SME Q&A – James Gibbons, Owner of Need A Hand
Imagine if you had someone on hand to do all those jobs around the house that never get done - wouldn’t that make life so much easier?
This month we spoke to James Gibbons whose business - Need A Hand – can do just that. We asked him a few questions to find out all about the business, as well as how learndirect scotland for business has helped with his training needs.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about Need A Hand?
A: The business was set up 2 ½ years ago and there are now five of us in total. Essentially, it’s a handyman company and we can take care of all those five-minute jobs that build up around the house. We can take care of any jobs needing done from your house’s front gate to the back gate and everything in between.
Q: What did you do before you decided to start up your own business? What made you decide to take the plunge?
A: I spent around 20 years in management, helping other businesses expand and eventually thought that it was about time that I did this for myself. It was time to take on something that was completely under my own control.
Q: What was your biggest break?
A: There wasn’t one big break as such, to be honest. Each week, though, there are always a few things that happen to make life that bit easier. I would also say that being part of the Chamber of Commerce and their 1700 Breakfast Club are high on the list of things that definitely improve my working life. The 1700 Breakfast Club members meet fortnightly and it’s a great way of networking.
Q: What training has been offered to staff?
A: We do loads of in-house training. Everyone has got a variety of different skills and experience so we learn from one another. Also, thanks to the information provided by our Training Partner, Gill, we now have access to online courses and my daughter, Kirsty, who takes care of all our administrative requirements, is taking full advantage of this. We will be updating some of our electrical certificates and sending some of the staff on a plastering course, too.
Q: What do you most enjoy about running the business?
A: I enjoy everything, from start to finish. From speaking to people and helping them with the jobs they need done, to ensuring that the job itself is done as well as it can be. It’s great to be in the kind of position that we can make people’s lives easier through what we do.
Q: What do you least enjoy?
A: There isn’t really anything that I can pinpoint, to be honest. If I had to, I would single out strategic planning as it just seems to use up valuable time that could be better used actually doing something practical.
Q: What was the most important lesson you have learned?
A: I’ve learned three important lessons: firstly, that training and learning is everything. Every day’s a school day as far as I’m concerned. Second is that networking is vital: you can never know enough people. And, thirdly, word of mouth spreads faster than fire. If you do a good job, people will talk about it and that can only be beneficial.
Q: What single thing would most help?
A: I would like to spend some time on developing our training arm of the business. Currently, we run DIY courses for various target audiences, in conjunction with local authorities and private companies. This is certainly something I would like to expand upon.
Q: What do you do to relax?
A: Honestly, I don’t relax as much as I used to. I do spend a lot of time on the business, but that’s purely because I love doing what I do so much.
In the past, I spent time fundraising for charity and I definitely plan to do more of that in the future.