Ep. 01 | Forrest Smith – Smith Home Services LLC

Forrest Smith started doing handyman work for neighbors in the Arizona Lofts in Kirkwood while he had a full time job doing kitchens and bathrooms. Neighbors began recommending him to friends, and the side work snowballed. He did side work for a couple of years before feeling confident enough to quit his full time job in 2019 and go out on his own.

“I was kind of just helping my neighbors there in the complex at the lofts and they started recommending me to their friends in Kirkwood and I kind of just snowballed from there. Ended up getting a lot of side work and eventually side work picked up enough that I was able to quit my full time job and that was 2019 and h”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith says if he had started with more intention from the beginning, things might have picked up quicker. He recommends being intentional about client acquisition and getting your name out there, rather than just waiting for word of mouth to slowly build. He did not feel confident enough to jump out on his own for a couple of years, which slowed his growth.

“I think if I had known from the beginning that I planned to go out on my own, I may have been a little more intentional about trying client acquisition and trying to get my name out there and meet more people.”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith specializes in minor plumbing and electrical work, including faucets, garbage disposals, light fixtures, ceiling fans, and some toilet repairs. He also mounts TVs, hangs curtain rods, does pressure washing, wood replacement, and manages a paint crew that handles sheetrock repairs and painting. He does not touch water heaters or electric car chargers and refers those to licensed professionals.

“I specialize in minor plumbing and electrical. So faucets, garbage disposals, light fixtures, ceiling fans, stuff like that. I'll do some toilet repairs, but there are things that I don't do. I don't really touch water heaters. I don't do electric car chargers.”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith says there are things that really should have a licensed professional do them, like water heaters and electric car chargers. He is always quick to refer a licensed professional when a job gets to that point. He is insured and does not do anything he should not be doing, which saves both him and clients headaches.

“There are some things that you really should have a licensed professional do and I'm always quick to refer one when it gets to that point. I am insured so I don't do anything that I shouldn't be doing and saves me and clients headaches.”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith keeps a tight service area with Kirkwood at the heart. He services East Atlanta Village, Grant Park, Edgewood Park, Morningside, Virginia Highlands, Old Fourth Ward, and Decatur. When he was first starting out and hungry for work, he would go out to Buckhead, but now with traffic he has tightened his service area.

“Kirkwood's kind of the heart of my service area. East Atlanta Village, Grant Park, Edmond Park. I'll go to Morningside and Virginia Highlands, Old Fourth Ward, and I service Decatur. When I was first starting out and I was really hungry, I'd go out to Buckhead. Now with the way traffic is I've really tried to tighten m”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith charges a small travel fee to go outside his service area and makes exceptions for certain jobs. He does free estimates even outside his service area and would not charge the travel fee for an estimate. He tries to provide estimates over the phone or via text with photos so he can look at everything else while on site doing the agreed work.

“I'll still make exceptions. I charge a small travel fee to go outside my service area. Even if it was outside of my service area, I wouldn't charge the travel fee for estimates. I do free estimates.”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith uses a one hour arrival window instead of pinning down an exact time, which he says sets you up for failure. The beginning of his arrival window is the time he plans to get there. If he will not make it by then, he lets the client know as soon as possible that he will arrive closer to the end of the window. He uses verbiage like estimated arrival to set reasonable expectations.

“Instead of trying to pin down an exact time that you're going to be on a job when there's so many variables, leaving yourself a reasonable arrival window. I do a one hour arrival window. If you're giving an estimated arrival, that's one exact time, you're really setting yourself up for failure.”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith says the pain points people deal with with contractors all the time are not showing up on time, not communicating well, and not cleaning up after themselves. He focuses his energy on meeting those standards. He takes pride in his work and reputation and wants to excel at communication and punctuality.

“Those pain points that people deal with with contractors all the time, not showing up on time, not communicating well, not cleaning up after themselves. Those things really make such a big difference for the client. And I try to just focus my energies on meeting those standards the best that I can.”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith has never paid for marketing in his entire career. He built his business entirely on word of mouth through neighbors recommending him to friends. He does not even have a Google page where customers can leave reviews, though he acknowledges he could have hundreds or thousands of five star reviews if he had started one early on. Most of his new clients come from referrals.

“I've really never paid for marketing. I don't have a website currently. I need a website. I don't even have a Google page where you can leave reviews. It's a little wild. It's kind of crazy. I'm a little embarrassed.”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith says getting clients through neighbor referrals means he knows he is getting clients in his service area. They are usually cool people because they were recommended by his other cool clients. This has helped him create a client base that he genuinely likes, not just because he works for them, but because of who they are.

“Most of the people that I work for or new clients are recommended by neighbors. And so I know that I'm getting clients that are in my service area. Most of the time, they're cool because they work for my other cool clients. So it's helped me create a client base that I genuinely like.”Forrest Smith

Forrest Smith really enjoys the networking aspect of getting to meet up with contractors at the monthly meetings and building his network on the contractor side of things. He takes pride in his work and reputation, and the way people are treated by people he recommends is extremely important to him. He always asks for feedback when he recommends anyone.

“I really enjoy the networking aspect of getting to meet up with the contractors at our monthly meetings and just building my network on the contractor side of things. The way that people are treated by people I recommend is extremely important to me. I always ask for feedback anytime I recommend anyone.”Forrest Smith

Grant Wallace explains that anybody can join the Facebook group and comment, but not everyone has been vetted. The Schmooze certified directory on the website features contractors that Grant has vetted personally. Those contractors are going to be much more trustworthy nine times out of ten than somebody just posting in the group. The directory companies are ones Grant likes and will go to bat for if there is ever an issue.

“Anybody can join the group because it's so free. Not everyone that is able to comment in the group has been vetted unlike the schmooze certified directory on the website. You've vetted those contractors and they're gonna be much more trustworthy, nine times out of 10, than somebody that's just posting in the group.”Forrest Smith