estimate this tax. State Income Tax — Check with your state to find out if you need to pay this tax.

Once you have an estimated percentage for each tax, add them all up to come up with your total tax percentage. The next step is to figure out how many billable hours you are going to work each month assuming you have the business. You may be thinking that 40 hours is a good estimate.

Cost of a Handyman - Estimates and Prices Paid - cyzopuk.web.fc2.com

In reality, however, with all of the quoting, following up, driving time, etc. Enjoy that freedom and set a limit on your billable hours. This allows me time to improve my business, have a personal life, and run this blog. I recommend you do the same. Now that you have an understanding of your costs and how much you think is a reasonable time to work, you can do some quick calculations to see how much you need to charge to live the lifestyle you have designed for yourself.

It goes like this: The next step is to evaluate this hourly rate and determine if how you can provide that much value in one hour. Is the number you came up with reasonable? I made that mistake and it cost me tens of thousands in my first year as a handyman. Instead, learn the business skills you need so you can gain the confidence to charge what you should.

There a dozens of tips and tricks that can help you add thousands in profit each year while keeping your customer happy:.

Thank you for your advise. I was looking for some guidance to set a fee for handyman services and I have an answer now. You MUST convey to the customer that you are licensed and insured and that you have to charge enough to stay in business to honor the warranty that comes with your work and that to do this, you have to charge X number of dollars. Has anyone ever done business with a customer who is also handy themselves? Yep, some customers are just flat our terrible to work for. When the owner wants you to do it his own way, like do not use primer or only put party no gasket.

Big D, Excellent commentary. Another value to a quality handyman who is ethical is that the customer can trust him with their home and contents. The biggest referral I received came from a man whom I had never met before. That trust and confidence cannot be bought and it also gives a great sense of protection to the customer. Trust is one of the largest factors in whether or not somebody will hire you. Thanks for the insight. Developing and fine tuning those skills to properly and professionally speak to clients is the number 1 hardest to achieve for most new Business owners.

Being polite and personable. Being very skilled in your trade and knowing what your talking about. How you dress and overall appearance does make a huge difference. If your a professional then one should dress accordingly. THAT GOES FOR a HANDYMAN as well!!!! If you get that dirty and your going to give n estimate for the first time, you want to look professional. I knw that sounds far fetched if your a carpenter or painter etc…. On the other hand, for a rare few, they were just born personable and a gift of gab.

Remember Clients want to know that you actually care about the issue their having. Believe me that is important! Make it a good one! Let your client speak, even if they talk your ear off. In todays state of technology, you should have the client if possible send you pictures of what they are looking to fix, install or get rid of!

PICTURES SPEAK A THOUSAD WORDS! Not to mention this saves you the handyman a lot of h in the hardship in the long run. Your client may not be able to articulate what they are wanting done SO BY ALL MEANS LET THEM TALK. As stated by this main blogger, Building Trust, open lines of communication, reliability, and good ethical work habits is essential.. This is what we all strive for. Your on your way to success: O Might I add that networking with reliable other professionals is a huge plus!

This is a great Blog page. Interpersonal communication skills advisor. Great topic, Big D. The prevailing thought on total number of billable hours due to the paper work, etc. Some suggest that you begin with what you would like to earn a year, and go from there with expenses, payroll burden if any — and this goes beyond the amt.

I thank you for sharing your very valueable information. It has really helped me in adjusting my business plan. This has also been my biggest struggle is what to charge per hour and also how long does it take to do each task. I am trying to take as good notes as possible so when I do a similiar job I am more realistic in time to do and of course price.

I love reading your blog. Hey Big D, can you simplify the calculation above for the 5 tip. Some of use did not do algebra. But, if you copy and past the equation into a google search and just change the numbers to your own, Google will do the math for you!

Hey D ,as a new handyman buisness owner ,I have a soft spot for senior citzens they get a discount plus ,I still lower my rates to help them out even more. Some senior members seem to want to take advantage of my services.

Think its time to stop giving double discounts to those that can afford it. Have a great day. I will charge You can spend lots of time setting up your Tools and drop sheets etc to protect the customers property. Skilled handyman work is a profession. The expenses run well beyond taxes and the obvious costs. Customer sanctification is essential. Be firm on your price,no negotiating. Work within your limits. On jobs that are beyond your ability be ready to still help the customer and hook them up with a reliable outfit that specializes in that particular work.

Follow up by calling the person within a week to make sure the other outfit did satisfactory work. You will have a customer for life. There is no such thing as a 40 hour work week when your self employed,get over it or go work for someone else. Never engage in price negotiation nor try to explain to the customer why the cost is what it is.

Investment in parts is essential along with tools,that cost will be surprisingly high. Present a detailed billing to the customer. Parts and labor cost should be itemized. Be professional in every word and action. Repeat and new word of mouth customers will be your bread and butter. These are the customers you want,they are more interested in a quality job and not bottom basement shoppers. The list could go on but unless your making a living with the ability to save for retirement your going to go out of business..

Price like a professional because the only handyman services that thrive are professionals,not day laborers. Thanks for the insight George! Always appreciate others perspectives. Had a handy man do some simple work. Trim under stair lip, four short pieces of quarter round and rehang a kitchen cabinet door with new hinges.

Brought a friend that he was teaching the whole time he was working. Charged me for 3. What would a job like this usually run for time? Nothing worse than somebody standing over ya questioning your every move. And Dan, I really appreciate your blog. You have really helped answer a lot of questions I had and made me feel more confident about the choices, pricing, and business model that I have to decided to work with.

I have worked for property owners in the rental business for years as an extremely hard working but extremely underpaid hourly employee and I am currently in the process of transitioning into owning and operating my own handyman business.

You have literally answered every question I had and helped me make every decision I was struggling with. Tomorrow I have a final meeting with a large company that is buying up every property in the area that I live in and I already know that I got the account and at a rate that my work is worth for a change.

Thanks for all your insight brother. Nag and question every move we make and that makes our job harder and as such, makes the price go up. Consider it an Annoyance Tax.

If you want cheap, find a Craigslist Contractor and then call a real contractor when you get screwed. Only started the handyman company a few months ago, but I used to have a roofing company and I always ended up in the high-end neighborhoods where I would charge WAY more than I would in my own neighborhood.

No matter how much you charge there will always be somebody who is cheaper. Not everyone is your customer and some will turn you down for your price. In fact, if nobody is turning you down for your price, you should consider raising it. But again, you need a good enough marketing system in place to generate enough leads to where you can afford to lose some customers.

Just got my license and was curious if charging by the hour bypasses rules like this? You should talk to an investigator in California who deals with contracting violations. I am also in California and I was wondering what handyman license did you get in California? Is it just a business lic? I have tried to look for something like that but have not been successful. I have looked as deeply into this as I can without hiring a lawyer leaving aside for now the question of whether any two lawyers would even agree on this or any issue.

Unfortunately, the limits are not clearly laid out. And this is where I must wind down my answer because I could, literally, go on for pages. So to quote what I believe is the most relevant section from those State of California pages regarding whether a license is necessary for handymen: Is anyone exempt from the requirement to be licensed?

Here are some of the exemptions: But that can be my long-winded analysis for another time. After getting laid off of my professional job I have decided to start my own handyman Buisness and I thank you for this we sight. I have been in Buisness for about 3 weeks and all my jobs have turned out really well for the customer. I have managed to stay busy and at the same time most of my customers are of the older and retired people.

I pride myself in helping others. You see my wife came up with the idea of being a handyman because of all the experience I have gain throughout my working career. But, I have made a few mistakes along the way on pricing and it has really cost me at times.

I now charge a flat rate of It is the jobs that I underestimate that gives my service away at a lower than I can afford. For example, recently I had a job to install 5 canister lights in a living area and also change out 46 recepticals and both separate jobs in the same house I ran into unforeseen problems that happen while replacing things that added more time and money for materials.

My question is it fair to say that as a customer they should incure the extra cost or is it me the handyman that should absorb the extra cost for underestimating the jobs? Which is fair to both me and the customer? If there is anything outside of X, Y, and Z, that I need to do in order to finish the job, it could be extra.

Short answer is the customer should pay for any and all work and materials done outside of mistakes made by you. Or, quote high enough to compensate for that.

Do I tell them up front to buy them or give me the money or what exactly??? If you are quoting the job, you need to include the materials plus markup in your quote.

If you are charging hourly you will simply bill them for the materials once the job is completed. I was wondering if anybody here charges a higher hourly rate for commercial work.

Dan, I love your website and discussion forum! Thank you so much. The gray area is all the things in the middle. Good communication is the key. I can hang pictures, sturdy mounts, make sure everything is sunk into a stud. I can shim anything on feet, patch walls, build shelving units. I think I am a real handy man. Most of you are general contractors. Handyman can fix a squeaky door or make it flush again, but you need a real GC to put a door in properly. On some projects, I am basically good enough to tell you to hire a real plumber, electrician, or carpenter.

I am way better than the average hobbyist but I am not a professional at any of the elements of construction, maintenance, or whatever. I also fix computers or declare them dead. I charge 20 bucks for a consultation and the first hour, 30 after that. It is a part time thing that also exists so people quit asking me to do these same things for free. It is one thing for family and close friends, but then everyone wants the same hung curtains, flush shelves, at the same price of nothing..

I have been bouncing from one dead end job to another mostly in the warehouse industry. One of my family members recently approached me about doing some work for her around her house. She says that if I do a good job that she will recommend me to her friends. Then she wants me to build a gate about 6 feet across under the deck to where the ac units for the house are.

After the wood work is complete she wants me to pressure wash and paint the whole thing. There are also a couple of staircases attached. I was planning on this taking two days. One day to do the wood work and pressure wash, let it dry over night and then paint it the next day. She will supply all materials. Whenever you are relying on somebody else to market your business for you they basically have you by the balls.

Also, that job will probably take you twice as long as you expect. I hope it helps. Hi Dan, If we quote a project that we provide all the materials, what is the typical markup? It varies depending on where you source the materials, whether or not you get a special price, and many other things.

To the guy talking about extending a deck and building a gate. It takes knowledge usually attained by building decks, to alter one and extend it out. It also takes knowledge and experience to build a gate that functions correctly and is built to last. Also, are you going to prime it before you paint? Are you using the right paint for decks? These are very important questions. Hi , I have been working on houses since The crash pushed me out on my own in I have had customers balk at this.

I explain the reason i find this reasonable is, I am a professional in my field, I bring my experience and tools,materials to the job. If you take your car to the shop, you most likely will not personally meet ther person doing the work on your vehicle. Most people will not see their work. Wether I do a good job or bad job, they WILL tell their friends. After thirty years of working on houses, I am finally making proper money.

Customers who do not like my price are more than welcome to hire someone else. Trust is Number 1 for my clients. Some are snowbirds and want the work done while they are in warmer climates. Thanks for sharing this.

Handyman Salary

Always good to hear when somebody else has validated this same strategy in another part of the country. I am a GC in California with 30yrs in the business. Started as a handyman grew into a GC Builder, Remodeling, Handyman Company. My rates have always exceed everyone by far. I was borderline arrogant. I choose my customers and people respected that I was EXCELLENT at my profession.

Never had a problem getting paid. Truth os most of my customers called me to just have me thwir to do something so they could vent. Handymen are far more than the guy who repairs things around the house. I will never forget a customer calling me when their friend was killed, also when their child had to have heart surgery. They called for prayer because they knew I love the Lord and it showed in every thing I did.

God Bless those called to this wonderful profession, may the Lord bless you as he has and is doing me. I was honored to win the Entrepreneur of the Year in B, when did you start as a handyman, did you have experience in other work like it?

I am trying to start a small handyman business over the summer before I go back to school for engineering in the winter. I guess what to do durning lean months , or worrying about the wrong things. Hey Thomas can you give me some advice on how to go about getting started at getting my own business going?

Does that mean I should quit and try to make it on my own with handyman services? If you can justify charging more by offering a higher quality of service or specializing in a more profitable service, then starting your own business is a good option. Dan, I have been in business for a few years now. I have acquired a decent size customer base. I have many out of town customers with vacation homes here locally as well as property management companies I do work for.

I find that I set my bar too low in setting an hourly rate initially and would like to introduce a new pricing schedule to my current customers prior to it taking effect at the beginning of next year. Would you have any advice on how much of a price increase is acceptable, percentage wise, at any one time and what is a good gauge for setting new rate increases in reference to time frame in the future?

Also I have been searching for a way to stand out in my community by offering a unique service such as package deals, creative billing strategies that bring in monthly revenue and offer through the year ongoing maintenance and upkeep or offer some type of cutting edge product or service that is not currently available in my area.

Would you have any good reference links for brainstorming such ideas. I would jump to wherever you plan to stay long term. Will you lose customers? When you raise your rates, you are also defining your customers more specifically so naturally some people will drop off. I have worked in facility maintenance for a couple years now.

Its a common occurence that someone asks me if I do any side work.

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Recently, a lady asked me to come paint three rooms of her house but I turned her down simply because I do not know what to charge other than my normal hourly rate. All good questions and answers, but when it comes down to it get the client to sign a contract, including materials and labour then you dont have to put up with annoying people holding you back.

If its a bigger contract than you thought then workout a payment plan to be payed as the job proceeds. How To Build a Handyman Website. Interview with a 20 Year Handyman. Ultimate Guide to Branding Your Vehicle. Tips to Dominate Craigslist.