How to Make Your Handy-Woman Business More Profitable

Working as a handyman, handy-woman, completing odd jobs for money and utilizing a variety of everyday skills that many people lack, can form the basis of a profitable business. However, like any business venture, success as a handy-woman is dependent upon your skills as an entrepreneur. In order to achieve success with your business, you will need to, as with any business, pay close attention to your profitability.

There are two core components to the profitability of a business. The first is the money that it brings in, the other is the amount of money it has to spend in order to maintain its current operations. To maximize your profitability, you need to minimize your expenditures while also driving up profitability.

Of course, this sounds a lot simpler than it actually is. When it comes to devising and implementing the policies necessary to accomplish this, things become more difficult. Worse still, every misstep you make has the potential to have the opposite effect and can end up harming profitability. The following guide is designed to help any aspiring handy-women to ensure they put profitability at the heart of their business strategy.

You Don’t Have to be a One-Woman-Band
We think of handymen as being a jack of all trades, of having an endless variety of skills they can offer on demand. However, while most handymen do possess multiple skills, those that try and take on every single task themselves are far more likely to suffer from burnout and fatigue.

Instead, you shouldn’t be afraid to work with other people or to call in outside help as and when you feel that you need it. If you trust and take on every single task yourself, not only will you quickly become worn out, but you will also end up doing jobs that represent very low pay for the amount of time you put in. Coupling low pay and stress together is a lethal combination.

If you are able to focus on a specific task, while having someone taking care of the more mundane and menial work, you will be able to charge customers enough to pay for both wages. This way, you will save time and make more money!

Check Your Bills
Most handy-women businesses are run out of the home. This means that there is some overlap between your work and personal time and expenses. For example, the cost of your electricity and internet might not change when you start a handyman business, but it is now a professional necessity that you have access to both services.

It is worth speaking to your service providers. You don’t have to tell them that you are starting a business, but you can ask them if you can negotiate better terms. If you have been a long-term customer, you have a higher chance of being able to renegotiate a better deal, there are no guarantees though!

As a self-employed individual, there are certain tax breaks you might be entitled to. You may also be able to claim back some of your day-to-day costs against your tax.

You will also want to invest in some insurance; you never know when catastrophe is going to strike. It’s easy to compare the prices and terms of different insurance options on the internet. For example, you can get handyman general liability insurance online.

Don’t Ignore Small Jobs
This is another common yet potentially grave error. It is almost the opposite of the first problem we mentioned, in that it is where the handy-woman in question begins to neglect their most basic duties. Sometimes, small jobs don’t seem worth it, or they aren’t worth the money, and so corners are cut and the quality of the work suffers.

It never pays to cut corners; whenever you do so, you are threatening the profitability of your business by increasing the chances of mistakes occurring. If that happens and you have to redo the work, the money you’ve saved will be nothing compared to the money and time that you will lose. Also, your reputation will suffer if you become known for sub-par work.

Go Paperless
There’s no need to constantly print documents out anymore. The availability of cloud services and mobile data mean that it is easy to remain connected to your networks and files remotely.

There are a number of smartphone apps, which are designed for self-employed individuals. For example, Freshbooks is a great app for managing your invoicing.

Starting your own business is an attractive prospect. It won’t be easy. Of course, you will need to put a lot of work into it to be successful. However, once you are on your feet with it, running your own business is an incredibly satisfying and rewarding experience.