Chat with John Speranza for a few minutes, and it is easy to see why people hire him to fix all types of things. He is a “cut to the chase, honest guy” who has used this attitude to successfully grow his hobby into a 10-year-old business: Hope Handyman.
Originally from East Meadow, Long Island, he went to school in Virginia, got married to his wife Joan and moved to Robbinsville in 1989. His daughter, Claire, a 2013 Robbinsville High grad and most recently a 2017 Virginia Tech graduate, and his wife both support his hobby turned business.
“I do what I say I do. I think that’s the key to my success,” Speranza said.
It was back in the early 2000s that he lost his job at Kodak when his retail-oriented division dissolved. By 2004, he owned a franchise handyman business, and left that to pursue his own company.
In 2007, Speranza began Hope Handyman after realizing that he could turn his knack for fixing things in and around the house into a successful one-man business. He took his truck, loaded his tools and the rest was history.
“The business really came out of necessity,” he said. “I needed a job, so I thought, ‘Hey this is something I always enjoyed doing, so why not make some money doing it?’”
He began his company working for friends who then passed his name on to others in Hamilton. Soon enough, his business grew in success.
“I run a full-service handyman business,” Speranza said. “I do everything and anything and I say exactly what I can do and do it when I say it’ll be done.”
As the owner and general manager of Hope Handyman, Speranza currently works by himself serving mostly the greater Hamilton area and doesn’t have any plans on adding other employees soon. Occasionally he runs small ads in local papers, but believes that he gets a lot of his business from repeat customers and word-of-mouth referrals.
“I truly am a local guy, and I think my repeat business and referrals really says something about the business and myself,” he said.
Hope Handyman’s services ranges from painting to putting together furniture and just about everything in between. With the rare chance that he can’t do something, Speranza said he would rather just let the customer know that upfront, rather than try and just figure it out, risking messing it up.
“Other guys just come in as a fly-by-night guy where they just throw things together and hope it works out. I really make sure everything is perfect, but I do it in a reasonable amount of time. Making sure I do what I say I will is everything to me,” he said.
When asked where he hopes to see his business in five years, he said he hopes he’s going to be retired but doubts he will. He knows that his daughter will not be taking over his business and thinks that when he retires 10 years or so down the road, it will be “an end to an era” for Hope Handyman.
However, he is open to someone taking over his successful business one day.
“You know, if someone wants to take on this business, I certainly would look into hiring them to do that.”
When he’s not working, you can find Speranza hitting the greens or going down the shore fishing. As for right now, Speranza plans on sticking to making his customers happy and following through with his promises.
One thing’s for certain as Speranza continues his handyman work—he will be sure to always tell it how it is.
Hope Handyman is located in Robbinsville. Phone: (609) 259-6718. Email: hopehandyman@optonline.net.
John Speranza, pictured with wife Joan, started his handyman business 10 years ago, after realizing his knack for fixing things could make a successful venture.,
