Handyman Makes $1,000 Per Day (See How He’s Grown His Business)

Do you like working with your hands? Caleb Ingraham used his construction skills to start a $25K/month handyman business, and he’s sharing his advice on how to become a handyman in this interview.

Caleb started off as a remodeling carpenter, but he quickly realized there was a huge unmet demand for handyman services. This led him to start a handyman business, North Seattle Handyman. Five years in, he’s consistently booked up for 6 weeks out with jobs and is in the process of scaling his business to meet this high demand.

Today, we’ll hear Caleb’s advice for how to start a handyman business from scratch. We’ll find out his handyman startup pricing, how he spent his initial investment, and what a new entrepreneur should budget for starting a handyman business. One secret of Caleb’s success is his ability to quickly grow a customer base. We’ll learn how he built his early marketing funnel and what advertising strategies were most productive for landing handyman jobs when he was first starting out.

Thanks to that early marketing success, Caleb is facing a different challenge: he has more work than he can do alone. We’ll see what systems he’s building now to improve his job scheduling, and how he’s hired reliable workers to help him scale his business. We’ll also hear what his next goals are for North Seattle Handyman and how the processes he’s working on now will help him reach them.

Resources:

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:53 Meeting Caleb
2:38 Average Monthly Revenue
3:50 Van Set Up
5:14 Monthly Overhead
6:46 Skills To Be A Handyman
8:40 When It’s a Good Time To Become a Handyman
9:34 Resources That Helped in the First 2 Years of Business
11:29 Importance of a Website
12:56 Marketing and Advertising
14:11 Effective Marketing Funnel
14:45 Average Customers Served and Average Invoice
15:53 Build Out of the Van
17:03 Initial Investment
17:40 Equipment Needed
18:33 Supplies Used as a Handyman
19:28 Process of Scheduling Customers
20:31 Employees
21:46 Are Some Tools Used More Than Others?
22:45 How He Got a $100 Hourly Rate
24:02 Pros and Cons Running This Business Out Of His Home
24:45 Insurance
26:04 Blitz
27:45 Estimating a Job Correctly
28:30 What Caleb is Doing To Scale
29:25 What Is The Demand For Handymen?
30:48 Workload
31:56 Hiring Employees
32:47 Challenging Things as a Handyman
34:14 Types of Jobs a Handyman Does
36:50 Advice To Fellow Entrepreneurs

#howtostartahandymanbusiness #handymanbusiness #startingahandymanbusiness

[ponzianomanning]

I can understand what Kaleb means when he said one of the greatest joys he gets out of his business is "being of service to my neighbor and countrymen". Im a semi retired G.C. (58 yrs old) and found that when craftsmen have a disposition of sincerely wanting to be of service, with integrity, customers usually have a great deal of appreciation for that; and business grows from that. Its one of the absolute requisites to being successful long term.

[alexm]

I saw this video 6 months ago. Started doing handyman work and I’m making $200-400/day. Occasionally, I’ll make $500! I’m so happy (and exhausted 😝) that this is working out. Thank you for your advice

[DONDA]

Went full time handy 3 months ago, I average 400-500 a day, a lot of repeat and referral work. This video was some good info to take it to the next level.

[shaggydudegaming]

That advice on the name was probably the simplest yet BEST advice I have ever heard

[davidvanrhee]

I've spent my whole life in service whether it's hvac repair or replacement for 6 years. Maintenance in apartments for 3 and now I'm a journeyman plumber doing service. I make 520-600k a year in revenue doing service 2-4k a day. It's because I'm great at reading ppl and the job. I'm starting a business soon. Wish me luck

[jasonburds]

This channel has grown so much since I first found you just 1-2 months ago. This video is a great example why.

[motherfudger]

Glad this came across my feed, I'm dabbling in self-employment/handyman stuff at the moment and feeling pretty good about moving forward with things.

[thomaslamora]

customers you charge less expect to get more out of you... somehow that makes 100% sense. someone that can afford $100/hr to install a light fixture is probably busy doing other things vs. hovering over you and "helping". crazy unlogic that is logical.

[chrisj]

This handyman’s van is better equipped than most contractors I use!! 😂

[julioveliz]

This is the best video I've seen for small business owners. I don't do handyman work but this is applicable to many service industry workers going off on their own.

[thetruebatman]

I think several of Caleb’s tips are going to help me out in the next year, and I really appreciate them and this episode. Great work guys!

[rjbroderdorf]

Awesome interview and information for ANY BUSINESS! Just happend upon this interview and channel via YT suggested video and I'm so grateful I did! I'm not a handyman but this interview has helped to spark so many ideas and re-spark excitement and focus in my business! Excellent questions only matched by Caleb's absolutely priceless and well articulated answers and business advice! I'm very impressed and can't say enough about how much value is contained in this interview and how much it has motivated me and sparked some exciting ideas! HUGE thank you to both UpFlip and Caleb Ingraham for providing such valuable information and sharing your knowledge, experience and many of the resources you use to run your business and make it successful!

[elwoodwhitaker]

Thanks Caleb. I got a lot of tips from you that I’ll be implementing into my own handyman business.👌

[robertrodney]

Extremely informative, thank you both for this content.

[Suelo]

What an awesome video. Informative, to the point, and a great motivation video.

Thanks and keep it up.

[Fieldpulse]

Caleb is the man! Great to see him break down all the steps to a successful handyman business.

[brandonlee]

I began my handyman business about 3 months ago and it gets very exciting and very scary at the same time. So much goes into running a business and it needs constant attention, still learning here

[lcmlcm]

BEST VIDEO I CAN RELATE TO. I’ve been in the trades for 20 years, first started out in new construction framing, hanging rock and taping. I got good at taping and it opened up many avenues for me. I started getting side jobs taping and then went out on my own. Then 2008-2009 happened (market crash). I decided to to do home improvements and learned how to paint and texture repair. Had 4 guys doing big and small jobs, it drove me nuts. So I switched it up and focused on the business side of things and decided to do smaller skilled jobs with 1 guy helping. I made just as much at first but make more now. Focus on important things, get an accounting and understand your business. THANKS GUYS

[trey_ironside]

thee most detailed interview video Ive watched, learned a lot, thank
you

[Handstandin]

What a gem of a channel. Great interviewer and questions as well.