We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matt Turner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matt below.

Matt, appreciate you joining us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

Honestly? Raise my prices.

One of the issues you have when starting out as a Tasker is pricing. The app recommends something like $10-$15 per hour for all tasks, which is way too low.

We need to cover the cost of fuel to and from each task, the cost of maintaining our tools, the cost of purchasing any special tools or hardware to accomplish any given task, and then make a small profit.

Hopefully it’s enough to pay the bills every month.

Anyway, when I started out my jobs were long, boring, and difficult. My clients were also often difficult. The job was hard and I was getting paid poorly for it.

Then I nearly tripled my prices on the advice of a fellow Tasker.

My clients became understanding and reasonable people, I was hired more frequently, and my reviews got better. Blew my mind.

Matt, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was a software engineer many moons ago. When I finally had enough of that, I quit my job abruptly and started a waffle company. When COVID shut that down, I took a job working nights at Amazon. Someone told me about TaskRabbit one day, and I’ve been doing that ever since. It’s been my full time job since November 2020.

TaskRabbit is an app/platform for handy people. (I’m not sure how to talk about it without it seeming like an ad)

Basically, I’m a full time handyman. On want given day I may be hanging a tv, helping someone move, replacing a toilet, installing a ceiling fan, fixing a fence, mowing a yard… Whatever you need a hand with, I’m happy to help.

Honestly, I’m not sure what sets me apart from others. Perhaps it’s that I try to take each job, one at a time, and do it to the best of my ability. I also try to have a positive attitude for each client, regardless of what may have happened to me prior to reaching their door.

I find that treating my clients like friends works out well. I care about the results of my work, and want them to be happy that they hired me. Whether I’m carrying some special heavy heirloom, painting a nursery, or hanging a goofy chandelier, it’s extremely important to me that I do the job right, just like if I were doing it for a close friend.

I’m most proud of the reputation I’ve developed, and the 400+ 5-star reviews I now have. Out of 414 reviews, only 12 have been less than 5 stars. I’m very proud of that.

Finally, I’d like people to know that they can trust me. I’ve had customers leave me in their home while they run out to grab something from the store. That takes trust, and I pride myself on being worthy of that trust.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I work in the gig economy, for an app, like Uber (but for handymen & women). So when I began, I didn’t make enough hourly to survive on that income alone. But after complaining about poor clientele to a peer, he suggested I raise my prices. So I did. Love has been so much better since, and now TaskRabbit is my full time job.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Doing the best work I can, and being personable while doing it. That makes people happy, and happy people leave good reviews. Since good reviews are what people look for when hiring a Tasker, my goal should always be to achieve as many good reviews as possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tr.co/matthew-t–70
• Instagram: Instagram.com/thewaffledood

Image Credits
Andorra Turner