Anybody just do small jobs?

[Millsy 82]

I am rapidly falling out of love with the bigger jobs (boiler changes etc) and was wondering if anybody makes a decent living self employed just doing the smaller jobs like servicing tap washers breakdowns etc.

Is it possible? What can I do with my installs? As I dont want to lose my customers so dont just want to chuck my prices sky high and scare them off. Getting someone else to do them for me is running a risk of losing my customers to them.

 

[hammers4spanner]

I do loads of small jobs , prefer them as less hassle and home early .
Usually leave the house later as well .

Can make a decent wage some days however unfortunately you can't 100 percent turn down boilers swaps and bathrooms .

If you fail a boiler they will usually expect a quote from you.

Bathrooms are not so bad as you can pair up with a chippy and share the donkey work

 

[Millsy 82]

I do loads of small jobs , prefer them as less hassle and home early .
Usually leave the house later as well .

Can make a decent wage some days however unfortunately you can't 100 percent turn down boilers swaps and bathrooms .

If you fail a boiler they will usually expect a quote from you.

Bathrooms are not so bad as you can pair up with a chippy and share the donkey work

I dont get a huge amount of bathrooms as I struggle like mad to get other trades so I literally say I will only do the plumbing. So I lose most of those.

Boiler swaps though are a bit tricky as you say. Its boiler swaps though that are the hard bit as people charge sweet fa for them so it's a difficult thing to try and get them at a decent price.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Put it like this most weeks I have an hour half for dinner which includes pub lunch.

Then leave to do job in afternoon about 2 ish .
Then after that home .

I have been quieter tho last 3 months which when you do small jobs it seems to notice it more

 

[Millsy 82]

Yeah I'm quite happy doing 4 services a day leave home 8:30-9 have a surf or go home and see my mrs and daughter for lunch then a job or 2 in the afternoon rather than slogging my guts out all day for not much more.

 

[hammers4spanner]

The only downside of it is like i said it can go quiet at times where as bigger jobs pull the hours in.

Mind you the most important tool when doing small jobs is the garden chair in back of the van. Ideal when the suns out get the chair out hour snooze and back to work with a tan

 

[townfanjon]

Little jobs on the whole take a lot more organising IMO , picking up parts , texts / calls trying to pin a customer down to a time etc .
The retired ones and the parents on the school runs are a right pain .

 

[hammers4spanner]

Little jobs on the whole take a lot more organising IMO , picking up parts , texts / calls trying to pin a customer down to a time etc .
The retired ones and the parents on the school runs are a right pain .

Just tell them am or pm

 

[Scott_D]

How do you get enough jobs for 3/4 a day
Word of mouth?

 

[Millsy 82]

Little jobs on the whole take a lot more organising IMO , picking up parts , texts / calls trying to pin a customer down to a time etc .
The retired ones and the parents on the school runs are a right pain .

But they are worth it. But that is what I have done most my working life and the odd phone call isn't too bad.

 

[Millsy 82]

How do you get enough jobs for 3/4 a day
Word of mouth?

I dont get enough st the moment but yes I get quite a bit from word of mouth, return customers a few landlords holiday let's etc keep me ticking over.

It's especially difficult this time of year some of the companies I've worked for struggled to keep you busy through the summer months.

 

[Millsy 82]

Mind you the most important tool when doing small jobs is the garden chair in back of the van. Ideal when the suns out get the chair out hour snooze and back to work with a tan

Mines a surfboard which is good as I think even at the furthest I'm about 7 miles from the sea problem is I am not always near a beach that has surf at that time. But I have managed to surf a few new spots since going back self employed.

 

[mfgs]

Its hard to do just small jobs all the time. Try upping your prices for boiler changes, you may win less but you will earn more from it so hopefully it will balance out.
Have you thought about advertising for more emergency work? Can charge more for a call out and most would be fix leak, broken boiler etc.

 

[WaterTight]

I have done almost nothing but small jobs (and i mean small: inlet/float valves, tap changes, pipework and waste leaks, washing machine and dishwaser installs, unblocking sinks etc constituting 80% of everything ) for many years now. And I'm busy. Averaged 6 jobs a day last week, minimum labour charge 50 squids. Good few much more than that.

More than half are now repeat custom. I find the trick has been (apart from getting round asap, having literally everything you could conceivably need on the van, doing the job properly and being likeable: the basics) making it known you specialise in small jobs and making a point of this for years to people. Turning down bigger ones etc. I had no choice because I only know how to do smaller stuff anyway. But it cut me a niche.

People don't care where they go to get things done, they just want to know they can get things done. If there was only one shop in town that sold baked beans that's where I'd get my baked beans. Once people know "Oh he's my tap guy, my toilet guy, my usually-turns-up-within 48-hrs-and-is-done-in-45-mins-guy" a lot of them will remember you and call you.

I have many more tips how an unskilled bum like me ended up making £500,000 a year and sleeping with supermodels but they are confidential, for future publication.