Watch this vid for a more detailed breakdown of hourly rates and how to calculate them: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iM2dfsyB2bqzpoE.html

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

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 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...

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.

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.

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!

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

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 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

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.

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

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

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.

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

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 🤣

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'!

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

Love the rant at the end! Absolutely spot on!

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.

Incredibly helpful and positive. Thanks.

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 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 video Andy, this is putting every skilled tradesman thoughts to words, moved here recently and was shocked by some people pricing expectations, many times Ive done jobs were costumers had to pay twice to get done right because they were looking fir the cheapest quote.

3 years running a handyman business here - completely agree with Andy to the letter

Sound advice Andy - must say really enjoyed your delivery. Look forward to Saturday's output:)

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!

So much good advice and common sense. Thank you.

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

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.

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.

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)

hi thanks for making and posting this excellent episode. I'm a carpenter in London doing bespoke furniture. Only been in business a year or so and learning fast as I can. Good to have folk like you and Peter Millard out there. PS not too many jump cuts in that one.

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.

Great video and thank you.

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

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).

I really enjoyed that Andy. I work in IT and now in my 40's, but I'm sure the City will kick me out sometime soon. As a 40 year old I now enjoy DIY and especially Carpentry. I'm hoping I can build my skills ups over the next 10 years and have a retirement industry. I watch Peter's channel quite a bit and have made a few cabinets now - not to your level yet, but on the right path. I'll probably be remaking my kitchen in 2019 which will be a fun projectwith a steep learning curve. As a commenter below says - "Don't experiment on somebody elses property", so learning by practising on my own place

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

Fantastic advice I wish it was on a poster on every high street

Cracking Advice Andy. Doesn't just apply to a Handyman Business though. My wife runs her own podiatry business, and has found her reputation and quality of work has always seen off the cheaper alternatives that come and go when they realize their undercutting means they can't sustain their business model.

Easily the best video on KZfaq, great tutor. your advice is very valuable to anyone in this business. Gosforth Handyman, you are the image and same manner of Yul Brynner the leader of the magnificent seven western in 1960.

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 👍

I'm just starting out myself at the moment. These will be good vids to watch

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

This man is right on everything he says, I'd also add that as somebody who runs a business it's a good idea to keep as big a buffer in your bank as you can. It takes discipline but there's always that quiet period, it's great if you have the bills covered, you can do your own thing but if you're living month to month it can be stressful.

Always good advice Andy!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Good advice!

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.

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.

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

Great video Andy. Really interesting! 😃👍 Interesting the section where you read a reaction to a quote. I think people just think all the time ‘Rip off Britain’. But that is really not the case. It’s annoying when people do not value someones time and knowledge to get something done. I’m a video editor/animator by profession and I find in my job, experience isn’t taken into account. For example. If I’ve been asked to remove someone from the background of a shot. That could take a few days for someone with lesser experience. But because I have experience it could only take a few hours. But because I did it quicker you get the comments of, ‘Well it didn’t take you long, so it must be easy/no skill required.’ .. But the reason it is ‘easy’ is because I’ve spend 10+ years doing it for a living. and like you said Andy ‘If it’s that simple, do it yourself.’ 🙌🙌

Good subject matter, Andy. I just became 50+ and recently moved up from London to North Yorkshire and am trying to ramp up my one-man-band electrician business (yes, I am qualified). I have always been an employee and now trying to run a business and get things going in a rural area is not a cake walk. I set myself a rate of £30/hr to start with in order to get work coming in and have had a few jobs so far, but word of mouth is slow to get going round here! However, I also took on a few handyman jobs and just charged the same rate. I seem to be getting more handyman work than electrical at the moment!! If I had to rely on it for a living I would have already gone under. Thankfully, I was able to secure a contracting job working 4 on, 4 off so I schedule any self employed work for my 4 off. My tax return is going to be a nightmare!!!

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.

brilliant video!

Spot on this mate.

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 advice we need to start upping are pricing, Even site work is the stale £16-18 pound an hour.

Most businesses that fail are doing because of poor accounting. It is the most underestimated skill in business that no body seems to want to talk about. Accounting is not just a recording process it is also a methodology for running a business.

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

Really interesting video thanks. I'm just starting out as a bespoke furniture maker and joiner having taught it at a college for many years. What to charge is Very difficult I find. I want to win the jobs of course but as you say, have a massive investment of tools and workshop to maintain, plus I'm a bit older at 45. Really good advice though and I'll definitely seek out your small business videos too. 👌👍👊

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?

Great video, we’ll done.

Really useful stuff.

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!

Hi Andy Honest advise.

Superb ............Thanks

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...

Hi folks. Any recommendations for handyman insurance?

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

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

The musical transition when reading the mumsnet post 😂😂😂

Hi Andy, great video! Just working my way through your video back catalogue and have become a patron on your GH site. Just wondered how easily you found the transition between employment and self employment? Were you in a position to commit completely to your own business from the start or did you work alongside the "Day job" until you were happy that the income was there to be had. I am fully intending to start my own business but am unsure on how best to proceed. Any advise from someone with experience would be greatly appreciated.

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

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. :-)

Get Yourself a hat and glasses because "You're the one who knocks". And great video, I needed that. 👍

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!

👍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.

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

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

GET STUFFED!!! Love it 👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

Best video you have ever done. Keep them coming. Mumsnet etc Also makes me angry!!!

How much do you charge to fit a interior door

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

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

Great, great video Andy. This is excellent stuff, professional, articulate, natural and meaningful. I always really enjoy your project videos, tips and testing, but I think this is your absolute best KZfaq work yet. It looks like a million dollar production to me, great lighting, colour rendition, sharpness and (of course!) perfect audio. It’s sharply scripted and has clearly hit a ‘this is the truth’ note with your fellow trades. No mean feat. Well done. By the way re your succinct ‘script’ (or ad lib), do you know the saying ‘I’m sorry for writing such a long letter, I didn’t have time to write a short one’ ? Amusing and true. Paradoxically brevity usually takes a lot of time to achieve... the length of this comment proves I’m not successful at it!

Good video - thank you. I’ve been on the edge of scaling up my very occasional handyman work for friends etc into a proper business. One question - I have done basic electrics but am not qualified - it’s something I might aim at in the future, but what are you permitted to do with electrics if you’re not a qualified electrician? Change sockets? Light fittings? Upgrade a socket to a socket + USB? Looking forward to part 2.

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.

Great video. Thanks for sharing. I'm happy that you published it publicly, not only for your Patreons. (I'm still missing your direct sponsoring button :-) ) I'm looking forward to the second part. Imho an hourly rate of 30 GBP is quite low for the UK. . Being self-employed you are not working 170 hours a month (as like an average employer) Everybody needs a break from time to time (need not to be longer holidays), do administration, etc. Even a Handyman is sometimes ill, etc. And jobs come ten at the same time (which you pointed out in your video) and then there is a vacuum. I think 125 payable hours a month is max. That is 1500 hours a year. 1500 times 30 = 45000. Only depreciation of tools and car 10 000 a year. Leaves 35000. But you pay all social securities yourself (also the part of the employer would pay if you were an employee) + insurances and taxes. Maybe for that reason it is probably better to specialize. In that case less tools are needed and the car can be less expensive. I'm curious what the fields are which you are going to mention on Saturday.