Stump Grinding Business? Should I?

[ToadHill]

My brother has taken up handyman work since he lost his job. He advertises at senior citizen centers and has more work than he can handle.

He told me that if you do a good job for a fair wage for one senior, you'll never have to advertise again.

 

[Bird]

My brother has taken up handyman work since he lost his job. He advertises at senior citizen centers and has more work than he can handle.

He told me that if you do a good job for a fair wage for one senior, you'll never have to advertise again.

We have a son-in-law who lost his job awhile back and is now full time "handyman?" He's always been a pretty good woodworker, and is now doing remodeling jobs; mostly kitchens and bathrooms, patios and patio covers, etc. He hasn't had a day off now in over 3 weeks, and I don't know of any advertising he's done.

 

[OKnewguy]

Toad and bird, I am wondering if this is going to end up being my avenue now. I keep getting business and I have not even officially anounced that I am in the handyman business.
Thanks guys, Dave

 

[Fordlords]

My brother has taken up handyman work since he lost his job. He advertises at senior citizen centers and has more work than he can handle.

He told me that if you do a good job for a fair wage for one senior, you'll never have to advertise again.

100% true. If you can do a lot of various tasks and are trustworthy (MOST important with seniors) you'll have all the work you want. A friend of mine in town who lost his engineering job a few years back makes $20.00/hour for his handyman tasks, and honest to God lives off the work ONE old lady gives him at her estate. It's this big old house and he will never run out of work so long as granny stays alive! He does great work so she always finds more!

-Fordlords-

 

[BLUEBONNET2]

good morning,
about two years ago, i called a local guy to grind over 100 stumps on my place and he comes out and looks around, say he can get to it in about 3 weeks. i say ok how much? he says $10-15 a stump.....what?...i ask if he was kidding and he says nope. i say "get er done"....so he walks over to his truck and get out a bundle of little flags(the kind electric companies use to mark underground cables) and tells me to mark all the stumps i need grinding. so i bush hog about 6 ac. and start walking with the flags till i run out(about 100) BTW, the logging company left a real mess and i am still PO'ed about that...had to hire a dozer to expedite that process....so i get up one morning,about 2 wks later, make coffee, and up the road come the truck with trailer( about 6 am)......now the good part...he and a helper unload this big Vermeer machine with about a 36" wheel (diesel powered) and an older model ford tractor, 50 hp, i believe, with a contraption(trailer hitch and blade) mounted on the front of the tractor, (i was afraid to ask how he did that), hooks up the vermeer, checks the oil and hydro fluids and off he goes..about 7 hrs later, he comes up and ask "anything else?"
i look around and he has finished everything and "LEVELED ALL THE PILES OF CHIPS" smooth.....i ask him how much? he says $1100, i still refer him to all my friends and he let me keep the flags for the back 5 ac........

good luck and always treat your customers like you want to be treated and you will have all the busines you can handle.......

good luck,
bluebonnet2

 

[VABlue]

OK, check out Handyman.com - Home Projects, Project Finder, Contractor Locator -and you'll see that the 'handyman' business is alive and well. In my area (Northern VA) they get ~$90/hr. That may depend on the job, though - I had enquired about repairing a bathroom floor and re-laying tile. (I ended up doing it myself and learning a lot in the process...)

 

[OKnewguy]

Blue, thanks for the reply. I agree 100% on how to treat the customers. Va, thanks for the link, I appreciate. I believe that this is the avenue that I am goining to pursue.
THANKS FOR HELP TBN!
Dave

 

[tnau664]

Thanks for the replies guys, I actually got the idea when I had some stumps done about 6 months ago. The guy owned a tree service company, but he said that alot of his business was just stumps. Here in Ok, they range from $25 to $35 per stump. His price averaged out to be about $22, but he took out 25 stumps, he was done in 5 hours. One of the things that I do not understand is, why is it that more self employed people not advertise on their vehicles? Does this method not work? This guy had a little magnetic sign on his tailgate, but you really could not see it with his trailer, I have since kept on eye open when at the home centers, and I know that a lot of self employed people are their getting stuff. I just seems that this would be a great way to "get the word out".
When he was finishing up, his unit started to develop a knock, if I remember it had a kohler engine on it, he was very disappointed because he had around 1200 hours on it and he was hoping for atleast 2000. The bigest expenses seem to be engine upkeep/replacement, gas, and teeth.
Thanks, Dave

Dave, check with your tax and tag folks before you start using the trucks as moving billboards. When you add the signs you turn the truck into a commercial vehicle and the costs increase from there. A friend of mine has his own tractor business and he was very careful about who saw the signs.

Terry

 

[michiganjim]

I was thinking buying a stump grinder .To do some side jobs for some extra money . should I get some insurance to protect myself.And if I do is it cosly Thank You if anyone can answer my QUESTION.

 

[Skyco]

Interesting thread, my comment is I see used stump grinders for sale frequently in the local trader papers and craigslist. Wonder why so many are for sale? Maybe people tried it as a job and it didn't work out...