My Biz: Musch Handy Man Services takes on nagging home repair jobs

Sooner or later, the time comes for every homeowner: that nagging faucet or damaged drywall, or the bathroom update that’s just outside their skill set. The situation that prompts the question to friends: Hey, do you know a guy?

For a good stretch of Eastern Iowa, Anthony Musch aims to be that guy.

“I try to go to Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Marion,” Musch said one recent morning. “Kind of all over. I’ve been working on a bathroom right now in Blairstown, I just remodeled that.”

Musch, 35, became a go-to home-repair guy for Van Horne, where he lives, about three years ago when he launched Musch Handy Man Services. He opened a small office in Cedar Rapids to manage scheduling and accounting and to help spread word of his work.

“I moved to Cedar Rapids just for my marketing,” he said. “Word-of-mouth is where I get most of my clients. I market on Facebook, Google. It’s a struggle, a little bit. When I market my business, I’m probably going to be the top guy for Van Horne, but in Cedar Rapids it’s hard.”

Musch gained practical experience and the confidence to strike out on his own working for a property-management company, repairing and maintaining apartments and rental properties.

“I started doing more of the smaller jobs for the property-management company,” he said. “They want things done quickly, they don’t really care how things look. But I think homeowners need the same kind of service as tenants. I wondered if I can get into smaller projects, and leave all the bigger projects for the bigger contractors?”

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Musch does a lot of the same repairs he did for absentee landlords, but to a higher standard for live-in homeowners.

“Kitchen faucet, garbage disposal, new light fixtures, outlets, light switches,” he said. “Anything that a homeowner doesn’t want to do, or doesn’t feel comfortable doing. I do exterior painting. I don’t do roofing too much. I do a lot of interior painting and drywall repairs.”

He calls in licensed electricians or plumbers when work requires it under the building code.

“I contract that out if it’s a big electrical job,” he said. “I can do smaller projects, anything with a closed electrical box, small plumbing. Anything bigger, like running a wire, I have an electrician come in.”

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Musch said his property-management experience left him with the ability to quickly assess a situation and estimate what time and supplies are required.

“I understand their side,” he said. “They don’t want to put the money into (a job) if they don’t have to. That was the nice thing about property management, they really watch the hours of their employees. I know how long this project should take.”

Musch’s website makes that process simpler and quicker with an online form that helps him determine what’s needed.

“When I’m traveling all over, I take phone calls but it’s easier to do that (online),” he said. “I just take their information and I’ll give them a free estimate.”

His business is so far mostly a one-man operation, but Musch is gratified with his progress.

“I have another guy who helps out when he’s free from work in the winter months, but I’m looking at hiring a couple guys,” he said. “I stay pretty busy. I work until 8, 9:00 at night, then I do my paperwork.”