How much should a handyman business charge? 

Watch this vid for a more detailed breakdown of hourly rates and how to calculate them: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RgmKiPtTOvM.html

Andy, I am self employed, started as a handyman now ventured into the title of property maintenance. The thing I found with the term, handyman, is that they do jobs and cheaper than specific tradesman. I have been going for 5 years and never stopped!.. Its not what I thought it was going to be like being self employed, off on holiday and no pay, sick and no pay. The most annoying thing I have found is that when your trusted to do a days fixed price work, I work 9-5 with half hour dinner and work my arse off, you rock up at 9.45 after being to 4 different stockists for materials and you get a 'good afternoon' from the customer. Narks me to death......Awesome video though and you are correct, once you put your prices up people stop using you

I recently had a property developer ask me to quote for fitting a kitchen...She told me how she was not happy with the finish from her current joiner. She had plumbers and electricians etc. so she just wanted me to quote for a dry fit "simple as that" she said...No problem. Gave her the quote for £1200..."oh that's quite high, is there any negotiation with the price? I normally get my kitchens fitted for £650." No wonder you're not happy with your current joiners work, I replied 🤣

My advice to anyone starting out in business is stick to what you know, don’t experiment on someone else’s property if you haven’t done it before. I’m a carpenter and have been for 35 years but I don’t go near roofs for example because I’ve never done a roof before. I stick to what I know, I know exactly what tools I need and what materials to buy and where to buy them. Be totally honest with yourself and your customers and you won’t go far wrong.

Fitted 5 solid veneer doors and me mam asked what I'd been doing that day. I said £200 for 5 doors and me dad straight away chipped in with "That's 40 quid a door, me mate down the pub would of done it £20 A door" I said yeah bit he'll probably turn up with a bent hammer and a rusty saw🤦‍♂️ Even 40 per solid core door is cheap I'd say bit it's a good day rate if you get 5 on. They're not the lightest

great video andy. its frightening the amount of costs it takes to run a business. customers dont see these costs and assume that all the labour charge goes straight into your back pocket. realistically a lot of tradesmen would be financially better off stacking shelves in tesco

I don't know how you fit all this in and have a life with your family and friends friends well done 👍👍👍👍

People always moan and say cowboy builders ,but theres more cowboy customers always trying to knock a fair price down ,or the favourite one can you just do this while your here.or they will pay £15000 for a kitchen and white goods but want to pay £500 to have it fitted.

Totally agree...I work as a electrical engineer in a maintenance department. I earn £35k which I think is too low. For the YEARS we have spent at college/night school and university learning our trades. To get paid a low wage in comparison to people who I’m sorry but sit on a phone all day with everything provided is disgusting. Final bit of the rant...people described as ‘professionals’ really get my goat. I personally think that it discriminates against trades people.

Hi could you do similar movie for 2023, I'm watching you for a while and thinking about starting my own handyman business.

Too true ,I'm 64 being charging not enough for far too long -not anymore but the work has taken it's toll but for younger person its good job ,wish I had your advice many years ago Cheers

Excellent video. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am not thinking of starting a business but it has given me a better understanding of the trades. I have recently moved home and have had a lot of work done. I would say for the most part prices of quotes were what I would expect. Getting my fences replaced though was a different story. It was 23panels that needed replacing and a new gate to be built. One quote from a fencing guy was £3400 (£200 per day X 4, skip £300, materials £2300). The other company's quote didn't break down the costs but they wanted £8,000. I went with the cheaper guy and was very happy with the work he did. He did the job on his own in the time he quoted. I watched him like a hawk and saw no shortcuts. Materials and skip would surely cost similar for both companies and it should take a similar amount of time. What are they doing for the extra £4.6k? I appreciate you saying you can charge what you like, but I feel that if you appear to overcharge it can ruin your chances of getting further work (and we do have a lot that needs doing).

Thank you for words. I've started a handyman business this year. This gives me much encouragement. I learn a lot from you.

This is a Good channel but you kinda ramble a bit.

I really enjoyed this video which is unusual as I would normally stop a 'talking head' video. I have been a lifelong amateur woodworker. I was a cop for 31 years and on retiring wondered about setting up a woodworking business, perhaps specialising in distressed look furniture. I didn't have the confidence to do it and have always regretted that. My regret is mitigated by the fact that my second career allowed me to change the lives of many young people for the better but I often reflect on 'what if'. Now I'm 'retired' all my relatives & friends thinks I have the time to do their jobs 'for nowt' as we say in Yorkshire. Keep up the good work! George

Very useful information for all those budding entrepreneurs, be confident in your own ability and be prepared to walk away from jobs that don’t pay. Great vid 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Wow. Thank you so much for putting the time into this and sharing your insights. The £100/day man: that's his sideline on the QT, while he's also drawing unemployment benefit. All-cash only, and no guarantees.

mums net just winds me up full stop. DH, DS, DD whilst moaning about them,

I was moaning at £300 a day (which I did pay) now I see it's about right for London. But I have decided to do everything myself now. Just like I did in the past.

On the money as usual. I would add that customer service is number one priority, nothing causes acrimony more that leaving a customer hanging not knowing what’s happening, it only takes a few seconds on the phone to update them if you know you’re going to be later than expected, and stick to the facts, customers are not interested in excuses. If at all possible, don’t over commit and give the customer time ‘windows’ rather than specific times. Also, if changing from being an employee to self-employed be prepared for two big changes; forget the notion of still doing 9 to 5 and income is not going to be like a fixed wage, I’ve had swings from 2K one week to £50 the next. Lastly be flexible and adaptable, how I earn my living today, although in the same business, is vastly different from what it was 30 years ago.

I could listen to you all day, so much great advice it's hard to process it all! I'm trying my hardest to set up a multitrade and handyman business, and I'm soaking up your help and advice like a sponge. Please keep em coming! Cheers! Rich...

So glad you did this video. Its been spot on so much its as if you've been with me on jobs. My problem is I lack enough actual time served (so to speak). Did joinery in college but its really not easy and I like to do perfect work. Last 2 customers major twats. I gave price of 100 and they were happy. Then I finished in 2hours so they said I'm not paying you 50 per hour! I said I am not charging you 50 per hour. If it took me 1 hour or 10 I'd stil ask for 100. They said they think 70 is more than enough so basically told me what I am worth. How frustrating. I jus took it and will not work for them anymore.

All excellent advice. Back when I was in the security business, there was nothing more frustrating than newcomers charging rock bottom prices because they thought it was the only way to get business. They soon failed but made life difficult for those of us that were more professional. Keep up the good work!

Love the Mumsnet example! I sometimes think people live in dreamland when it comes to how much it costs to make or fix something!

Thanks Andy. I have fallen into that trap just to keep work coming in, and it irks me. Decided to stand up for myself and charge a reasonable amount again and this vid confirms all the reasons.

Wise words indeed. I’m always prepared to say “no” to a job and never negotiate on price. Know your worth and have pride in your work 👍

PPL tend to treat tradesmen here where i an as un educated ppl who cannot do nothing else and as such pay them small money......which is a misconception..A trademan is just as important as someone who works in a bank or doctor......

Such a good video. When I started out I undercharged ( not intentionally) as I didn’t want to be seen as a rip off and also thought I would never get any work. What actually was happening was that I was being ripped off. Some very good advice in here for anyone starting out!

Another great video! I totally agree with the advice on charging and £30 p/h sounds a reasonable number to me. Here's one that irked me recently though - I asked a local plumber/heating engineer what has hourly rate was. £30 per hour he said. Fair enough. I then asked him how much it would cost to install a new boiler...oh - that will be £1000 plus the cost of the boiler and materials and should take me about 6 hours. How's that then? Some gigs are better than others I guess. :-)

If only things was easy as what everyone is saying here. People will never pay you 150 a day now days. I qoutes 250 for boxing in pipes in a bathroom, and making and fitting shelf in cupboard. Supply and fit plus painted. By time get materials it's 100 ish so only getting 150 after that but then there is petrol to think bout ect

Hi, Do you have any tips on getting your first customers? This has put me off starting and I can't see a the first step. All the work I have done previously including some substantial building jobs is a long time ago and out of the area I now live or has only been for myself and close family. I am in PAYE world and not currently in the building trade so no opportunity to chat to regular customers and having moved no contacts. Thanks P.S. Do you have a buy me a coffee link?

Ahh man that MumsNet post had me fully raging. I'm not in the trades but I dabble with DIY stuff and call in a pro for tasks beyond my comfort zone. Winds me up when they say "it's a simple shelf" - OK, if it's so simple just bloody fit it yourself then!

I'm just here to tell you that for SOME REASON my Pixel 5 is activating the Google Assistant thingy from something you're saying in the first 10-20 seconds of the video and searching for gibberish. It just called a community college in Germany.

So, when you say 'charge £30/hr' are we talking about day rates of £240? I've just set up as a handy man and most of my jobs so far last between 1/2 day and 3 days. I charge £160 a day currently and I'm wondering whether to just give fixed prices.

Funny story but very relevant. So the local nuclear power point has gone critical. Lights and bells going off everywhere. The senior plant manager can’t work out how to stop a total meltdown. As a last resort he looks up the number for Problems Solved Ltd. The guy answers the phone, listens carefully to the manager and says he’ll be around in ten minutes. He finally arrives at the nuclear power plant and begins his examination of the plant with the manager breathing down his neck. FINALLY he walks over to the control board and presses a small yellow button. The lights stop flashing and the bells stop ringing. Thanks god says the manager, how much do I owe you. He says you owe me $20k. The manager says what? It only took ten minutes to fix the problem. “Yes” he agrees, but did you know which button to press? And how much would it cost if I didn’t fix the problem?

Im in Trinidad in the caribbean ,,,lots of tradesmen not much work...

I am probably not the first but you could start an Andyman business...

yes but the graphs are lower because people being self employed get bent over for tax & not only that very little help through Covid & I bet the self employed will end up paying the most back to recoup the aftermath of covid! it's low because people in the UK trades people love cash money, there not daft cash money that's why the graphs are lower.👍

I started my handy man business about a year ago and was charging $25/hr. After a month I quickly realized that I needed to charge a flat $90 for a house visit which covered me for 2 hrs starting from the time I left my house. After the first two hours I charge $30/hr. Nobody has batted an eye. I think i may bump it up to $35/hr after the first two hours because at best I only average about 6hrs of paid work per day. The rest of my time is spent unpaid doing estimates and maintaining my equipment. Good advice!

Andy. Outstanding advice. I am now retired and was self employed for over 40 years, employing a receptionist and an assistant. All my customers came to me by word of mouth. I never advertised, just one line in Yellow Pages. It is pertinent that as a 'sole trader' I only earned when I was working - go on holiday and the income stream stopped but the overheads continued!! My charges were always considered reasonable but If a customer used the term 'that's cheap' I always said I would gladly charge them more if they were concerned about the cost.

I wasn't sure I was going to watch this one, as I have no intention of setting up a handyman business, but I really admire your methodical approach so I did watch to the end! That's some impressive avoidance of doing your own accounts, by the way ;-)

Awesome info! Thanks for sharing. I’m in the states. It absolutely drives me nuts seeing guys that are doing this work for for 20-30 an hour. As you stated, these guys and their “Business” is short lived and in the mean time all they are doing is cheapening the industry as a whole. Thanks again.

Awesome information And I’m here to back you up I’m in my 50’s and there’s more aches and pains in just the last 5 years lol it’s the truth. Take Care.

Great point on charges. My "My Builder" page starts with the words "not the cheapest electrician"! I lose a lot of work to to those racing to the bottom. Thanks for sharing all your years of learnin'!

Spot on, so relevant for me at the moment. Where were you ten years ago when I needed you? Particularly enjoyed giggling at you gesticulating with a sieve - undertones of fast show in there I think. Seriously though thank you very much for putting the time and effort in to help your fellow trades-reprobate out.

Allround excellent advice. Avoid job auction sites: they quickly force you to cut your prices. Ahem... yes yes life goes on, but if you want to start a new business and be _successful,_ do yourself a favor and wait until _after_ Brexit. Our economy about to "change" so you might want to wait until we actually know how "loads of work" looks like then.

"If it's that simple do it yourself." Hahahaha! I love that.

Brilliant Andy. Just starting out myself a self employed and this has already made me review my business plan! Looking forward to part 2! 👍👍👍

Really good info there. I think consumers need to see this as well, not just the guys with aspirations to becoime a handyman.or whatever People make estimations based on no real facts or data and (convniently) miss out all the hidden costs like equipment depreciation, travel time and costs, taxes, shop rent and power etc. Looking forward to Saturday video.

Great video! Is any phone app or web sites where I can get handyman jobs?? Thank you!

Good advice!

Great stuff as usual Andy, will be watching this again later. Subscribed to new channel too. Thanks for making and uploading mate.

👍Love the rant about people wanting things done for next to nothing, undercutting, handyman instead of trade etc. I'd be interested on your take on what I call 'over the shoulder know it alls'. People who stand over you scrutinising and saying things like 'the last bloke didn't do it like that' or 'I googled it, and it says to do this' etc. You then realise why the last bloke hasn't come back for more work. 'Google isn't here doing it for you though is it' Also you to touch on gaining a reputation. The thing that people new to self-employment in any sector should remember is that it can, and usually does take hundreds of jobs to gain a good rep, but it can only take one bad job to lose that rep.

Thanks for you insights. I'm in the states but I'm sure your info applies here. I've been pushing my handyman business on the side hard for a little over a year. Planning on taking it full time Jan. 1st. Thanks again.

£590! Sounds too cheap to me.

Hi, I'm a full-time dad, a qualified electrician and a qualified mechanic. Currently unemployed as I actually enjoy the school run (some mental health history) I was intrigued to setting up a handyman business rather than specialising in one sector, but unsure where to get advice. Have no issue learning new trades, nearly 40 but can turn my hand to fix almost anything, I'd really appreciate it if you have any pointers towards me starting my own business as I'd like to show my daughter (she's 8) that a man (yes sexist 🤦🏻) should work hard and look after his family. Hope this comment doesn't get missed, kind regards Martin

16:56 in we finally get the answer!!!!

I would say absolute minimum 30 pounds. Can easily double if not tripple that. Charge per job then get the job done quickly and efficiently. I average closer to 90 pounds per hour and never do jobs under 55.

Run it’s a red flag client, you will never satisfy because they will find fault with one or more things like comparing there shit employment wages to your self-employed rates... which they will never mentally grasp because they have an employee mindset... Just run away from someone like that and never look back, trust me it’s not worth your time if your legit

Well said, unfortunately theres too many uneducated people working for not much more than the minimum wage, setting a `benchmark` price for greedy people!

Great video and thank you.

Hi pal gonna be paint mate 2021 what do I charge to hang a door . Tv brackets to a wall . Curtain poles . Flat packs just starting out mate in Stockport near Manchester

Can I ask did you do any formal apprenticeship for carpentry I am 29 and getting no where for a couple of years now! no one will take me on as I'm over 25 and that would mean paying me minimum wage, so whats the best thing to do, I still need to earn money for my family...

Good points well made. I went from corporate to self employed and back again (electronics, not wood butchery). I also reckoned that £30/hr was the bare minimum to cover the costs of being self employed - no holiday pay, no sick pay, no 'economies of scale', Don't get paid for quoting for jobs, need to pay professional liability insurance, etc. It was sustainable, but nothing special. Having found out what people were paying for similar work, I reckon I was under pricing jobs by a factor of 5-10 Took the corporate shilling again when it was offered and now get paid whether I do anything or not, 6 months sick pay & 6 weeks a year off. If I went into it again, I'd go for the handyman side of things (I am pretty handy), price accordingly, but do the job right. Yourself and Peter Millard are very good at this sort of thing, but neither of you live near me! :D

Great video, we’ll done.

I setup in 2019. 2020 was looking good then the virus hit.

I work for a company as a contractor but they charge too much fee so I'm thinking about doing what i do for them by myself and cut the middle man. Build my own client base while I'm still working for them

Memeulous! Thats where i know your accent from. I know this seems random but its been bugging me for weeks, his accent is the same as yours, not even just similar if you both made a video id struggle to tell the difference

Hi Mate Can you do a video about how to set up a building contractors firm. I won't be doing the job myself but subcontracting. Cheers

When I was in the print business, we had a saying "Do you want the job done quick, cheap, or well-done? Pick two."

A Yankee here. What is a "joinery" business? Is joinery the British word for carpenter?

Hi Gosforth, very motivational to watch and being a Joiner myself...I want to have my own workshop...eventually!. Thank you for these videos and keep up the good work!

3 bob if its in Fawdon

Honestly mate, you’re right when you said I’m giving information for free! Iv recently started in around West Midlands it’s great a lot of work!

Excellent informative video. Thanks for making. "Get stuffed" lol

Man I subscribed and liked 4 minutes in . Thank you for sharing sir . I look forward to seeing your other videos

So many good points in this video. Love your channel and, like many others, wish it had been around earlier in my career. I came back to Woodwork a few years ago and have been scraping along the bottom financially. I like to think my work is excellent but never seem to be able to charge enough to make it pay. I think this is partly down to confidence and comparing my rates with others who are concentrating on price rather than quality. Your bit on Mumsnet was particularly interesting to me, I’ve often looked at posts on here to check my rates and thought, you must be joking. In future I’ll file it under ‘get stuffed’ and rely on my own calculations. Thank you.

GET STUFFED!!! Love it 👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

Just found your Channel it's Awesome mate , former scaffolder turned handyman 👍

People have no clue what drives the prices we charge. They don't see all the employment taxes, inventory, equipment cost, administrative cost, and tons of other costs.

That was the most forthcoming description of how this works!!!! Thank you!!!

Absolutely spot on...too many trades undervalue their work. Customers will try and dictate...takes a while but you can quickly sniff out the rogue customers.

Really inspiring! Thinking about leaving the armed forces to go into property maintenance and specialising in domestic gas engineering. 👍🏻

100% correct mate about skills and tools and required in relation to pricing. Not only do you need to run the business and have overheads but you also need to cover sick and holiday.

The musical transition when reading the mumsnet post 😂😂😂

Cannot agree more

Hi folks. Any recommendations for handyman insurance?

Excellent video. Appreciate the time you took to produce this:)

Great video Andy As Harry Enfield's Smashey & Nicey would say "Wise words mate"

I would like to hear your thoughts on sites like mybuilder, rated people etc... can you please make a video about that, thanks

That quote at the end for all that worked seemed well cheap!

Write a business plan. Write a business plan. Write a business plan. Write a business plan....

You have become one of my favorite YTers. Content is always great and apply to real life. Keep it up mate. From Wales

I really love this video Andy, lots of great information, definitely worth watching, thanks very much.

Dammit I can't upvote this enough ..

Hi Andy, you're right about not having this kind of info when you were starting out. I'm just starting out now and can't believe that this kind of incredibly useful information is so freely available! Thanks, will be supporting you on Patreon. Regards. Estuary Handyman.....soon to be Estuary Carpentry. (after some good advice to specialise)

Great advice Andy, I bet that handyman took 2 weeks to complete the work and charged £1400, well over the carpenters £590. Oh well look and learn eh! Can’t wait for Saturdays vid. Loved the new podcast you and Mr Millard put out. One question how do you have the time to do any work with RU-vid and podcasts to do? I’ll ask the same of Peter too 👍 All the best Tony

Great Video and very informative Andy. Love your no nonsense approach.Went to look at a job last week, just one door to supply and hang, really is one of those jobs you don't really need sometimes but working on the assumption that you never know what it might lead to ha ha, how many of us have fell for that old chestnut !Anyway I digress, decided to not go in my van and took the wife's car instead which is a Jaguar XE. On being greeted at the door he saw the car in his drive and said this is going to be expensive, I asked (already knowing what was coming) why is that, well you must be earning to much to be swanning around in a car like that. Peoples conception of what you drive or have does my brain in. They don't understand the logistics of being self-employed, no money if you don't work, no paid holidays etc etc.Sorry for the rant, and keep up the good work.

The market and competition dictates the charge.

Theres a lot of Champagne tastes on a beer budget out there ,i found they go and get someone cheaper ,then a month later there calling back because the person they hired either walked away and couldn't finish it for the price they quoted ,and i seen lots of "they know what there doing"customers too ,theirs nothing like a call in the evening that they ve cut thru a water pipe in the wall can you come fix it rate away ,and when you get there the look on there face when you shut off the water open the wall and pull a slice of bread out of your pocket and stuff it into the copper pipe thats dripping before fixing it ....lol great video "Gosfield Handyman "i know Gosforth Handyman ,i think Red Green said it best "if you cant handsome ,you d better be handy " (out comes the duck tape)lol