How To Start A Property Maintenance Business

What’s not to like? Property Maintenance is a low cost, high profit business that we can help you start fast!

 

1: Overview
2: Qualifications
3: Pros and Cons
4. Choose your business structure and registering your business
5: How much can I earn? And startup costs
6: Create your business plan
7. Marketing and Branding
8. Red tape
9. Conclusion

Do you find yourself helping out friends and family with those odd jobs around the house? Or have you decided that you´d like to take your hobby/side hustle to the next level? Starting up your own Property Maintenance business could see you running a very lucrative business in a short space of time. 

 

• Potential Annual Revenue: £30-54,000
• Startup Cost: £1,000-£2,500
• Time To Revenue: 2-3+ months 
• Annual Market Growth Rate:     %
• Best for: Hard working, meticulous, self-motivated, trustworthy entrepreneurs

 

The value of housing repair and maintenance in Great Britain in 2022 was a whooping £30 billion proving that we all like to make alterations and improvements to our properties and will deal with much needed repairs even when times are tough economically.

Maybe we made too many expensive mistakes during lockdown or now we just can’t seem to find the time to invest in the upkeep of our house and garden but we have seen a steady growth in household maintenance expenditure in the post-Covid years. Subsequently, more and more people are turning to professional property maintenance service businesses. 

Many of the country’s top home improvement retail companies have lamented the fall of DIY and the growth of the do-it-for-me generation. Here’s where you come in as the ever helpful Handyman!

 

We can help you start this business today with this great package!

If you are thinking about starting a property maintenance business, you are probably handy and possess most of the skills required, or at least enough repair skills to get started. A common misconception most people have about this industry is that you need to have a ton of construction experience and know-how to do everything. This isn´t so but you must have skills and/or qualifications in the areas that you will concentrate on. 

 

So, are you the perfect plasterer or handy with a paintbrush and roller? Maybe your skill set is in plumbing, furniture building and fencing? Or are you lucky enough to be a jack-of-all-trades? 

Although running a property maintenance company does not need any specific qualifications, some of the areas you may want to consider do need training. 
You can do relatively short courses that will cover a range of trades. 

Take a look at the government’s National Careers Service website or contact City and Guilds or your local colleges for BTEC for information on Building Construction courses. Or a Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Building Maintenance Multi-Trade: Repair & Refurbishment. All these qualifications will help enormously when you´re starting out in property maintenance giving potential customers confidence in your working ability. 

Never tackle gas or electrical work without the required training and qualifications. 

 

Before you attach your tool belt and pick up your sharpened pencil, here are some pros and cons to keep in mind:

5 Great Reasons to Start a Property Maintenance Business

• High Demand with recurring revenue: There is a constant demand for house maintenance services as home and property owners require regular upkeep and repairs.
• Numerous Services: You can offer a variety of services big and small, such as plumbing, electrical repairs, painting, carpentry, plastering and tiling to changing a bulb or a showerhead. This allows you to cater to a diverse customer base and increase your revenue streams.
• Flexibility: You can typically set your own working hours and schedule. 
• Scalability: A good reputation will bring in more work than you can handle as a sole enterprise. Once you start to either employ or hire staff, you can expand your services and cover a larger geographical area.
• Variety: You´ll work on different types of projects and encounter various challenges. This variety can keep the job interesting and prevent monotony.

 

6 Common Challenges when Starting a Property Maintenance Business

• Seasonal Fluctuations: You might find that you have fluctuations in your workload. For example, you may find there is a higher demand for garden maintenance and outdoor house repairs in spring and autumn while boiler system repairs may be more common during the colder months. The weather can have a significant impact on your working week, be prepared to ride out any outdoor work that is washed out. Over the winter try to keep a few small indoor jobs on the side.
• Intense Competition: The house maintenance industry is often highly competitive, especially in populated areas. Established businesses and contractors with a strong customer base can pose challenges to start-ups trying to establish their presence.
• Skill Diversity: Providing a wide range of services requires a diverse skill set or you will need to hire qualified subcontractors. This can increase your costs and take more management.
• Physical Demanding: Work can be physically demanding, involving manual labour, working in confined spaces, or performing tasks at heights. You can be at risk of injuries or physical strain.
• Customer Satisfaction: Maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction is crucial to your success. Unhappy customers can tarnish your reputation through negative reviews or word-of-mouth, potentially impacting your business.
• Self Management: Balancing multiple projects, scheduling appointments and managing customer expectations can be very challenging. Don’t bite off more than you can chew at the beginning. Know your limitations.

 

From registering your company, establishing your brand to marketing your services, we’ll cover everything you need to know to help you turn your creative talent into a successful property maintenance business. 

 

How I’d set this business up.

So do you think this sounds like the business for you? Here’s how I’d make sure you hit the ground running.

Choice of business structure and registering your business

This is fundamentally important when you are setting up any business. As a solopreneur, you can start this business as either a sole trader or a limited company. 

 I’d also strongly consider a hybrid startup structure where you can reap the benefits of both structures with minimal cost and risk.

This could enable you to start trading with the simplicity of a sole trader but also have secured the limited company for marketing hacks and saving tax later if you decide to incorporate your business.

Got a catchy company name yet? Use our FREE Company Name Checker Tool and find your memorable name. You’ll be searching through a database of more than 5 million registered company names and 11 million UK domain names.

 

 If you are unsure what to do at this point I recommend seeking professional advice. We can guide you through this in a clear and concise way you will understand. 

 

 

When starting a property maintenance business it’s important to research the other businesses in the area and the services they offer. This will help you identify any gaps in the market and determine what extra services you can offer to stand out from the competition.

Here are 8 standout ideas of additional services you can offer domestic or commercial clients:

1. Consider offering a 24/7 emergency service
2. Provide installation and maintenance of smart home devices. Install door cameras or security lights and systems.
3. Provide Home Energy Audits by doing a short Domestic Energy Assessor Course
4. Promote eco-friendly practices using environmentally friendly products and techniques. 
5. Offer virtual consultations and assessments. Customers can share videos or photos of their maintenance issues, allowing you to provide initial advice or estimates remotely. This can save time and offer convenience for customers.
6. Specialise in a particular niche area such as historical property restoration, eco-friendly landscaping or custom carpentry. This can help you establish expertise and attract customers seeking specialised services.
7. Install cladding and fire insulation – courses are available countrywide.
8. Create loyalty programs or maintenance packages. Discounted rates for specified periods can help you get new customers or try exclusive benefits to repeat customers. 

By offering additional services, you can differentiate your home maintenance business from competitors and attract more customers.

However, it’s important to ensure that you have the necessary skills and resources to offer these services effectively.

 

The all-important question – How much can I earn in Property Maintenance? 

Do your research. Find out what other local property maintenance businesses are charging in your area for the same services you offer. 

Exploit your speciality if you have one!

The average salary for a self employed property maintenance worker in the UK is around £35,000. This is obviously dependent on your experience, the type of services you offer, the size of your client base and your local region. Many make less than the average and many make much more. 

You may choose to charge by the hour or day or quote for a job. Many tradespeople impose a minimum call out fee. This guarantees that your clients will only contact you if they have enough business to warrant your journey to them. 

The more qualifications you have the more specialist you are, try to keep your education rolling. The most important thing to remember is to make your pricing clear to your client before you start the job and warn them of any extras that may occur.

 

Depending on what level you intend to set out on, your start up costs can vary quite a lot. 

Will you be doing more construction and large jobs like a full bathroom refit or start with small jobs such as decorating, gutter cleaning or insulating a loft? Depending on which area you initially go into will determine the type of start-up equipment you´ll require. 

You will need transport, look at the second hand market and a set of good quality tools, in the long run these will be more cost effective. You are looking at a minimum of £1,500 – 2,000 for basic start-up tools. Consider renting larger items such as a cement mixer or grinder. Then when your finances allow, you can invest in the more expensive items. Consider where you will store your equipment. 

Your customer database could be varied, from residential homes, housing associations and Airbnbs to large private properties such as restaurants, care homes and hotels.

Contact your local landlords or the council for any work contracts in your town. 

Keep your eyes open for new builds in your area. New housing estates are a great place to advertise your business you´ll have a fresh supply of new customers who will inevitably need you soon!

 

There are other formalities that you will need to complete before you can start trading successfully.

Business plan

Start by formulating a business plan. This will help to focus on delivering a clear message to your potential customers.

There are different types of business plans. (But you can use my 1 page business plan here) It’s designed to cut the waffle but has enough detail to make it a meaningful tool so that you remain laser focussed on what needs to be done when you set up this business.

 

 

How to market a property maintenance business.

This is a business that I would definitely want to fast-track from the beginning for growth. You want to get busy as quickly as possible and there is only one real way to achieve this.

Most buyers/potential clients for this service are going to find a property maintenance business using a Google search. Sure some will use an app, some might ask for a recommendation on social media but MOST will look on Google.

Google knows that when someone is looking for a maintenance service, they want to see results close to where they are located.

This usually means that Google will show a maps listing at the top of the search results like the image below.

 

If your business shows up here then you are right at the top of the search results, under the nose of people who want to find a Property Maintenance Business.

 

For any type of business/search term where Google shows a Maps listing like this , I describe these businesses as having “high local marketability”.

High local marketability means if you know what you are doing and tick the right boxes with Google you can get a lot of business enquiries very easily.

So if potential customers can’t find you on Google, they won’t be calling you. And guess what? That means someone else is picking up that client and you’re missing out!

 

 

So how do you dominate Google search results for this business?

You have to optimise for the Google Maps listing.

How do you do that? 

 Follow these 10 simple steps to marketing a property maintenance business:

• Get a website. Make sure it complies with Google’s best practice guidelines.
• Get your new website in Google so clients find YOU.
• Provide LOCAL PROOF. Use a local phone number to tell clients and Google you are definitely a local business.
• Provide SOCIAL PROOF. Show reviews from real customers on your site. This is called “social proof”and turns browsers into buyers!
• Use LANDING PAGES. A landing page is optimised for a specific search term making it rank higher than your competitors. Landing pages are for people who want to buy your service now. They show the client what they want to see.
• Provide great CTA’s (CTA =call to action). Make it super easy on your website for clients to get in touch with you by including features such as a messaging/chat app and CTA’s that show clients exactly how to contact you.
• Share FEEDBACK. Go the extra mile to provide an outstanding service and you are sure to collect plenty of positive feedback from clients. Ensure you harness this by collecting reviews from every new customer.
• AUTOMATE – You won’t have time to be manually updating your website. Make sure you automatically show the new reviews on your website, driving more clients to your business.
• PROMOTE – Regular updates to your website and using Google tools will give your website an extra edge.
• MAINTAIN – From time to time websites need technical maintenance to the software they run on to keep peak performance.

 Most businesses in the property maintenance sector DO NOT invest enough time and money to execute this simple marketing  strategy providing you with the opportunity to step in and DOMINATE in the local search engine results.

 

 The Live Chat Function

This is great as it gives your potential customers a “one click method” to message you straight from your websites – you get the messages on your usual Messenger account, this is probably something that your competitors won’t have and we’ve had clients getting great success using this tactic. Make it easy for your potential clients to get in touch with you. 

 

Here are 8 more great tips to help you market your property maintenance business effectively:

Promoting your business is crucial to attract new customers and grow your business. 

• Do your research

This industry is competitive, so it’s important to research your competitors in your local area and identify what you can offer that others don’t. This will help you differentiate your business and attract more customers.

• Create a great company and domain name for your website 

Choose a name that is related to you and your business and is memorable for your potential customers. Remember to steer well clear of similar sounding names so confusion does not occur with other companies.

Our Company Name Search can show you what’s available right NOW!

 

 

We can quickly and easily help you get the ball rolling with this, registering your company and domain name and even providing you with fully featured business email boxes making your business look more professional, adding credibility when you are approaching new customers.

So, instead of emailing from an @yahoo or @hotmail address you can be emailing from @mycompanyname. Doesn´t that look better? 

 

You will then have to register a domain name for your website. We all know websites are crucial nowadays so make sure you get yours registered as soon as you have chosen your trade name. Take a look at our Domain Name FAQs  which will explain why a domain name is so important to getting your business up and running. 

Use our Domain Checker and let´s get you onto the world wide web!! 

 

 

• Create a GREAT website.

A website is essential in business today. 

Always show your reviews and the range of services you offer and give clear and correct contact details. Photos and videos, especially before and after ones, are fantastic for a more attractive property maintenance business website. Also give lots more information about your business and any unique services you offer.

Here you can introduce yourself and give your experience and qualifications. A little information about yourself can make the business more personal and boost customer confidence. 

We have already mentioned this (a lot!) but it is vitally important.

Always ask for References and Reviews on your website. 

Start with your friends and family if they have used your services. Also give special offers, ask your clients to introduce friends and family and they´ll receive a discount for a set period on your next job with them.

Google reviews, testimonials and recommendations are essential. Potential customers WILL check for reviews when they are searching for a service, product or trade. 

This is difficult when you first start out and asking can be uncomfortable but a happy client will want to help you up the ladder every time. 

 

• Word of mouth is probably the most powerful and effective marketing tool and should never be underestimated! Always make sure you ask your clients to recommend you to their friends and family…..in fact anyone they know! Peer recommendations are especially valuable as we trust our friends and family above anyone else.

A satisfied, happy customer is the golden ticket to your success. Always remain professional and approachable, make sure you leave the job finished to the absolute best of your ability. They´ll thank you for it by singing your praises.

• Design an eye-catching logo

Your logo is an important aspect of your brand identity, so it’s essential to design a logo that represents you and your business and can be used for example on your work uniform, car/van stickers, business cards, and leaflets etc.

If you belong to a trade, being a member of a trade association is always an excellent way to show your professionalism. Make sure this is shown on ALL your marketing materials. 

Have you thought about adding QR codes to your marketing material? 

With a click of their mobile phone, customers can make an appointment, fill out a request form, or write a review by using a QR code. Add a QR code to your work vehicle, magnetic signs are perfect for this. Potential consumers passing by can immediately scan for further information about your services. 

QR codes are perfect for business cards, giving website links, tips or how to find us instructions. They are also an easy way to get that all-important customer feedback and can be added to invoices and receipts that go directly to your review page.

• Use Social Media

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram and TikTok can be powerful marketing tools for your property maintenance business. 

Shout out loud what makes your business unique! Whether it´s installing smart home devices or restoring historic buildings! 

Whatever if it is, make sure you are getting the word out there. 

Join local business Facebook groups or similar platforms to promote your property maintenance business and connect with potential customers. 

You can also create social media pages for your maintenance business and post regular updates, photos, and promotions to attract more customers. 

Running competitions on social media is a great way to create more business. Remember to make it simple and quick to enter.   

Decide what is the objective you´d like to achieve. 

If you want to – 

• Increase exposure = like and share your post to enter
• Gain followers = Follow and share to enter. Or, follow and tag a friend to enter.
• Collect email addresses = Click this link and enter your email.

Prizes can vary from vouchers at a local home interior store to half a day’s labour. Remember to contact/email all that entered, if feasible, and offer a discount for new work. Use what interaction you have generated to gain new clients and business!

There are many free social media contest/giveaway tools available to help you. 

 Create relationships with other businesses, maybe a gardening or a building business would be mutually beneficial if you don’t cover those areas.

• Use apps

There are many apps available that can help you manage your business more efficiently. They can be used for booking appointments, saving customer details and receiving payment.  

• SEO

Search engine optimization is the art of getting your property maintenance website to the top of the search results on Google and the other search engines so that you have the best chance of getting their business.

If you’re new to running a website it’s easy to get caught out with a low cost SEO service that just doesn’t work.

We can help put together an affordable SEO package and we’ll always tell you what we are going to do and what results you might expect to achieve.

 

By implementing these marketing strategies, you can attract more customers, improve your brand identity, and grow your business.

 

Let’s talk about the boring stuff!

Open a bank account

Keeping your personal and business finances separate is crucial for several reasons. It simplifies accounting and bookkeeping, making it easier to track business expenses, income, and tax obligations. It also helps demonstrate financial transparency, which can be important for legal and tax purposes.

How about a  contactless card payment machine? There are plenty on the market now and easy for you and your customers to use. 

You will need insurance

There are lots of companies offering their services so have a good look around and take their advice. 

Public liability insurance is crucial to protect yourself and your customers, providing cover against injury or accidental damage to their property. 

If you employ someone Employers’ liability insurance is essential to cover any injury and illness sustained whilst whilst being employed by you, 

Then there is insurance for your equipment and tools, protecting you from theft, damage and loss. 

If you have a van make sure your insurance company knows it is a works vehicle. And make sure your eye-catching logo and your contact details are prominently displayed!  

Some of your work may require a licence such as use of a chainsaw or waste carrying. Do your homework and contact your local council and find out more on government websites.

 

Conclusion

Property Maintenance is full of fantastic opportunities! You can keep it as a solo enterprise or expand with time as you become busier. 

It’s also a great way to stay fit and active, meeting new people from all walks of life with an ever changing workload at differing locations throughout your local area. 

Skills such as practical thinking, problem solving and giving great attention to detail are paramount for your success in property maintenance, as is giving reliable and honest customer service. 

Often when home maintenance is required it can be very stressful for the customer. Maybe they have an emergency water leak through the ceiling or a crumbling wall about to collapse. New customers are fully aware of the exploits of cowboy traders and need reassurance that you will help them with speed and professionalism. 

Building trust and a close relationship with your customers will ultimately be rewarding for both parties. 

Keep an eye on the latest digital trends and technology for the construction sector and incorporate these into your business if you can. Whether you feel this is necessary or not, the digital world will make your life and business more efficient and in turn more productive, transparent, consistent and reliable. 

To embark on this entrepreneurial journey, careful planning and thoughtful execution are essential. But by following our guidelines, committing to excellence and chatting to our team, you can quickly lay the groundwork for a successful business. 

So, before you oil that hinge, pick up a tile cutter or a pressure washer, learn get in touch and let’s get this business started!