Specialist vs. Generalist: Six Reasons it Pays to Specialize

Handymen are well known for their “big or small, we do it all” approach, offering a wide range of services.

Many view us as “jacks of all trades, and masters of none.”

And this generalist approach has its benefits. You need fewer customers to keep your schedule full, every day is different, and you get to build close relationships with clients. There’s also built-in job security when you can handle a wide variety of projects.

However, from a purely business standpoint, it can be significantly more profitable and enjoyable to specialize and limit the services you provide. So in the rest of this article, I will explore the benefits of specializing and compare that to the typical MO of a pro handyman.

You’ll find this concept motivating and intriguing, even if you enjoy being a generalist.

Listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app!

HS035 – Make Your Business More Profitable By Specializing

What does it mean to specialize?

In most cases, it means you focus on one specific trade, such as plumbing, electrical, or HVAC. Most licensed contractors are specialists.

However, you can specialize even further. For example, an electrician can specialize in home theater installation. A plumber can specialize in unclogging drains or emergency services. A carpenter can specialize in custom door installation or building decks. A handyman can specialize in power washing.

With the internet now connecting you to virtually endless people, it’s possible to specialize in a very specific niche and still keep your schedule full. For example, I once met a guy who specialized in trampoline assembly and was making a killing.

Here’s a picture of the work truck of a guy who specializes in picking up dog poop.

The options are endless when it comes to services you can specialize in.

Do you have to limit yourself to that one service?

No, not necessarily. Even if you offer a wide range of handyman services, it’s beneficial to choose one or two services to get good at and then promote those to customers.

The benefits of specializing

Benefit #1 – Expert Positioning

When you specialize, you automatically position yourself as an expert, which is helpful for marketing.

Being seen as an expert builds trust and helps you stand out.

This is especially true when trying to attract wealthy clients. They often have refined tastes and aren’t looking for some weekend handyman who can “probably figure it out.” They want somebody that’s like, “This is what I do!”

They want an expert.

For example, one of the services I specialize in is TV wall mount installation, and it’s one of the primary services I promote to gain new clients. Simply promoting this service has positioned me as an expert.

The funny thing is that customers who hire me to hang a TV will often ask me if I do anything else. I love when I hear this because I know that my marketing worked. Although I am a handyman and do all kinds of services, they see me as a TV wall mounting expert.

Most handy people can wall-mount TVs, but customers hire me more often because I’ve chosen to promote it as my specialty.

Benefit #2 – Higher Income Potential

By specializing, you can make more money in less time. This is true for a few reasons.

1. Customers are willing to pay more for an expert. That’s because hiring an expert implies more certainty that the job will be done well. It’s a form of insurance. Additionally, customers often assume the job will be done better when a specialist is at hand.
2. You become more proficient, allowing you to complete a project in less time and often with higher quality. This is especially important in a competitive area because it will enable you to make more money without raising your prices.
3. You can package your services in more profitable ways. For example, instead of charging based on time, you can charge flat rates. You can also create packages, upsells, and even recurring services. There are all kinds of creative ways to package your services, and specializing gives you the time and focus to develop and test different offerings.
4. You can avoid free quotes, which is an insidious practice that eats into your profits.

Of course, you can do all of these things without specializing in one service, but it’s more complex. You only have so much time and mental energy, after all. The simplicity of specializing allows you to get more creative.

Benefit #3 – Higher Conversions

Whether you are marketing with craigslist, your website, or Thumbtack, you will have higher conversions if you specialize. That means a higher percentage of people that see your ads will contact you.

By promoting your specialty instead of general “handyman services,” you stand out from other handymen.

Example: Let’s say a customer is looking for a fence repair on Craigslist. They come across a few posts with the following titles:

• “Local Handyman – 30 Years of Experience”
• “$10/hr Handyman Services”
• “Professional Handyman”
• “Fence Repair Service”

Each ad offers fence repair, but which one would you click on? You’re most likely going to click on the most relevant ad, which is the one that says fence repair.

This scenario plays out in countless ways on all marketing platforms. The more relevant your business is to the exact service someone needs when searching for a pro, the more likely you will grab their attention and turn them into a lead.

Sometimes people are looking for a general handyman and a specialist ad will be less likely to convert, but I’ve found that most people are searching for the exact service they need when looking for a pro to hire.

Benefit #4 – Easier to Hire Help

As a professional handyman, you tackle various problems that require creative solutions and a broad spectrum of knowledge. Additionally, you need to understand your limits and which jobs to avoid.

Hiring somebody who’s equally skilled and trustworthy is challenging. Typically, you will need to pay more for this level of skill. Becoming an all-around handyman takes years of experience or a certain type of person.

But, if your business only offers one or two services, it’s much easier to train somebody with less experience. If you specialize in something basic, you can often train a complete newbie in a few days.

For example, if you specialize in gutter installation, you could train an unskilled laborer in a matter of weeks, freeing your time to focus on other things.

Benefit #5 – Simplified Pricing

Quoting jobs can be a serious time-suck. As a new handyman, you’ll find yourself running all over town quoting jobs because you’re unsure which jobs you can handle or what each job entails.

Additionally, pricing as a handyman is one of the hardest things to get right. You often have to perform a repair several times and make a few mistakes before you figure out how to price that project appropriately. And as a handyman, you handle many projects, which usually means lots of undercharging.

Projects almost always take longer than you expect.

Specializing eliminates much of this complexity. There’s still a learning curve, but it’s much shorter because there is less to learn in most cases.

Specializing also makes it easier to quote jobs over the phone or email, eliminating the need to travel and quote in person. If you specialize, you will likely develop fixed pricing and easily quote over the phone without visiting customers’ houses.

Simplified pricing also makes it easier to hire somebody to answer the phone for you, once again freeing you up to do more impactful things in your business, like marketing or creating systems.

#6 – Streamlined Operations

One of the downsides of being a handyman is that you need so many tools and supplies, and it’s a constant effort to manage them. Before heading to a job, you will likely need to load or unload certain tools from your vehicle.

Unless you have a dedicated trailer, you probably can’t carry all your tools simultaneously.

When you only offer one or two services, you can usually carry everything you need on you at all times. You never have to stop and think about which tools you need before leaving your house for a job.

You can also have more specialized tools (usually overkill for a generalist) that can save you time and make jobs easier.

And you can carry common supplies allowing you to make fewer trips to the store.

This streamlines your business, making nearly every aspect of it more efficient. And when you are getting paid for your time, efficiency is a big deal.

The Disadvantages of Specializing

At this point, you’re probably thinking that specializing is a no-brainer. And it is. But just like everything, it does have some downsides.

The first one is that specializing requires more marketing effort to keep your schedule full, and that’s because fewer customers will turn into repeat clients. Compare that with a traditional handyman business, where just a few good customers can keep your schedule mostly full.

Your marketing will be more effective if you specialize, but you need more customers consistently. For someone starting their business who is new to marketing, this can make things more challenging.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, especially if you’ve implemented what I teach in Handyman Marketing Machine and already have more customers than you need.

Another downside of specializing is that you may find yourself getting bored. One of my favorite things about the handyman business is that I’m solving new challenges every day. One day I might be building a new gate. The next, I’m hanging pictures, fixing doors, and installing a stripper pole.

The variety you get with a handyman business is not only stimulating for the mind, but it helps avoid repetitive stress injuries. I couldn’t imagine installing flooring every day, for example.

And lastly, when you specialize, you are less likely to build close relationships with customers since many will only hire you once. If you like to get close to your clients and remember their dogs’ names, then specializing may not be for you.

The best of both worlds

Luckily, there is a third option. You can still offer a wide variety of handyman services while having a specialty or two. Those specialties can help you stand out from the competition with your marketing, and then you can promote your handyman services once you get in the door.

You can also start offering every service you can, then find what you like most and dig deep into that. Then focus your marketing on that service, which will allow you to increase your profitability while still relying on the security of your general handyman services.

You can start as a generalist (usually easier) and slowly develop a specialty or two (generally more profitable).

Conclusion

Choosing a service or two to specialize in is an excellent way to increase your profits, differentiate yourself from competitors, simplify your business, and make it easier to hire employees.

Even if you continue to offer a wide range of handyman services, you can still experience many benefits, such as boosted profits and differentiation.

The key to making it work is to invest your time and effort into marketing your specialty. As I’ve said before, good marketing makes everything in your business easier and more profitable.

Of course, you’ll need to learn some new skills and buy some specialized tools as well, but that will inevitably happen when people consistently hire you for the same project.