We recently connected with Dennis & Charlotte Peña and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dennis & Charlotte , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Mr. & Mrs. Fix-It began as a distant dream that we would discuss after getting home from our regular jobs just a few years ago. Dennis, also known as Mr. Fix-It, has spent most of his life working with his hands – from his 10 years with the Navy in a leadership role for Preventative Maintenance, to his jobs in all aspects of subcontracting – he is an expert at anything he attempts. After spending time learning the ropes in the areas of electrical, plumbing, roofing, flooring, and painting, he knew that he wanted to run his own contracting business.
Charlotte had a much different path leading her to this role, but her goal has always been the same: To have a business of her own. She grew up in the workshop with her dad building Adirondack furniture, model airplanes, and helping maintain rental properties (willingly or not!). As a child, she dreamed of being a teacher and she did just that, but she didn’t feel like that was enough. After 4 years in education – making a stagnant income, working 80-100 hour weeks without lunch breaks, and putting 100% of her soul into her students’ well-being – she knew it was time for a big change.
During this time, Dennis was working as a subcontractor for a local roofing company and we were taking on small repair jobs as we could, but we knew we couldn’t reasonably sustain our full-time jobs, kids, and new workload. Once we got started with small repairs, the word-of-mouth referrals spread like wildfire and we couldn’t keep up with our new side business! We quickly realized that there is a real need for honest, quality workers when it comes to repairs and renovations in Nashville. We put our heads together as we realized this was happening and that if we wanted to start building a real future for our families, this was our chance. Dennis fearlessly left his roofing job as Charlotte finished her school year teaching 7th-grade writing and proudly left her resignation with the school. We filed for our Partnership that day and have been steadily busy and growing since then.
Dennis & Charlotte , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
At Mr. & Mrs. Fix-It, we pride ourselves on our ability to make our clients happy. We provide services ranging from interior and exterior repairs, painting, electrical and plumbing work, remodels, custom-built furniture, and even deck construction. We thoroughly vet our subcontractors and only hire those who take great attention to detail and will provide a finished product that we are proud to have represent our brand. Our business is our livelihood and our children’s future, so we put our hearts and souls into our work.
When you call us to discuss a potential job – the first thing we do is schedule a visit to view the job. This allows us to meet with you to discuss your goals and design preferences, take pictures, as well as make sure we’re qualified to complete the scope of work successfully. We provide free quotes for any client that includes a breakdown of pricing for our labor hour and estimated materials needed. We are very upfront and honest about our pricing and will always make sure that we communicate clearly with our clients to ensure their satisfaction. If you choose to book with us, we will work with you through the entire process to create the home of your dreams.
Have a project in mind? Give us a call. Yes, we can!
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Starting a business is not for everyone. If you’re hoping to start a business without working hard, your business will likely show that. We knew that if we wanted to turn our home repair side hustle into a full-time job, it wasn’t going to be easy. When we first began, we made sure to carve out time to discuss our business goals and how we planned to be successful. We discussed potential hiccups we might encounter, and how scary it would be to actually up and leave our secure jobs with benefits to start Mr. & Mrs. Fix-It. For us, the benefits greatly outweighed the risks of starting a business and giving it our all. We knew that for our side hustle to grow, we needed more time to devote to it. That started with Dennis working overnight on jobs after his day with his former employer, while Charlotte was home with the kids grading papers, marketing the new side business, and responding to clients with quotes. We hustled each day but quickly became overwhelmed with our extremely full plates.
We made the decision for our family to devote even more time to growing this business as Mrs. Fix-It finished out the end of her school year. When the last day of school arrived, we could feel the excitement and relief in our bones. It was finally happening!
Since then, Mr. & Mrs. Fix-It pushes for success every day. Failure is not an option and we know that no matter what comes across our path – we can handle it. We are highly motivated by our kids and want to inspire them to follow their dreams in life. This is ours.
As a business, we are thriving at the moment. We have had a recent influx of work since the horrific storms and are currently expanding our company. We have a range of subcontractors who we are starting to bring in for more and more jobs as the weeks pass, which is easing our workload and allowing us to dedicate more time to accepting new clients. We are thankful for the chaos and endless schedules each day because we know that it means we’re doing something right.
As for the future of Mr. & Mrs. Fix-It, our ultimate dream is to build tiny home vacation rentals. As a part of our long-term plan, we are educating ourselves on this industry and expanding our business as we are able. We have so many creative ideas to construct luxury small homes in popular vacation areas, such as Gatlinburg. Keep an eye out for us – we’ll be there before you know it!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Around the beginning of December, we were handling our invoices and bids through PDF format and weren’t having our clients sign any kind of contract before beginning work. We had a procedure for bids and followed it, but it turned out that we weren’t legally protecting ourselves as we should have been. Starting a business is definitely a learning process, but this was a tough lesson to learn.
While working on a large bathroom remodel that we began in the middle of the job (due to the previous contractor quitting), our client assured us that they would pay in cash at the end of each day. That typically isn’t how we handle our payments, but Mr. Fix-It has a kind heart and agreed. After the third day of work, we were no longer being paid. The client changed the scope of work that we had initially agreed upon, and we discussed the additional funds that would be needed to complete the additional work. He agreed and said we would receive funds when the job was complete. This client allowed us to work for another week, with no intention of ever paying us another cent. This included the remaining chunk of money we were owed for the original job. We were bewildered when he let us know he never had any intention of paying anything else. Merry Christmas, right?
Going without over a week’s worth of pay kept us away from other paying clients and nearly ruined our Christmas. However, in the grand scheme of things this will be just another distant memory. We never did see our money, but we certainly shifted our business structure so this never happens again. Moving forward, we now use a standard contract with our clients that lays out our rights, as well as our clients’ rights. We realized that as this business is our sole source of income, it was essential that clients paid in a timely manner and that they paid what the agreed amount was. For any job we do, there is a contract that must be signed by both parties. This has really made things easier for us because we know we are protected and our clients are able to see a clear picture of what they can expect from us when hiring us.
We’re sure there will be many more opportunities to learn, grow, and pivot as we expand our business and we are ready for them!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mrandmrsfixit_tn?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrandmrsfixittn
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mr-and-mrs-fix-it-nashville?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
- Other: nextdoor: https://nextdoor.com/p/C7M7FDJXHwXC
Image Credits
megan pinson – prose photography