4 Tips for Building a Business Plan for a Successful Handyman Franchise

Cara Squires, writer

Published at 19/10/2021, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

4 Tips for Building a Business Plan for a Successful Handyman Franchise — Photo © 4-Tips-for-Building-a-Business-Plan-for-a-Successful-Handyman-Franchise.jpg

When you decide to get stuck in and start your own handyman franchise, you’ll need to do many different things to ensure the success and longevity of your business. One of the best things you can do, early on, is build a strong franchise business plan. A plan that you can return to, update and share with others.

Building a business plan won’t be easy, and you’ll need to include lots of different things. But if you’re looking into starting a handyman business and entering the lucrative home improvement industry, valued at £13,728 million in 2021 [IBISWorld], it’s a good idea. Here are four tips to bear in mind as you build a business plan for a successful handyman franchise.

>> Read more:

How to build a business plan and start running a home improvement franchise on the right foot

The handyman services industry will keep on thriving in the coming decade, especially if an entrepreneur in this line of business is committed to providing reliable and quality work for customers in the home repair and property services they render. - Profitable Venture

Having chosen the right handyman franchise for you and discovered the perfect investment opportunity, you’ll want to kick off your journey as a franchisee correctly with a strong franchise business plan. You might show this plan to potential funding bodies, or to your franchisor for your approval – or even just return to it yourself in the future. Regardless of its intended audience, it should contain the following key elements:

An executive summary
A business description
Product/service descriptions
A management summary
Market analysis
Operational details
Business premises details
Sales and marketing plans
Financial projections and requirements

Beyond these elements, there are certain things which need to be included when writing a business plan for a handyman franchise. Running your own business in this sector is an individual and unique experience, and should be treated as such. To write a business plan appropriate for your franchise, here are four top tips...

1. Fully detail your provided services

A handyman or woman can offer a huge range of services, specialising in a specific sub-sector of home improvement. You might, for example, choose to invest with a franchise that specialises in painting and decorating like ColourHaus(/franchise/colourhaus), or kitchen remodelling like Dream Doors(/franchise/dream-doors), or gardening services like LawnKeeper, or plumbing like Metro Plumb, or attic installation like Access4Lofts – or one of a million other options.

Whatever you choose, it’ll be important to carefully detail your full and exact list of services in your business plan, particularly if funding bodies will be assessing the viability of an investment. You should also give reasoning, likely with the help of your franchisor, as to why this list of services is viable in a financial sense.

2. Pay careful attention to financial projections

Financial projections and requirements are one of the key inclusions listed above, but it’s worth noting that when you make a career change with a handyman franchise, you’ll be entering a dynamic and growing industry and facing a fair amount of competition. As a result, you’ll need to ensure that every financial statement you make in your franchise business plan is as accurate as it possibly can be. You’ll also need to fully consider and include costs at every level and every stage of the process, such as:

The initial cost of investment
The cost of tools, equipment and uniform
The cost of a vehicle
The cost of insurance
The cost of marketing materials, like leaflets and business cards
The cost of digital marketing campaigns like advert runs

Every franchise agreement is different, and some franchisors will cover many of these costs on behalf of their franchisees, while others will not. Make sure, before sharing your business plan with any potential funders, that you’ve fully approved all the listed costs with your franchisor.

3. Complete plenty of market research (and make marketing plans)

In any industry, research is a must. It helps you to understand the sector you’re entering, even (and especially) without any prior experience. It helps you to understand the competition and, in turn, the place that your franchise business will occupy. Most of all, it helps you to understand how to market your franchise business. Answer all of the following questions during the market research section of your handyman business plan, to ensure that you’re being thorough and comprehensive:

How has my sub-sector changed in the past ten years?
In the past five?
In the past year?
What consumer trends and demands are shaping the sub-sector right now?
What do my competitors do/how do they market themselves?
What don’t my competitors do, and how can I use this information?

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4. Lay out your growth and development goals

As a franchisee in the home improvement industry, you’ll enjoy many different advantages. One of the biggest of all will be the ability you have to keep growing your business and expanding with the years, potentially becoming a master franchisee or a multi-unit franchisee.

Whatever your hopes for the future, try to give some space and time to them in your business plan. That way, you’ll be able to look back at a later date and measure your progress against a tangible set of goals. Don’t forget to adjust this element of your business plan with the years, as your wants and needs naturally shift and change.

Having a vision helps define the direction you want the business to move in. Setting goals also ensures a good way to measure how successful the company is and what it needs to change to achieve the levels desired. Thinking ahead is vital for ensuring future growth. - Business Matters

These business plan tips will help you to enter the home improvement industry and build a profitable franchise in no time

You should have a stronger understanding, after reading this article, of all that you’ll need to do to build a watertight business plan. If you’re still unsure on the niche you’d like to operate in, stay on Point Franchise and research the wide range of handyman franchise investment opportunities available to you – including with fantastic franchises like Just Shutters and RAISON Home.