Pros
-Day-to-day interactions with central office management were always respectful. -Handyman coworkers are typically great people to know and work with. -Confidence of working behind an established, reputable brand.
Cons
-Onus of work is on the handyman: providing own vehicle, using personal phone, furnishing own tools, managing customers, revising scopes, purchasing and accounting for materials, handling customer billing and payment, creating job reports, and being prepared for any type of job each day. -Compensation and benefits were lackluster in light of reasons above. Hourly pay averaged at $25-30/hr for 9 to 11 hour workdays, despite Ace charging customers over $150/hr for services. -Work was physically exhausting at times and far beyond what is considered typical handyman work (building decks, renovating basements, building out interior walls). -Problems with estimates provided to customers, as many estimates were given remotely by office staff based off customer photos or narrative. Handyman ends up in the difficult position of navigating/negotiating longer-than-expected job completion, scope, etc. with customer. -Little on-the-job training. I shadowed coworkers for a total of four days before being thrown at solo jobs, and it was too much responsibility too soon. -Little preparation for handling difficult or overbearing customers. Customers can be very distracting or even demeaning.