Prefered billing for handyman services

[Nathan Hughes]

My brother and I run a small handyman repair business in the Tulsa area and were relatively new to small business. Up to this point we've been strictly commercial. We have a meeting with a local investor that has a large portfolio of singe families. For those of you that manage your own properties and use a local handyman for repairs. How do you prefer to pay for repairs?  Would you rather get a invoice for the hours worked plus materials or receive a quote per job or any other way that I'm unaware of?  We take pride in our work and strive to build long-term relations with our customers.  Ive never hired out any repairs on my personal properties since I handle them myself.  This would by far be our largest client and would heavily influence the growth of our business. In simple Okie terms "I don't want to screw this up" since I have very little experience in business management and client acquisition. Any advice will be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance.

[John Teachout]

Whether something is by the job or by the hour would depend on the nature of the repair. For hanging a closet rod or shelf I'd say by the job. For some type of clean up and repair of broken plumbing or similar when it is somewhat unknown what the scope of repair is, then by the hour.

As far as invoicing, an accurate description of the repair and a separation of materials and labor costs would probably meet most people's expectations.