Dubai handymen for hire

Home maintenance turns into booming business for a Dubai company.

Mohammed Khallouf says trade has been brisk since he and his business partner set up Toolman.

DUBAI // The struggle to find a handyman to help with those odd jobs around the home has proved a winning business venture for two young entrepreneurs.

The pair have set up a company that they have called Toolman and it is already growing at a rapid pace.

Mohammed Khallouf, 28, and his Emirati partner, Khalid Mohebi, founded the home maintenance service a year ago to "remove the idea of always having to know someone who knows someone who can get something done for you".

There are some home maintenance companies already in the market but they require annual subscriptions to benefit from their services. Toolman works on a per-job basis.

"We wanted to take that and turn it into a business without having to get an exorbitant membership or delays in appointments," said Mr Khallouf.

Toolman has a team of eight and started working a year ago with Tandem, a start-up consulting firm that helped with the funding and the set-up. However, the company found success faster than it expected.

"We were busy the third month so we needed much less money than we thought we would," Mr Khallouf said.

Although Mr Mohebi is not very hands-on, his family have been prominent traders in the region for the last 60 years and he offers insight and advice.

"It's great because everyone needs maintenance and you never run out of jobs, especially with the construction boom in Dubai and the fact that a lot of buildings were poorly designed," said the 30-year-old Emirati.

The pair are now looking to expand to Abu Dhabi in the middle of the year.

"We want to run a test to see how it goes and that will be our first step. Our goal is to open an office there and we are looking for the right partner to compliment our service," Mr Khallouf said.

The Syrian entrepreneur added that running a successful business required hard work and plenty of commitment. "You have to do everything. I drove the van, I went around on the jobs. I probably got tipped once or twice. You have to do what you have to do in the beginning. I even answered the phones for months at 4am, for instance, if someone's TV wasn't working!" he said.

Mr Khallouf wants to change the perception that home maintenance in Dubai is not a professional operation.

"We're trying to do a better job than other people for a lower cost. There are people who are smaller with smaller goals but for us, almost nothing is too small.

"This is the difference: we're a high volume - small margin company," he said.