Step by step. Official links included.
This is not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Read the official pages linked here. Partner offers are optional and labeled.
Take punch lists you can finish in one visit. Property managers and new homeowners are the first customers if you show up when you said you would. Leave panels, gas, and roofs to the people who hold those licenses. In Ohio the first customers are in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland. Old trim, drywall, and a list that mixes a legal handyman task with a licensed one. Old trim, drywall, and a list that mixes a legal handyman task with a licensed one. Winter is drafts, doors that quit, and small repairs inside occupied houses.
Ohio has humid summers, cold winters, and lake-effect snow in the north. Basements are common. Cincinnati's Kentucky side and every other river crossing is a different license. City permits sit on top of the state rule.
We could not confirm a direct filing address for Ohio. Open the SBA: state registration lookup and choose this state. We do not have a filing fee for Ohio that we are willing to print. Use the SBA lookup, choose Ohio, and read the fee on the state office's own page. Sole proprietors who operate under their own name often skip this filing. Confirm that on the same site.
Some boxes are labeled Partner. ServiceBase has not joined those programs. The links go to each company's own homepage, not a tracking link. If a program later approves us, the address will change and we may earn a commission. You can file, insure, and bank anywhere. Official government links are not partner links. Nothing on this page is a discount code.
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The guide stays public. An account saves your state, city, and trade, and lets you mark each filing as you go. The advertising credit is reserved when you register. It can be spent after the free website is live.
Create a free account to track your progressYour own name works. So does a plain two-word name. Search the city and the state. The fear customers have is that a handyman will start a job that needed a licensed trade. A clear name and a clear list of jobs reduce that fear. Use the same name on the text thread and the invoice.
Search that name at the SBA: state registration lookup before you print shirts. Use the same spelling on the truck and on a quote in Cincinnati.
Most handyman businesses start as a sole proprietorship. An LLC is reasonable once you are in other people's houses every day and want the bank account and the insurance in a company name. It does not expand the list of jobs you may legally do. If a state sets a dollar cap on unlicensed work, read the current cap on the official page. Do not rely on a number from a forum.
We do not have a filing fee for Ohio that we are willing to print. Use the SBA lookup, choose Ohio, and read the fee on the state office's own page. Sole proprietors who operate under their own name often skip this filing. Confirm that on the same site.
An employer identification number is the business tax ID. The IRS issues it online at no charge and says you never have to pay a company to get one. If you form an LLC, file with the state first. The IRS says an EIN application can stall when the state filing is not done. A sole proprietor can often start with a Social Security number and get an EIN when a bank or a hire requires it.
Apply on the IRS page if you want the number yourself. LegalZoom, the partner beside this step, can request it while they form the company. That service is optional. The IRS fee is still zero either way.
The Ohio licensing page we could verify is the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board. Open it and read the part that names the work you will sell.
This board covers specific construction trades, not every lawn or cleaning business. Check the city for the rest.
Read any handyman or small-job exemption on the contractor board, including the dollar cap and the trades it excludes. Then get the city business license. Refer panel, gas, sewer, and roof work unless you hold that license.
A city or county can require its own registration even when the state page is quiet. The city guides name the local permit counter. Call that office and write down what they say. Do not pay a third party that promises a license until you have read the official page.
General liability before you drill into someone's wall. Tell the insurer you are a handyman and name the jobs, so a claim is not denied for 'contractor work' you did not disclose. Commercial auto if the truck is the business. Workers' compensation if anyone helps, even occasionally. A property manager will ask for the certificate before the first punch list.
Workers' compensation is a state program. Before anyone works with you, including a friend, ask an insurer and the state labor office whether you must carry it. This guide does not quote a headcount, because those rules differ and the state page is the source. The SBA page describes the common policies. It does not sell them. Buy the policy before you work in a house in Ohio.
Small jobs paid in cash and checks disappear in a personal account. Deposit them into a business checking account and write the address on the deposit note. Set tax money aside weekly. The amounts feel too small to matter, which is why they become a tax problem.
The bank will usually ask for your ID, the EIN or your Social Security number, and the formation papers if you filed an LLC. A checking account and a habit of setting tax money aside are enough at the start.
Price from a short list: a minimum visit, an hourly rate after that, and a flat price for the jobs you repeat, such as a drywall patch or a door that sticks. Send the price before you load the truck when the list is clear.
Occupied houses take longer than empty ones. Stairs and parking change the hour. Say so. Decline the item on the list that belongs to a licensed trade, and price the rest.
Cincinnati: humid summers, cold winters, freeze, and river-valley weather that keeps moisture on shaded walls Drywall, doors, mounts, and the licensed trades you refer. In Cincinnati, OH, list Hyde Park and West Chester together only if one crew really covers both. Columbus: humid summers, cold winters, freeze, and ice that shows up often enough to matter for roofs and lines Drywall, doors, mounts, and the licensed trades you refer. In Columbus, OH, list German Village and Westerville together only if one crew really covers both. Cleveland: lake-effect snow, hard winters, humid summers, and freeze that lasts long enough to run the heating season Drywall, doors, mounts, and the licensed trades you refer. In Cleveland, OH, list Ohio City and Parma together only if one crew really covers both.
Google Business Profile with photos of finished small repairs in real rooms. Reviews should mention the task and the neighborhood. The website is a list of jobs you like and a sentence on what you refer out. The form lets them send several items. ServiceBase publishes the page and keeps the list.
In Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, the profile, the reviews, and the site should name the neighborhoods you actually drive. ServiceBase publishes the page and keeps quote requests in a list on your account. No card. It does not file the LLC, get the EIN, or buy the insurance.
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Signup asks for an email and a password. No card. This guide opens the next step with the trade filled in. You can change every line after.
We do not have a filing fee for Ohio that we are willing to print. Use the SBA lookup, choose Ohio, and read the fee on the state office's own page. Sole proprietors who operate under their own name often skip this filing. Confirm that on the same site.
The Ohio licensing page we could verify is the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board. Open it and read the part that names the work you will sell. This board covers specific construction trades, not every lawn or cleaning business. Check the city for the rest.
Start where you can reach the stops in a day. The city guides cover Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland. Close-in customers want a crew that can handle an old house. A statewide claim is a weak service area.
Yes. Use the IRS link in the steps if you want the number yourself. LegalZoom, the partner on the EIN step, can request it while they form the company. That service is optional. The IRS fee is still zero.
All handyman business steps · Handyman website guide
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