I had a meeting on my calendar that I knew almost nothing about.
I run a tight schedule. My assistant keeps my days organized and reminds me ten minutes before every call. So when the reminder came in, I picked up the phone and got ready to figure out what I was walking into. The guy on the other end came in hot. Excited. A little scattered. And within about two minutes I had him figured out.
He wasn’t pitching me anything. He wasn’t there to sell me on a product or a partnership. He had stumbled onto one of my videos or social posts, something in it had hit him square in the chest, and he picked up the phone. He was a handyman business owner out of Charleston, South Carolina. He knew how to fix things. He was good at the work. But the business side of things was beating him up, and he knew it.
He needed help.
I have been in the home services industry for 34 years. I started at 17 years old with no car, no money, and nothing but a willingness to outwork everyone around me. I have made every mistake in the book and figured out what actually moves the needle. So when I hear a guy like this, I know exactly what I am listening to. I can hear the pain. I can hear the gaps. And I know that the answers are not complicated.
They never are.
Here is what I told him. And if you are an early-stage home service business owner reading this right now, I am talking to you too.
Stop Building The Wrong Website.
His brother had been working on his website. I get it. Family wants to help, and building a website sounds like something you can do on the cheap if you know someone who is handy with a computer. But the site was not showing up anywhere online. Nobody could find it. And the reason is that not all website platforms are created equal when it comes to being found on Google.
I told him to stop everything his brother was working on and get a WordPress website built. Not because WordPress is flashy or complicated. Because it gives you the foundation to actually be found online. It plays well with search engines. It gives you control over your content, your pages, and your structure. When someone types “handyman in Charleston SC” into Google, you want to have a fighting chance at showing up. A homemade site on the wrong platform means you are invisible. And if your customers cannot find you, you do not have a business. You have a hobby.
Get on WordPress. Watch what happens to your organic traffic. It is not magic. It is just the right tool for the job.
Your Google Business Profile Is Not Optional.
When I asked about his Google My Business page, the answer was basically that it did not exist. That is a five-alarm fire for a local service business.
Google Business Profile is one of the most powerful free tools available to anyone running a local home service company. When someone searches for what you do in your city, Google pulls up a map with listings. It shows your name, your phone number, your hours, your reviews, your photos, and a button to call you or get directions. If you are not on that map, you are handing customers directly to your competitors every single day.
I walked him through what a strong profile looks like. You fill out every single field. You upload real photos of your work. You write a description that is clear and direct about what you do and where you do it. You make it look like a real business run by a professional.
“Then I gave him a number: 50 reviews.”
Go get 50 Google reviews. Call every customer you have ever worked for. Text them. Ask them directly. Tell them it would mean a lot to you and your business. Most people are happy to help if you just ask. The businesses that dominate local search almost always have the most reviews with the best ratings. This is not a coincidence. Reviews are the currency of trust online. When a homeowner is trying to decide which handyman to call, they look at who has the most reviews and what people are saying. You want to win that decision before they even dial.
I gave him a challenge. He was not allowed to call me back until he had confirmed 25 reviews and was on his way to 50. Not 10. Not 20. Twenty-five, with momentum.
You Are Already In Front Of The Customer. Ask For More.
This one is so simple it almost sounds too obvious to say out loud. But I have watched business owners leave enormous amounts of money on the table because they finish a job, say thank you, and walk out the door.
You are already there. You are already trusted. The customer already said yes to you once. That is the hardest part. So before you pack up your tools and head to the next job, look around. What else do you see? A loose hinge? A cracked caulk line around the tub? A door that doesn’t close right? Point it out. Say, “Hey, I noticed this while I was here. I can take care of that today if you want.” Or at minimum, just ask: “Is there anything else I can help you with while I’m here?”
Add 10% to every ticket just by asking that question. If your average job is $200, that is $20 more per customer. Multiply that across 30 jobs a month and you just added $600 to your revenue without finding a single new customer. At 50 jobs a month, that is $1,000. The math is simple and the ask costs you nothing.
Customers are not going to volunteer extra work to you. But they will almost always say yes when you point something out and offer to handle it. You are already there. You are already trusted. Use that.
The Real Question Is What You Do Next.
By the end of that call, this guy was lit up. He went from frustrated and overwhelmed to walking away with a clear list of actions that were not complicated, not expensive, and completely within his control. That is what happens when someone cuts through the noise and gives you a direct path forward.
But here is the thing I have learned over 34 years. The advice is the easy part. What separates the business owners who make it from the ones who stay stuck is not information. It is execution. Plenty of people know what they should be doing. Very few actually go do it.
So I left him with this: call me when you hit 25 reviews. Not before. You can call me tomorrow or you can call me next year. That part is up to you. But I do not want to hear from you until that number is real and you are on your way to 50.
Because at that point, I will already know something important about you. I will know that you can take direction, that you can execute, and that you are serious about building something real.
The three things I gave him are not complicated. Build the right website. Set up your Google Business Profile and go get 50 reviews. And ask every customer for more work before you leave.
Simple. Focused. Completely within your reach.
Now go do it.
