Handyman's Handbook : The Complete Guide to Starting and Running a Successful Business

Author: David Koenigsberg
List Price: $24.95
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0071416706
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional (23 May, 2003)
Sales Rank: 32,964
Average Customer Rating: 4.12 out of 5

Customer Reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5
pretty lame
This book I thought was dumbed down to the point of sad. All the info in it was, and should be, known by anyone remotely knowledgable about houses and handyman type work. It seems to have been written for the high school drop-out needing a direction. I would not recommend unless that person was completly clueless.


Rating: 2 out of 5
Big Hat, No Cattle
This book is weak. It's billed as "The complete Guide to Starting and Running a Successful Business". Actually, there's not much info on starting or running a business.

Most of the book is filled with lists of different categories of tools and hardware and their descriptions. Pages 43 to 171 out of 253 (chapters 7 thru 39) of the book just list different tools and harware with descriptions.

I'm thinking of starting a handman business. I'm most concerned with the business side of things - i.e. how to estimate costs so that I don't lose money on jobs or leave money on the table. What kind of insurance I need. Where to find customers. What records I need to keep... The info in this book on the business end of things is woefully inadequate. The author devotes a whopping three pages to "how much to charge" - chapter 42. The first of two paragraphs on 'fixed price' jobs starts out "You look at a job and try to guess how long it will take.", and goes downhill from there in my opinion. HELLO!!! There are estimating manuals for handymen that have accurate costs for virtually any job.

He devotes a whopping two pages to "record keeping and finances".

Maybe 30 pages of 253 address issues related to "starting and running a handyman business". You could bump that number up closer to 40 if you want to include chapter 53 - "Clothing for the Handyman" and chapter 54 - "Food and Excersize".

On the plus side, I do like his suggestion for cleaning paint roller covers. I'll use that idea.


Rating: 5 out of 5
Well Organized
Even if you don't end up starting a business of your own, this is a very useful book. The material is very well organized, and it's easy to find the information you need.
I found Chapter 4,on "Acquiring Knowledge and Skills" especially helpful for a beginner like me.

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