MORE THAN HANDY - professional pride in property maintenance
More Than Handy is a property maintenance company started by Warren Smith in 2006. A year later Nathan Hayward joined as a co-director. The company operates in a niche that many trades-people don’t or won’t service, and focuses on providing smart, professional and timely work for smaller property maintenance jobs.
Warren was originally working as an engineer but recognised that the local market would be perfect for handyman services. Made up of families, older people and commuting professionals, the local population would be less wiling to undertake DIY and more inclined to have the job carried out by professional and tidy workmen. Warren has said “I want to offer the level of service that I would expect for myself or my parents”.
At the time, Warren was a sole trader and thought Profitnet would be a good support network. He found it helpful straight away as the group was a really easy forum in which to discuss issues he was having with the business.
“There is a great deal of respect and people are happy to take the time to listen carefully to the details you want to discuss. Action learning, as I now know it’s called, really works.”
But he found it was not just about support from the other members, but also the range and level of professional speakers which were called in by the group. “All of the advice gave me the confidence to work on the business, as the cliché goes, rather than in it all the time” says Warren. “As a sole trader, that’s the main thing you are up against. Do you do the work you already have, or look further afield for more?”
Not having been in business before, Warren was extremely concerned about expanding too quickly and committing himself beyond his means. The Profitnet group recognised the potential of his business model and encouraged him to grow his business quickly. He says the advice and encouragement of the other members were like “bravery pills”.
The biggest leap for Warren was taking on his first employee, and he feels that his peers in Profitnet were highly instrumental in giving him the support he needed to do this. “I was very lucky in that some of the people in my group had worked in large organisations and had employed hundreds of people, so they gave me great advice” he said.
He then joined forces with another sole trader, Nathan Hayward, and together they formed a limited company. As a result, the business grew and took on more staff. With encouragement from the Profitnet group, the directors took on an office, signmarked vehicles and a website. More than Handy now has four vans on the road and has increased its turnover by 500 per cent since its first year of trading. The directors are now planning to franchise the business model nationally.
http://www.morethanhandyuk.com/