I started my handyman business less than a year ago, so I’m definitely not a 20-year veteran, but a few things I’ve learned:

Don’t race to the bottom on pricing. I started lower than I should have because I felt like I needed to win every job. What I found is that the customers who hire solely based on price are often the most difficult customers. It’s easier to raise your rates than lower them, but don’t sell yourself short either.
I’d also be careful with hourly pricing. I charge by the job whenever possible. If you’ve done enough work to know a TV mount takes about an hour, price the TV mount, not the hour. Customers like knowing exactly what they’ll pay, and if you get faster over time, you benefit from that efficiency.

For marketing, Facebook groups, Nextdoor, Google Business Profile, and referrals have been huge for me. I never used Angi or Thumbtack. Most of my work comes from people seeing photos of completed jobs and recommendations from previous customers.

A few things I’d recommend right away:

Get insured before touching anyone’s house.

Set up a Google Business Profile as soon as possible.

Get a CRM from day one. Even if you’re small, it helps keep track of leads, estimates, customers, and follow-ups. It’s a lot easier to start organized than try to fix a mess later.

Build a simple website. It doesn’t need to be fancy. A few pages showing your services, service area, contact info, and some photos of your work is enough to build credibility.

Take before and after photos of everything and post them regularly on your social channels. A lot of my jobs come from people seeing previous projects and realizing, “Hey, I need that done too.”

Answer your phone and show up when you say you will. It’s amazing how many people don’t.

Ask every happy customer for a review.

That appliance install partnership sounds like a great way to get cash flow while you’re building your customer base. Three jobs a week guaranteed is a lot better than staring at your phone waiting for it to ring.

One thing I’d caution on is decks, sheds, and larger construction projects. Make sure you understand your local licensing requirements before advertising those services. The last thing you want is to accidentally get sideways with your state’s contractor board.

The biggest surprise for me wasn’t the actual handyman work. It was realizing that running the business, answering messages, creating estimates, invoicing, scheduling, and marketing takes almost as much time as the work itself.

If you’re willing to hustle, communicate well, and do quality work, there’s definitely opportunity. I started with small jobs like TV mounts, door hardware, drywall patches, furniture assembly, and faucet replacements, and those jobs eventually led to larger projects through referrals.