Listen to this articleOKLAHOMA CITY — Ace Handyman Services is expanding into new markets and has targeted Oklahoma City and Tulsa as priority areas for growth.
Part of the Ace Hardware family, the home improvement franchise brand focuses more on people than locations, said Colette Bell, co-founder and vice president of franchise development.
“We’re just looking for the right person who wants to grow a franchise in Oklahoma,” Bell said.
That person needs business and leadership experience, not skilled trades experience, she said. Franchise owners run the business and hire craftsmen to provide the services.
The handyman service market is poised for robust growth through 2035, Future Market Insights reported in April. Factors fueling the growth include more millennials opting for homeownership and a boom in residential remodeling and renovation activities, FMI reports.
“Most consumers of handyman services used to be 40- to 50-year-old dual-income families,” Bell said. “That has stretched out to both sides.”
Baby boomers who know how to do the work themselves are less physically able to now, and millennials don’t want to fill the garage with tools and spend their time doing projects, she said.
“More people are hiring someone to cut the lawn or clean the house, services of all kinds.”
FMI reports increasing interest in smart-home installations, energy retrofitting and aging-in-place modifications is broadening the range of handyman jobs beyond simple repair work.
Each Ace franchise can be tailored to the community. Owners don’t have a set number or kinds of services they must offer, Bell said. They choose what services they will provide and hire the craftsmen needed to do the jobs.
Labor shortages in the skilled trades have made filling jobs in the construction sector difficult nationally and in Oklahoma. Bell said Ace offers competitive pay and benefits and uses a trades-focused recruiting company to help franchise owners fill positions.
The Ace brand name helps attract both employees and customers, she said.
Colette and Andy Bell started the business in the basement of their Denver home in 1998 and began franchising a few years later. Ace Hardware purchased the business in 2019 and kept the Bells and their corporate staff.
Today, Ace Handyman Services franchises are in 381 territories in 47 states. About one-quarter of the businesses are female-owned and 34 owners are veterans, Bell said.
Oklahoma is one of only three states currently without an Ace Handyman Services franchise after owners in Edmond and Broken Arrow closed their businesses due to health reasons. The other two states are Alaska and Vermont.
“We’re just waiting for the right people in the markets,” Bell said.
The average startup cost is $150,000.
“There are not a lot of assets,” Bell said. “Our inventory is talented craftsmen and their tools.”
Franchise owners receive 10 weeks of virtual training, followed by one week of hands-on training in Denver. Ace sends field trainers to help open new businesses.
“If you have a really strong start to a business, the momentum grows quickly,” Bell said.
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