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Comes In Handy

Got some work around the house, but can't find anyone who's up to the task? Just buy yourself a franchise.

So many customers need ceiling fans hung, garbage disposals installed or any of a dozen other odd jobs handled, but don't know whom to turn to. Contractors aren't interested in these too-small jobs.

Stacy Swift and Tamyra Wallace ran into this very dilemma as homeowners. They were hiring local handymen and hadn't been pleased with the results. "We had been ripped off too many times," explains Swift. "We knew there was a huge market for the service, and nobody out there with a reputation of being prompt, safe and reliable."

Check out Mr. Handyman in Entrepreneur.com's Franchise Zone

While looking for the right person to hang drywall in their garages, Swift, 41, and Wallace, 43, were also searching for the perfect franchise opportunity. Their experience in the franchise industry (Swift is a franchise consultant; Wallace was a franchise sales director) told them a service business was the way to go. Their experience as homeowners, meanwhile, told them Mr. Handyman would find an audience in Greenwood Village, Colorado. As Swift reasoned, "There's no way we were the only people who needed handymen on a regular basis."

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The pair founded Fix It Chicks Inc. in 2001 to operate their Mr. Handyman franchise. Swift and Wallace handle the corporate end of the business while their three licensed, bonded, experienced handymen are doing odd jobs for customers. The franchisees would like to expand their business into an additional territory and have nine or 10 vans on the road, maybe a few operated by handywomen. "We'd love to have a great handywoman," says Swift, "but nobody's called for an interview yet."

Contact Source

Fix It Chicks Inc.
www.mrhandyman.com


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