Why general contracting is better than being a handyman
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- čas přidán 22. 01. 2024
- Quick video this morning detailing a lot of the things that I went through as a Handyman and why I made the decision to become and operate as a licensed contractor. #Contracting #Handyman #GeneralContractor #Grateful
You’re a diamond in the rough!! Great helpful info. I will watch this again and save it and send it to my son who is in the same position. Thanks Brian!
Thank you Craig. I appreciate the support.
From California, still pretty similar out here. I agree with you.
I’ve been doing the handyman thing for 10 years and pretty burnt out on it. We are moving out of the city this summer and I’m looking to rebrand as a carpentry company or a bathroom remodeller. Not sure where the future will take us. Thanks for your video. I agree you that growing a handyman company is extremely unprofitable.
Best of luck on your new adventure. I agree niche(ing) will help streamline the client base. Keep grinding 🙏
This is all accurate information.
Yup I agree 💯
Great video
Thank you
that's true, more and more of us handymen who are competent are starting to realize we make more on our own. we don't wanna be employees
Journeyman carpenter here... gonna start a GC but also do handyman to get leads
Main problem I find as a handyman are the rules and regs. In SC I can only hire full employees with insurance, tools, truck provided, etc. No day labor, no seasonal hire, no 10-99 whatsoever. So I own my labor alone. I would have to personally work two people's time to save enough to hire someone. Contractors get to sub out. And they usually sub to illegals, so at the end of the day, my labor rate I have to charge the customer is actually higher than the GC. The GC pays cheap labor, can have lots of guys making money for him. And anytime you have someone competent, they can just go do it for themselves. It can be quite frustrating following the rules. I get squeezed from the bottom getting undercut by guys ignoring laws and squeezed from the big guys who sub to guys ignoring laws. Our whole country is set up to penalize responsible people and incetivize crime.
I don’t deny that a lot of our rules and regulations are not set up to help people to get ahead. I dealt with the same thing here in Florida different situations, but extremely limited on scope of work that I was allowed to perform legally. That really pushed me to get my contractors license and I think you can run a wonderful Handyman Service with a contractors license and be able tonot have those issues that you’re talking about. Might be something to look into.
Here you have to work under another GC for minimum 2 yrs and get them to sign off on all phases, framing, roofing, electrical, etc before you can even take the test. GCs won't take liability risk unless you shut down and just work for them as an employee for a few years. So it's really difficult for a tradesman to transition into a GC unless you have a buddy that's willing to basically underwrite you. Really remodelers have to start out as home builders or working for builders. I never went that route cause I don't like high ladder work and roofing. Here all the big painting/ drywall/ flooring outfits 10-99 their crews although technically that's not legal for a specialty contractor.
Thanks for the conversation - hoping to get my GC License later this year. I am curious though - do you ever find yourself in positions that you wish you had your Electrician License or Plumbing license in addition? For the sake of doing your own labor if time and opportunity avails? Or do you think that building relationships with tradesman asap is actually more beneficial than saving the money on labor?
Yes, I build relationships with license tradesmen but it would be nice for small electrical projects not so much plumbing because I don’t really love doing plumbing, but there’s pros and cons to each doing it and also subbing it out
@@briandavis1798 that’s great to hear - I’ll double your sentiments towards the plumbing and leave that food on the table for someone else. Thanks for the advice.
you cant do electrical but you can do up to 2500 worth of non electrical contracting according to state statute. There is a handman exception in the statute. What about that Brian? Are you familiar with that statute?
There are so many different versions of what’s legal and what’s not legal for a handyman but what I found is no plumbing no electrical no HVAC no structural work and technically yes no work over 2500 makes it extremely limiting
and dont you need to be an apprentice for 4 years fulltime with a construction company in order to apply for the GC license?
Not if you have a 4 year degree. Then you only need 1 years in a supervisor position. Without the degree you need 4 years
@@briandavis1798 are you a GC? How can a 4 year degree at a college in non construction related classes be equal to 3 years of apprencticeship in the trades? Also I would like to see you do a video on Florida Statute 489.103 which is the handyman exemption statute. It would be interesting to get your insight on this. Thanks and I love your channel and how you keep it real.
Ive been a contractor and sometimes handyman for 10 years. This business sucks for many reasons and is good for many reasons too. You are definitely right about an income cap. There is no employees only other subcontractors. Anyone who has a worth in the trades charges for it and anyone cheaper is just starting out and hasn't found their way yet. I was pursuing my home inspection license and covid happened now its been at a stand still.
What kind of jobs could or should a new general contractor take? By the way there are lots of renegade contractors doing unlicensed work IM sure that is a thing in Florida too. Handymen are not wiring new construction or plumbing in new condos, but lots of small jobs going on. I subscribed!!