Today we’d like to introduce you to Travis Dennison.
Hi Travis, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Early April 2020, the start of the pandemonium (pandemic), and I’m bored in the house and I’m in the house bored. I started looking around my home and neighborhood for new projects to keep me busy. I completed a few remodeling projects I had started on the other side of my duplex getting ready to become a host on Airbnb as well as starting a small garden. I bought a few new tools I needed, including a lawnmower, leaf blower and a chainsaw and began to upkeep my yard and my elderly neighbor’s yards. I started posting stories on my personal IG doing some plumbing in my neighbor’s bathroom and minor electrical work, changing out and installing lights, and friends began to reach out for help with home projects of their own, i.e. installing faucets, shelves, cutting down small trees and shrubs and mounting TVs, you know Handyman stuff, and other odd jobs they had around their homes. They started to refer me to their friends and neighbors, and they would tip me so I figured I might as well see who else needed help and get paid for it, soon after I started a business IG (@ATLHandyman). Posting videos, stories and promoting ads really drew in clients.
We love our customers, many of which are referrals from neighborhood Facebook groups and word of mouth, which is why we are so trusted in homes. We stick to CDC guidance, mask-wearing, washing our hands, and sanitizing our work areas before and after each job. We treat every job with the same level of respect and precision we would if we were doing this for ourselves. A lot of our customers come back to us because of our creativity and ingenuity and ability to adjust and adapt to our customers needs. Some jobs require a level of engineering and finesse that my business partner, frat brother, and fellow entrepreneur Darius Danner (@DJPapaRooster), and I both have due to our background in engineering. We are both proud graduates from the University of Alabama Huntsville. Now almost a year later Darius and I are both blessed to have been able to purchase new trucks for all our tools and ladders, and we now have six subcontractors, including two electricians, a plumber, 2-yard specialists, and a painter/drywall finisher. We’re also proud to be collaborating with non-profit organizations like HouseProud Atlanta, Everybody Eats Atlanta and Covington House to update older homes and facilities as much as we can.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I quickly realized that I needed help with all the demand for work, plus I still had a full-time job with a startup that needed lots of my time and attention. This is when I partnered up with Darius, who is a wedding and event DJ that saw a slow down in work due to the pandemic. Darius would assist me on jobs and scheduling and I taught him the trade. We made business cards and began handing them out at hardware stores, banks, grocery stores, and everywhere else we frequented when we had to go out. I figured I might as well see how far I could take things and began filing paperwork to turn my side gig into an actual commercial business. At the end of 2020, we became a G.M. LLC and conduct business as 404/ATL Handyman.
Learning the structure of the business had its challenges. Factors like liability insurance, safety, both job site and health, dealing with older homes, scheduling due to high demand and learning on the fly have all been learning experiences that we are grateful for. If it wasn’t for these challenges and overcoming them, we wouldn’t be where we are today. I felt every bump in the road that allowed me to put up a hazard sign for those following behind me, I love sharing our stories, good, bad and ugly to anyone traveling the entrepreneurial path.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Presently, I am a system administrator for a medical device startup located in Decatur, GA. Specializing in IT with over 13 years of experience. Ten of which have been in the public sector. Working for government associations such as D.o.D., NASA, M.D.A., and USMC/Navy. I’m most proud of the individuals I’ve led. A few of which I’ve later helped start their own business and started them on a path to financial freedom. I think my willingness to give sets me apart. I feel like we all have a limitless amount of opportunity and knowledge that we can share and give to others.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Books: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosak,
How to Win Friends and Influence by Dale Carnegie,
People Black Privilege by Charlamagne Tha God, and
Limitless by Jim Kwik
Podcasts: Bigger Pockets and Earn Your Leisure (EYI).
Contact Info:
- Email: info@404handyman.com
- Website: 404handyman.com
- Instagram: atlhandyman
- Facebook: 404handyman
