The Briefing

0

A FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT OF RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS

Ron Hutson had managed a chamber of commerce, worked as an independent business banker, and owned an upholstery cleaning business before embarking on his latest venture: Around Tuitt Fix-It Service.

These days, Hutson works from his Sierra Madre home, using skills acquired from 40 years of fixing up his own property. His customers are home buyers and sellers too busy to get around to doing home repairs themselves.

Jennifer Smith spoke with Hutson about using referrals from real estate agents to create a steady stream of business.

“In this kind of work you need to target a market if you’re small. Back when the economy got tight, small contractors and remodeling companies got into home repairs, too. And as they developed a clientele, they could move customers on to upgrades and add-ons.

“So I decided to focus on the real estate market (for referrals). Realtors don’t pay me. But they know they can call me at eight in the morning, and I can repair a window in time for a physical inspection that afternoon.

“Realtors on the ball will go through homes they’re selling and tell the homeowners what repairs are needed to increase the value. If homeowners can’t do it themselves, they will ask for a reference, and the agent gives them my name. It’s a built-in market, because people are either buying or selling, and in both cases they need things repaired.

“My rate is $40 an hour. I cover the San Gabriel Valley. It’s mostly suburbs, primarily single-family dwellings, and sometimes two- to four-unit apartments. My clients are middle- and upper-middle-class people, just about everybody seniors, married, divorced, gay.

“Carpentry and simple plumbing have always been the jobs I enjoy. I’m just not physically able to carry a hot water heater up stairs anymore, so I don’t do those. But I can still get up on a roof, so I do. I’m 62 years old, and I’m at the tail end of my career, so I only do the jobs I want.

“I learned early on not to try and do something that I couldn’t I would never consider myself a ‘professional.’ I hire professional plumbers and electricians when I know part of a job requires a level of experience I don’t have. But I do all the accounting and administration myself.

“My basic philosophy is that, if I can do it, why should I pay someone else to? But I would have to assume that my clients don’t share that feeling, or I wouldn’t be working.”

No posts to display