Are you a two income family that never seems to find time to do what you REALLY want?

Work is demanding, the kids need your attention. Likely your family calendar is constantly booked?

Does your “to do” list seem to grow by the day, but that’s NOT how you prefer to spend your valuable time?

If not the time, maybe you don’t have feel like you have the skills to tackle some of the repairs that just HAVE to get done?

I’m Mike Thole, I love working for myself and solving problems.  I’d like to help lighten your home repair load.  

Spend a few minutes and get to know my story… perhaps you’d love having me work for you too?

 

Learning to be an Entrepreneur

My wife of 30 years comes from a family with an “entrepreneurial” mindset. Her grandmother ran a number of small businesses.  Her father ran his own successful masonry business in the Twin Cities for decades and later her parents bought a building on Main Street and opened one of Stillwater’s many antique malls.

Meanwhile, I got a degree in education and started teaching after attending the U of MN.

Of course, my wife had the itch to deal vintage and that was our FIRST business adventure. She now sells online on Etsy with nearly 2,000 sales and a 5 star rating from over 500 clients to her credit. So what does that have to do with me?

Dipping my Toe Into Self-Employment.

My wife thought I needed to be busier in the summer, a teacher’s favorite time of year, and said, “Let’s buy an ice cream truck, Stillwater needs one!” Really?

So we bought one from North Carolina on E-bay and ran Street Treats Ice Cream for 8 years before selling the business in 2015.

When I grabbed early retirement in 2011 from St. Paul Public Schools, I started my own post-production business converting and editing home movies called Mix My Clips, but soon realized I needed to broaden my services and Storyteller Videography was born in 2013!

I was honored to win Best City Wedding at the MN Wedding Video Awards in 2017. I also film and edit all video for RM Realty.

When COVID hit, weddings took a hit too and 90% of my income dried up.

Pandemic Pivot

In early 2020, I was coincidentally being hired for a few “handyman” jobs for a home stager we knew through our vintage resale connections, that’s Kelly, she owns Trove. Never having thought about turning my homeowner developed skills into business, she said:

“Mike, show up clean and on time, communicate well, do what you say, and treat people right and you’ll be ahead of most guys who do this kind of work. You’ll be as busy as you want to be.” 

I thought she must be joking, but her words have proven to be spot on… and the rest is history… though a short one!

 

So What do I Bring to the Table?

I’ve learned to be a good problem solver. Through marriage (ha ha) and home ownership.

We’ve owned two turn of the century houses and the majority of my home repair skills were honed remodeling them. If I didn’t know how to do something I researched it, and taught myself, even before YouTube! It’s what I still do.

I work on clients homes like I would my own and I stand behind my work.

HONESTY is one of my core values. Your satisfaction is my biggest priority, if you’re not satisfied, I won’t be either.

If a project is beyond my capabilities, I’m upfront about it and have dozens of friends in the trades (that I’ve learned from) which I can recommend.

TRUSTWORTHINESS is another quality that you can’t put a price on. We live in scary times, so I want my clients to TRUST me, and will work hard to make that easy for you.

The fact is, you’re inviting me into YOUR biggest investment, to be around YOUR kids and YOUR pets!

As an inner city teacher, I earned that trust from dozens of families every year.

As an ice cream man, I earned that trust by consistency, honesty and looking for the kids’ interests, not how I could scam an extra buck.

My wife and I built that trust to the point that parents would send their kindergartners out to the familiar baby blue and white truck holding a $20 and know they’re safe with us.

If I knew they could only go off the dollar menu, no matter how much they begged… I would say,

“I know what your mom lets you get… no Sonic for you… here’s your fudgesicle and $19 back.“

THAT is how you earn TRUST. 

 

Other Guys are Cheaper!

I won’t be the cheapest guy you’ll call for your project, let’s get that out of the way.  There are other people who will do the same job for less, and honestly, it’s great you have options!

Just be sure to keep this in mind: you roll the dice with lowest price.

If something isn’t done right, you may get them to come back… or may not hear from them again.

Keep in mind this quote “buy cheap, buy twice” or even better… and funnier… “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!”

What I bring to our partnership are the intangibles. HONESTY, INTEGRITY and TRUST… priceless qualities in 2024. 

 

It’s an Easy Choice!

Money can be lost and earned back. Health issues can come up and you can rebound. But once time is gone, it’s gone.

1440. We have 1440 minutes each day. How do you want to spend them?

Do you have home repair projects that need doing, but you just can’t get around to them?

Would you prefer to spend your valuable time with your kiddos and not on home improvement and repairs?

If you’d like help getting your to do list DONE, you deserve a handyman you can trust and believes in your satisfaction.

Get in touch today and see how I can finally… FINELY FIX IT!

Mike