I'm hiring my handyman husband, a woman's ad goes viral. Laura Young's idea sparked a boom in inquiries in England.
It has become the web phenomenon of the last 24 hours: “Rent my handly husband”, or how to rent out your husband, to earn money but also help single women.
The idea of proposing the husband's rental came to Laura Young, an English woman, 38 years old, mother of three children. A few words were enough: "Rent my husband handyman". It is the promotional slogan of a post published on Facebook and Nexdoor that immediately triggered an unstoppable boom in requests.
Single women are the recipients of the ad. And now Laura is inundated with messages and appointments to manage. Her husband James, a big 42-year-old man who appears in photos with the classic “I’ll take care of everything” tracksuit, has golden hands. She herself - as Il Fatto writes - did not expect that what seemed like a gimmick to make ends meet would quickly become a real business.
Now she is forced to launch her husband's pre-Christmas rental offer as well. And how can you ask for full rates just before Christmas? Here's how the idea was born. Four months ago, the woman listened to a podcast describing a man who makes a living by putting together flatpack furniture for others.
In an instant a light bulb goes off in her head: “What if I rented out my handyman husband on an hourly basis?” A day after the ad was published, there was already the first request. In a week, James had not had a day off. Now? He is busy until mid-November. There is not a free space in his diary. What does James offer for 40 pounds?
Any service: from installing a TV to building furniture to general DIY or painting. "It got to the point where there was so much work coming in that James was busy six days a week," his wife vents. And she adds dejectedly: "We had our own projects, but we didn't even start; we were too busy."
James has since become something of a handyman's hero and has had to cut back on his working hours and days a week: he can't keep up with all the demands. But to make up for the loss he has launched a festive Christmas lights installation service. His enthusiastic wife describes him like this: "He's really good at building things, he doesn't even bother reading the instructions. He has a very methodical mind and a way of thinking outside the box."
His first service? Replacing a door frame. From there he began laying carpets, tiling, building walls, painting fences. Now the couple from Milton Keynes receive requests from people who live a hundred kilometres away and also offer a daily rate of £250.
But he offers discounts to those in difficulty. “We want to keep costs to a minimum and be fair to people,” explains Laura Young. “We know what it’s like to be on a budget, so we offer discounts to disabled people, carers, people on universal credit and over-65s.” Will James be dressed as Father Christmas at Christmas? We don’t know. But he’s certainly a super husband now who works miracles in (other people’s) homes.
