Posted by Nick Powills on Wed, Sep 01, 2010 @ 02:02 PM
Franchisee Since: 2005
Franchise Location: Alexandria, DC, Arlington, Falls Church, Fairfax Co.
How Hugh Sutherland Got Started With House Doctor…
Hugh Sutherland has a history of entrepreneurship. He founded a company called Washington Courier, a package delivery company based in Washington DC. He developed the concept and grew the business. About 7 years ago, he sold it to pursue other career interests. In the interim before becoming a House Doctor franchisee, Hugh continued his involvement in real estate, fixing up and selling homes. It was at this time that Hugh started to notice a trend in the professionalism of handymen in his area. Whenever Hugh needed repairs done to his home, he called local handymen to come and fix the problems and most the time, those professionals turned out to be unprofessional, unreliable and inefficient. That’s when Hugh got the idea to look into business ownership in the handyman field.
Hugh was faced with two options. The first, start his own independent business or second, become a franchisee of an already-existing business. He chose the latter because he could use the knowledge of the support staff already in place to help him develop his business quicker than he could on his own.
What Intrigued Hugh Sutherland about House Doctor…
Out of all the franchises in this field that Hugh researched, House Doctors was by far the most ambitious, serious and professional according to Hugh. He was delighted and impressed by their ability to balance priorities and support his individual efforts through marketing, website development and management, SEM, and negotiation of contracts with vendors.
Something Interesting About Hugh Sutherland’s Business…
Despite economic conditions, Hugh has seen a 25% increase in his business this year. He equates the uptick in his business to a solid influx of repeat customers, people keeping their homes and fixing them up, people working harder, staying busier and still needing those repairs done, as well as the economy starting to pick up.
Hugh has 10 years of experience in the home improvement industry behind him, and realizes that customer retention is the key to growing a business. In order to do so, he provides superior customer service, including 24/7 support to answer calls and schedule appointments; he hires handymen in his territory in order to ensure reliability and calls his customers to give him updates on their repair services.
Posted by Jarid Kossen on Mon, Jun 28, 2010 @ 07:40 AM
With the rise of the "Going Green" market, or what others refer to as energy efficiency, the demand for making homes more efficient has also risen. There are several basic items that can be done to a home to make them more efficient and who better to perform the work then a handyman service. Some of these smaller items include caulking around windows, installing programmable thermostats, installing weather stripping around entry doors, and changing filters in HVAC units.
There are also those specialized handyman services that are offering full home energy audits that go into more detail as to where inefficiencies lie within the home and can sometimes lead to larger projects. This typically requires a special certification and equipment, and usually is a little lengthier process than just doing the basic upgrades/maintenance. However, any measures taken will certainly help lower heating/cooling bills and also help the environment.
To learn more about different Items that can be done please click the link below.
House Doctors has developed strategic marketing systems as well as packages for consumers to purchase for their homes to make them more efficient. As a House Doctors franchisee you will have access to all of this and more. To learn more please click here.
Posted by Jarid Kossen on Fri, Jun 18, 2010 @ 08:28 AM
One of the many questions that runs through someone’s mind when they think about getting into a handyman business is “What about finding good people?” This question is actually at the top of the list for those who do not come from a background in the industry, and their question is “How do I find quality handymen?”
About 4 years ago it would have been more challenging to find these individuals as most of them were either working for someone that was very busy or they had their own business, where they did the work, and were extremely busy. In today’s market that is not the case. With home builders being slow they have had to lay off a majority of their workforce and the guy that ran his own small handyman business that did no marketing and lived off of referrals is now slow and looking for work.
If you were to put an ad out on craigslist for hiring a handyman you would probably receive no less than 30 responses in the first hour. The problem is sorting through the good and the bad ones. This is where having a proper screening and interviewing process comes into play, and will save you hours of face to face interviewing time and also ensure that you get the best candidate for the job. You can look for little things such as having a proper resume, and long gaps between jobs, and of course phone etiquette. Spending a little extra time up front going through this process will save you way more time in the long run as you should see a decrease in turnover rate as well as higher productivity, all by bringing on the right people.
At House Doctors we have developed an entire process for hiring highly qualified, customer service oriented handymen. The process is able to make someone that has no industry experience an expert at hiring handymen, everything from posting help wanted ads, to skill and knowledge tests, to interviewing and job offering. A House Doctors Handyman Franchise takes it even a step further with how to be competitive with compensation while maintaining strong profit margins, ensuring high productivity and of course high quality work.
To learn more about what a House Doctors Handyman Franchise can offer you please click the link below.
Posted by Jarid Kossen on Wed, Jun 16, 2010 @ 07:33 AM
As many business owners get busier in the handyman industry it is worthwhile remembering that building profits in this business is even more important than building revenue. When you buy a business you take on the responsibility of making sure that you make profits or you won’t last.
In a handyman business one of the most crucial aspects to look at is your gross profit, as this is most commonly the biggest inefficiency in the business. House Doctors has developed benchmarks for where this number should be in relation to your total revenue, as well as best practices to fix the gross profit when it is out of line. Knowing where your gross profit is and how to fix it is the difference between running a successful business and failing in the first few months.
That’s why almost every enhancement to our House Doctors Handyman Franchise system over the last 3 years has been designed to improve the profitability over the long term of those franchise owners that make the necessary changes to the way they do business. The question of every handyman business owner when estimating or pricing a job needs to be “am I able to do this work while maintaining my gross profit on all aspects of it, including labor, materials and sub-contractors?” If not, you need to walk away, for continuing with that type of work could be seriously detrimental to your overall business.
To learn more about what a House Doctors Handyman Franchise can offer you please click below.
Posted by Jarid Kossen on Wed, Jun 09, 2010 @ 07:41 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that by 2050, the population of Americans aged 65 and older will more than double, from 39 million today to 89 million. What this means for a handyman business is that you now have a tremendous increase in potential clients as they are getting to the age where they can no longer perform home repairs or maintenance and also do not want to spend the time doing so.
We refer to this growing market as aging in place. As seniors age, more and more of them want to stay in their own homes rather than going to retirement homes or communities. Their homes need to be made more user accessible and safe for seniors which include items such as grab bars, walk in tubs, lowering light switches, and the list goes on. This particular demographic is looking for that professional handyman service that they can rely on and trust to do quality work.
House Doctors has realized this growing trend and is targeting this demographic as one of its fastest growing areas of business. As a House Doctors franchise owner you would have access to our very targeted diverse marketing plan which includes targeting this large and growing audience. Couple this demographic with busy dual income families and single professionals and you can soon realize the potential of owning a House Doctors Handyman Franchise.
To learn more about our aging in place services please click below.
To learn more about becoming a House Doctors Handyman Franchise owner please click below.
Posted by Jarid Kossen on Mon, Jun 07, 2010 @ 10:21 AM
Many smaller service companies struggle with managing data, everything from customers contacts, to scheduling, to invoicing, to following up with customer satisfaction or in some cases dissatisfaction. There are a variety of solutions available today that usually require the use of two or three different types of software, which in turn requires two to three times the amount of time to use. In the small business world time is a precious resource that cannot be wasted.
One company that is saving business owners time and money is InsightDirect with their product ServiceCEO. SerivceCEO is a web based application that allows a business owner to run all aspects of their handyman or service business within one application, and best of all it is accessible from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection and a web browser. The application handles everything from customer management to scheduling and invoicing, It also integrates with QuickBooks Accounting Software.
At House Doctors we have teamed with ServiceCEO to offer our franchisees a customized version specific to their business. It offers House Doctors franchisees ease of use and pulling vital information about their business. It also offers franchisees the ability for House Doctors Home Office to benchmark all of its franchisees with key performance indicators and business metrics. ServiceCEO has also allowed the atomization of back marketing programs as well as customer feedback requests to save House Doctors franchisees time and money.
To Learn More about ServiceCEO Click Here.
To Learn More about House Doctors Click Below.
Posted by Jarid Kossen on Wed, May 26, 2010 @ 10:58 AM
One of the key aspects of purchasing any handyman franchise is to make sure that you can work with the staff at the corporate office, as well as see the system that you would be coming a part of. There is no better opportunity to due this then at a Discovery Day. A Discovery Day is a prospective franchisees chance to meet the team that will be there to support them not only through their start up phase but also for years to come.
These days are designed to provide answers to almost all of the questions one might have when partnering with a handyman franchise system. There is usually a tremendous amount of information given from each department within the franchise organization. This can be overwhelming at times, be sure to write done any questions and get them addressed at the end of the day. Topics covered usually include system overview, marketing, operational support, initial training and support, software and technology, and territory/franchise agreements.
Usually by the end of the one day event you really have a feel for the franchise opportunity and whether you feel as though it will be the right fit for you.
House Doctors has upcoming discovery days on June 4th (one spot open) as well as on June 25th. Please click below to find out more information.
Posted by Jarid Kossen on Fri, May 21, 2010 @ 10:52 AM
With the Housing market down and more homeowners staying in their current homes, the demand for professional home improvement and handyman companies has greatly increased. Most people today are not familiar with what it takes to perform basic repairs and maintenance on a home, and in most instances do not want to take time out of their busy schedules to learn. So where do they turn?
There are plenty of "handyman" companies out there that offer these services for bottom dollar, but with a lot of these bottom dollar prices comes bottom dollar service. Today's homeowner wants a reliable and trustworthy company to provide quality work in a timely manner, that's where becoming a House Doctors Franchise owner offers you a great opportunity to tap into this very fragmented market. As a House Doctors Handyman Franchise owner you will offer your customers not only quality work but also a wonderful customer service experience, and best of all you're not going out and swinging the hammer.
The role of the successful handyman franchise owner is not doing the work but managing a team of handymen that go out and perform the work for the customer. With the increased demand for the professional handyman service growing everyday there is a wonderful opportunity for individuals to get started in the growing market place. To find out more about how you can become a House Doctors Handyman Franchise Owner click below.
