In this episode of the Handyman Startup Podcast, I bring on Chris Maxwell-Gaines, co-founder of Innovative Water Solutions in Austin, TX.
Chris started his home service business back in 2004 and has since grown it to the point of having 14 employees and over a million dollars in revenue. He’s got a lot to share from his 10 years of experience. So, I brought him onto the show so you can benefit from his knowledge and grow your business.
I love Chris’s story because he started his business without a plan and was literally wingin’ it in the beginning. He had his first customer sold before he even had a service to offer! 10 years later he’s reaping the benefits of his courage. A great example of why you should just get started.
Here are a few highlights from the interview:
- How crafting a story can jumpstart your business.
- A powerful way to use web based content marketing.
- Strategic partners and what they can do for your business.
- Why wingin’ it is sometimes the best option and why you should just get started.
Chris doesn’t provide handyman services, instead he installs and maintains water caching systems, among various other services. However, his insights and tips can be applied to any home service business.
For those of you interested in water conservation systems, Chris is your man. Not only can he install them for you but he is offering a comprehensive training program for contractor’s looking to add water conservation services to their businesses. If you’re looking to add another revenue stream, be sure to contact Chris and he’ll get you set on the right path.
Great show, thanks guys! I totally agree with wingin it 🙂 It’s amazing how things come together in your business when you just “get started” and “take action.” My husband has a thriving handyman business in Saint Cloud, FL and that’s exactly what he did.
Question for you, in your experience what’s the best way to take online payments?
LaToya,
Thanks!
From my experience, Paypal is the easiest and usually makes the most sense when you are just started to test online payments and don’t have a lot of revenue coming in yet. Then, once you start getting some momentum you can move to something like Stripe. But, it really depends on what you are selling, too. What you selling?
Dan
Thanks Dan,
We’re actually set up to use square when we’re at the customers house and they want to pay by credit card. Working now to integrate stripe for the new product I emailed you about 🙂
Oooh, that’s advanced. I like it!
Thank you for interviewing Chris. One thing that I really liked about his story is about how he found a *relative* cheap way to test out his ideas.
Paying $5,000 to rent a booth to pitch an idea in front of real potential buyers is great way to find out if your idea has potential or not.