Tradie Taskforce is the personal passion of founder and franchisor Steve Margetts. Steve swapped his corporate banking life to fulfil his dream of owning a business and he’s now keen to share his enthusiasm with like-minded individuals.

“A franchise is the perfect platform for me to share my expertise and teach new skills because it allows people the freedom to build their own businesses,” he says.

While desk-bound in banking, in his spare time Steve loved delving into odd-job projects. So when he was ready to step out and become his own boss, creating a handyman business was a natural move.

Now reconfigured into a franchise model, Tradie Taskforce is bringing professionalism, expertise and exciting opportunities to the handyman trade.

Customers can book online a qualified professional for any of the repair, home maintenance and minor build services Tradie Taskforce offers.

“We pride ourselves on getting the job right. When introducing ourselves, we are careful not to mislead customers about job outcomes. Everybody has an expectation but sometimes this doesn’t meet reality.

“In fencing for instance, the timber finish suitable for a boundary might not be the immaculate finish the customer expects. We explain what it will cost to deliver what the client wants and that eliminates confusion.”

The starting point is understanding what the customer wants to achieve. With fencing it could be a particular timber finish, a landscaping project, or the need for privacy.

“We explain how we build and work to achieve the desired outcome. It is very rare we can’t help our clients. 

“Sometimes the most rewarding outcome comes from saying “No”. Our clients love the honesty” says Steve.

New handyman franchise Tradie Taskforce built on years of experience

His experience is a testament to the success of this approach. In almost 20 years Steve reports an amazing level of customer satisfaction, from more than 10,000 clients.

“The best form of marketing is word of mouth. This comes from doing a great job everytime and ensuring the client has a most rewarding experience. It was a strong focus of mine to ensure the client experience surpassed all others on the market. As a consequence, I have done very little marketing over the last 12 years. I simply haven’t needed to.”

Steve aims to lead the way in marketing, communications and business in the handyman field and now embraces digital marketing, targeting social media channels like Facebook and Instagram.

Over the years Steve has fine-tuned his skills in his own business, with a focus on strong relationships. “Our job is all about relationships and being efficient. We aim to be great at what we do,, efficient, well-priced, professional and market leaders,” he says.

Steve also had experience as a hospitality franchisee so he understands what it takes to run and operate a successful franchise.

“Training is a massive part of what we do. We are focused on educating our franchisees,” he says.

The extensive training for new franchisees will include access to external courses and teachers and internal modules delivering learning on policies and processes.

He also believes in collaboration and knowledge-sharing, tapping into expertise across the franchisee network to deliver top level education.

Tailoring franchisee education will deliver a premium service

“We will tailor the training package to the franchisee’s personal needs. We intend to identify areas where they can gain from more education and support and guide them to becoming experts.

“Listening to the franchisees is important. We have a philosophy of managing up, managing down and managing across. This means we fully support our franchisees, suppliers and our clients; we are supportive of everyone’s needs.”

Steve’s collaborative approach includes utilising skill sets across the network to complete jobs that one franchisee may be unskilled in.

“My job is about building relationships and knowing I can help customers with their queries. I love the everyday challenge of working to find a solution,” he says.

“The most enjoyable aspect of my job is that I do something different every day. We are doing what we do because we love it, we embrace every challenge. No job is too big or too small, and we support clients to ensure they get the best result.”

An open-minded attitude is crucial for Tradie Taskforce franchisees who, in addition to handyman skills, also need to be lateral thinkers and problem solvers. Above all, franchisees need to be people-focused, he says.

“This business is people-first. You have to be comfortable communicating with potential customers, and sell what we’re doing,” explains Steve. “We are invited as strangers into people’s homes so the client must be comfortable with our handymen too.”

Investing in a Tradie Taskforce business delivers keen individuals the opportunity to build a strong business built on good customer relationships.

“This is ideal for people who want to come in at the beginning of an exciting franchise journey and help drive the brand,” he says.

“Tradie Taskforce is a fresh brand, a new model, one where you can tailor your own hours. It’s perfect, I love the flexibility because you can control your own lifestyle balance,” says Steve.