She Started a Niche Business in Her Basement with $10,000. Now It Does $113 Million in Sales: ‘Took Off Like a Rocket.’

Colette Bell and her husband, Andy Bell, began a handyman enterprise in Denver, Colorado, in 1998 after figuring out a singular want. 

They discovered that large specialty contracting firms didn’t wish to do small initiatives for owners. For instance, if somebody had one sticky window and referred to as a window firm, the agency needed to promote them 25 new home windows for his or her home. 

“We found that homeowners had a really hard time finding somebody professional and reliable for small projects,” Colette tells Entrepreneur in a brand new interview. “That was the niche market we built this business to serve.”

They knew instantly that they’d struck gold. Their first yr in enterprise, the corporate “just took off like a rocket,” Colette says.

They ended up franchising the enterprise, referred to as Handyman Matters, in 2001. Andy led the enterprise as CEO whereas Colette took on a number of management roles over time, together with chairman of the board. In 2018, they related with Ace Hardware, which acquired the enterprise in 2019. 

“This is the only career I’ve had my whole life,” Colette says. “For 28 years, I’ve been working on the handyman business.”

Andy is now the CEO and president of Ace Handyman Services, and Colette is the vp of franchise improvement, a place she has held since 2019. She continues to steer growth, serving to the model develop from 119 territories on the time of its 2019 acquisition to 383 territories as of April this yr, greater than tripling its footprint.

Ace Handyman Services grew by 12% from 2024 to 2025, with complete gross sales exceeding $113 million in 2025.  

The following interview with Colette has been evenly edited for readability and concision.

Growth techniques

What had been the primary elements that allowed the corporate to develop so rapidly? What did you do to facilitate development?
We set precise appointment instances and coach our staff that “if you’re not early, you’re late.” They must arrive on time, look skilled and put on logoed shirts. If they stroll up and see the trash cans nonetheless on the curb after pickup, we coach them to maneuver the cans again up the driveway — little issues that present we’re there to assist with the entire home, not only a single undertaking.

We do intensive follow-up: calling the day after to verify the client is glad, and once more at 11 months as a result of we provide a one-year guarantee. Adding that prime stage of customer support to a low-tech, fragmented business made a giant distinction.

Getting issues proper with franchising

Looking again at that 2001 choice to franchise, what did you get proper about franchising, and what did you underestimate about how onerous it will be?
We underestimated all the pieces. But we did get a few essential issues proper. One was creating protected territories for franchise homeowners delineated by ZIP codes. ZIP codes are clearly outlined by the submit workplace and have accessible demographic knowledge, so we may construct territories utilizing that knowledge. Franchise homeowners then had protected territories and didn’t have to fret about competitors from neighboring homeowners. We did that from day one.

The different factor we did proper, which was extra unintended, was our billing mannequin. Even although we’re a handyman enterprise and development usually estimates initiatives as fastened dollar quantities, we determined to invoice clients utilizing a time-and-materials format. Time is common — an hour is an hour all over the place. Pricing, then again, varies considerably between, say, Connecticut and Arkansas or Illinois and California. Instead of attempting to power one common worth construction throughout the U.S., we made time the fixed and allowed every proprietor to decide on their very own hourly fee. 

That made the enterprise far more possible in several markets. About 85% of our work is labor and solely about 15% is supplies, as a result of we concentrate on small repairs and restorations, not giant remodels.

Choosing franchising over company places

What satisfied you that this concept would scale higher via franchising than via company-owned places?
We discovered that firsthand once we expanded to California. At one level, we had been successfully working six company places — three in Colorado and three in California. We rapidly realized we couldn’t give each worker, and subsequently each buyer, the time and management they deserved.

It was clear this enterprise mannequin needs to be accessible throughout the U.S. Every home-owner deserves an expert, dependable handyman service for small initiatives, however there was no means we may construct that nationally as a purely company chain — particularly since we began in our basement with $10,000, each little bit of financial savings we may scrape collectively. 

The franchise mannequin made nationwide growth doable as a result of it depends on native homeowners rooted of their communities. Handyman companies are very community-centric; you’re mainly working in your neighbors. Franchising suits the mannequin completely.

The greatest shock about franchising

What is one thing about franchising that stunned you?
The greatest shock — although everybody tells you this upfront — is how a lot the success or failure of the enterprise mannequin depends upon the connection between franchisor and franchise homeowners. Until you’ve lived it, that doesn’t totally sink in. This relationship must be robust and reciprocal. It can’t simply be the franchisor giving and the franchise homeowners taking; franchisees additionally must contribute concepts and suggestions.

Early on, we had franchise homeowners with incredible enterprise concepts we by no means would have developed on our personal, they usually had been prepared to share them so we may roll them out systemwide.

An important instance was throughout Covid, when the entire nation shut down, and nobody may enter clients’ houses. We spent that downtime on convention calls with franchise homeowners, determining tips on how to make the enterprise as touchless as doable.

For occasion, we used to take buyer signatures on invoices. During Covid, we shifted to studying the contract language aloud and recording “verified by voice” as an alternative of a signature. 

Franchise homeowners helped design new commonplace working procedures, which we rolled out to everybody. So once we had been designated important in April and will return to houses, we had safer, smarter procedures in place. That stage of help and collaboration is important in franchising.

The very best franchisee

For an entrepreneur evaluating Ace Handyman, how do you outline the best franchisee when it comes to background, expertise and mindset?
Our homeowners come from all types of backgrounds. One of our prime franchisees is a former horticulturalist. We have folks from finance, advertising, plant administration, numerous veterans, former lecturers, and former coaches and mentors.

The via line is a ardour for enhancing their group and robust management expertise. As an proprietor, you don’t go to each buyer’s home; our quantity is just too excessive for that. The means you ship nice service is thru your staff, which implies you should be a superb chief. That contains paying good wages, offering coaching and mentoring and providing actual development alternatives. Leadership is on the coronary heart of our most profitable franchisees.

For us, a pink flag is when a potential proprietor focuses extra on cash than tradition and other people. Our enterprise has strong numbers — you don’t develop in any other case — but when the first focus is monetary, it usually isn’t a superb match.

How a lot does it value to start out an Ace Handyman franchise?
In our 2026 franchise disclosure doc, Item 7 exhibits startup prices starting from $132,200 on the low finish to $226,000 on the excessive finish. That features a $70,000 franchise charge.

Long-term imaginative and prescient

When you think about Ace Handyman Services 10 years from now, what does success appear like for the model, for particular person homeowners and for the purchasers they serve?
First, success means our present franchise homeowners are nonetheless right here. Longevity is essential in franchising. Ace has at all times believed in generational companies; many {hardware} shops have been handed down from great-great-grandparents via a number of generations.

In our system, we have already got franchise homeowners who’ve been with us 24 years. I’m very pleased with that. They caught with us once we had been younger and figuring issues out and contributed concepts, ardour and strategies. We’ve seen transitions the place a father handed the enterprise to his daughter and uncles handed places to nephews.

My aim for the subsequent 10 years is that we’ll not solely increase to cowl maybe half of the U.S., but additionally see extra of our places turn into generational companies, with youngsters taking on for his or her dad and mom. That type of longevity can be an actual measure of success.

Colette Bell and her husband, Andy Bell, began a handyman enterprise in Denver, Colorado, in 1998 after figuring out a singular want. 

They discovered that large specialty contracting firms didn’t wish to do small initiatives for owners. For instance, if somebody had one sticky window and referred to as a window firm, the agency needed to promote them 25 new home windows for his or her home. 

“We found that homeowners had a really hard time finding somebody professional and reliable for small projects,” Colette tells Entrepreneur in a brand new interview. “That was the niche market we built this business to serve.”