By GARY PULEO
Times Herald Staff
WEST NORRITON — Though Joe Meadows had
renovated several houses with his “own two hands,”
until he hooked up with Len Fischer, he never dreamed
of running a handyman business.
Fischer, who operates BeneTrends in North Wales,
came up with an innovative program that allows guys
like Meadows to tap into their accumulated 401(k)
retirement funds to buy a franchise or existing business,
without being roughed up by the IRS.
Since BeneTrends originated the program years ago,
other financial service companies have developed
similar strategies.
“Basically, what we’re about is helping people invest in
themselves,” said Fischer, a former attorney.
“Over the last 15 years we’ve had the honor of helping
over 5,000 people dip into their retirement funds to
invest in businesses of every description without
paying any current taxes or penalties.”
Though Joe and Kate Meadows ultimately chose
Handyman Connection for the first of what they hope
are several investment opportunities, franchises are not
the only option, Fischer said.
“Franchises just tend to appeal to people coming out of
corporate America,” he said.
Down the road, the husband and wife, both of whom
hold business degrees, could take a liking to the idea of
owning a Dunkin’ Donuts shop or a car wash.
But for now the Jeffersonville couple is happy to be
dispatching handpicked “high quality” craftspeople
throughout Montgomery, Chester and Delaware
counties.
“As homeowners, one of the biggest problems we had
was finding reputable, reliable, honest, quality people
to work on our own home,” Joe said. “It’s the same
problem everyone has. We managed to do it, but it took
a lot of time. As busy professionals, we didn’t have the
time for that and thought, wouldn’t it be great if there
was one place you could call and they could find the
person to come in and fix whatever needed to be fixed
on your house
“Everything from ‘tighten it, fix it, replace it,’ all the
way up to mid-size remodeling, which is exactly what
Handyman Connection does.”
Joe and Kate considered a number of handyman service
franchises before settling on Handyman Connection,
Kate noted.
“We liked the fact that they use independent craftsmen
who had at least 10 years of experience in their trade.
That allowed us to find the best finish carpenters,
plumbers, electricians, the best guy to do tile work, and
even the best general handymen,” she said. “And we
could then offer those folks to our customers and still
maintain control over the situation.”
Kate runs the day-to-day operations, while Joe is the
CEO of the holding company the couple formed around
licensing agreements and channels for future investing.
Though Joe knows his way around a hammer and a
saw, he never wanted to make a living at it, he said.
“I rebuilt three houses when I was younger, and I
was pretty good. But our guys run circles around me.
They’re that good.”
The cost of hiring Handyman Connection for the job is
not as steep as some folks might think, Joe noted.
“You’re always going to pay a little more than you
would with some guy with a truck, but only a modest
amount more. What you get in return far outweighs
the tiny difference in price. The reason is that all of
our highly experienced men are bonded, licensed, high
quality people.
“The other thing is,” he added, “we guarantee the labor
for a full year. That’s pretty uncommon in this business.
The biggest source of income in our business is repeats
and referrals. That’s after only two years and we’re
very proud of that.”