I was happy to help my friends for free, because I certainly was not an expert in heating or cooling, but they always insisted on paying me
I didn’t choose to become a handyman, I sort of fell into it. I grew up in a poor family, and my parents taught me how to get the most out of everything. We never threw out food or donated used clothes. My mom would repurpose the leftovers into a new meal, and darn all of the damaged clothes to make them like new again. In other words, I knew the value of a dollar. This is why I taught myself to fix anything around the house that would break. I could not afford to call a handyman, a roofer, a painter, or an HVAC tech. If I couldn’t fix something myself then it did not get fixed. I will admit that HVAC repair is not my strong suit, but I still know a few tricks and trips for furnaces and air conditioners. Since I couldn’t afford to pay a pro to do the job, any A/C or furnace repair work that needed done had to be done by me. After a while word got around to my friends and neighbors, who asked me to look at their HVAC systems when they had any problems. I was happy to help my friends for free, because I certainly was not an expert in heating or cooling, but they always insisted on paying me. After a few months it slowly evolved into being my full time job. To be honest very little of my work involves heating and cooling systems, but it does come up from time to time. My strength is really in carpentry.