The handyman: making a career out of helping others

Few jobs demand a wider range of skills than those of a competent handyman. He, and in a few cases she, needs to be a master of every building trade.

Owusu Nyarko owns Mr Dove Maintenance, which has been trading since 2000.

“In 1993 I qualified as a plumber in Ghana, where I was born,” Nyarko said.

“Soon after that I moved to SA, became a resident and worked for my brother in the building industry. I quickly realised that work opportunities for a handyman abounded and I set up Mr Dove.”

He said he was prepared to take any building or maintenance jobs in the province. He has a large crew but they are contract workers.

“It is impossible to have fulltime employees because the work I pick up varies so much,” Nyarko explained.

“With an extensive contract I bring in nearly a dozen people, but if it is a small home renovation I work with one.”

After matriculating David Campbell started work for a paint company and then moved to a national hardware group.

“We had excellent training in all materials and products, but the most important for me was learning how to quote,” he said.

“I left the industry because I always wanted to work with my hands and handyman [work] suited my skills, so I started Purple Giraffe.

“My wife, who woke up one morning with the name in her head, said it would get attention and she was right, it has.”

Campbell has had loyal clients for nearly 20 years.

“When Covid-19 broke out I was really worried and immediately got an emergency services work permit,” he said.

“What I should have realised is that leaks, blown fuses, wall cracks and electric gate faults don’t wait for a pandemic, so business is going well.”

In his case success is based on a few large clients, such as Hemingways, which keep the cash flow ticking over.

“When I started I chased work, and often quoted lower than I should. It was a great lesson in how not to do business,” Campbell said. “Now my prices are fair and I walk away if I am undercut.

“Often the client comes back to me because the first contractor has had to leave the job after running out of funds.

“I take over, end up having to undo the work, and it results in the client paying far more than my original quote.”

TG Maintenance owner Terence Gawler said his best business lesson was also his costliest.

“I started well before the 2009 recession and ended up hiring a big permanent staff — two foremen and nine or 10 workers. Recession bit, demand plummeted, and I nearly had to close down.”

Over the years he paid off the debt he had accumulated and built up the business, but promised himself that he would only have one other person working with him.

“I will stay small and get my hands dirty. And that suits the clients because they get personalised service.”

Deon Schoeman started his career as a handyman in 1993, doing work, mainly painting, for the government in Mthatha.

“In 2000 I relocated to East London and realised that there was a huge market for smaller jobs, many of them quite easy,” he said.

“Often the majority of the jobs the man of the house could do but he couldn’t be bothered. His pain was my gain.”

He set up The Maintenance Man and took out an advert in the Daily Dispatch. His marketing promise was he would do anything, from hanging doors to fixing windows.

“I would even put up pictures. I instilled in myself that my service would be perfect, and I stuck to it.

“I was punctual, I did what I promised, I didn’t cut corners and I met customers’ expectations.

“Word spread and work escalated. I had to employ more people but while I did less of the physical work, I always spent time on all jobs, and spoke to the client daily.”

Unlike many handyman businesses that have shed staff, Schoeman has grown the company and now employs 18 people.

The consensus among the people interviewed is that a good handyman is a jack of all trades, but also a master of all.