🔧 From Firefighter and Pastor to Handyman Entrepreneur
Jon Sanders followed an unconventional path into the home services industry. Early in life he pursued firefighting, later feeling a strong call to pastoral ministry and church planting. Those years of leadership and team building laid foundations that would later prove useful in business. For Jon, entrepreneurship was not a sudden career pivot but an unfolding of gifts and experiences applied in new ways.
After years as a church planter and a return to fire service, Jon began coaching pastors about creating side income and marketplace businesses. He noticed a recurring pattern. Pastors who were willing to pick up a tool belt or pressure washer created businesses quickly and profitably. The reason was simple: the market already existed. Customers were searching for who could fix fences, paint rooms, install fixtures, and provide a variety of small home repairs. That market visibility and steady demand made the trades an accessible path into entrepreneurship.
“God just messed up my plans like in the best way possible.”
That summary line captures a core principle. Life and career detours can become sources of skill, leadership, and purpose when aligned with market needs. Jon tested the idea himself when he launched Dakota Small Jobs about three and a half years ago. The results were immediate: professional presence, quality work, and good customer treatment generated steady demand.
🛠 Why Pastors Thrive in the Trades
Jon identified several reasons pastors often thrive when moving into home services. These include:
- Strong relational skills and community standing
- Experience leading teams and volunteers
- High intrinsic motivation to serve others
- Willingness to trade a pulpit for a tool belt when finances or family needs demand
More than technical ability, the trades reward reliability, communication, and trust. Pastors often bring those intangible assets in abundance. Jon observed that businesses started by pastors tended to be easy to coach and scaled quickly because the market for home services already exists and is searchable.
🏢 Two Businesses, One Strategy: Dakota Small Jobs and 605 Blinds
Jon did not stop at a single business. After Dakota Small Jobs gained traction, a second opportunity emerged in window coverings. A family connection sparked interest. Jon’s brother had long operated in the blinds space, and witnessing a large sale during a fishing trip provided a catalyst.
About a year ago Jon and his son launched 605 Blinds. The business model is different from general handyman work in that it requires deep product knowledge, measurement accuracy, and a sales process that can handle large jobs. Yet both businesses share operational resources where it makes sense.
That pairing highlights two important lessons for new business owners:
- It is possible and practical to run complementary service businesses when they share infrastructure such as shop space and support staff.
- Specialization can coexist with generalism. Dakota Small Jobs handles varied work, while 605 Blinds focuses on a repeatable, high-ticket install process.
🚚 The Power of a Local Shop and Operational Efficiency
One operational turning point was securing leased shop space near the main service area. Jon lives 45 minutes outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and commuting with tools and materials was inefficient. Having a base in the city changed productivity and logistics.
Key operational benefits from a local shop include:
- Reduced travel time for technicians
- Centralized material storage and staging
- Ability to share tools and vehicles across teams
- Improved job start times when materials are prepped
Jon and his ventures started by sharing one shop and quickly expanded to two adjacent units. This kind of incremental investment in infrastructure can unlock growth without massive upfront risk.
👷♂️ Scaling: From Solo Operator to Five Full Time Employees
Growth forced Jon into the unfamiliar territory of hiring and HR. What began with subcontractors and occasional help shifted to hiring full time technicians, part-time office help, and eventually an operations manager. Jon’s team structure now reflects a deliberate move to work on the business rather than in it.
Typical role distribution in this stage looked like:
- Operations manager handling scheduling, dispatch, and daily coordination
- Office manager or CSR handling phone calls, emails, and invoicing
- Field technicians performing installations, repairs, and service calls
- Part-time helpers or subcontractors for overflow and specialty tasks
Jon emphasizes that hiring felt scary at first. Payroll management, worker compensation requirements, and creating reliable processes were obstacles. The advice: push through the discomfort. Once each barrier was crossed, it stopped being as difficult as imagined and opened the door to growth.
🔁 Creating Roles that Multiply Value: Technician Assistants
One specific operational tactic that has wide application is the technician assistant role. This position is ideal for reducing wasted time by skilled technicians. Key responsibilities for a technician assistant include:
- Picking up and staging materials before the technician arrives
- Dropping materials at job sites the afternoon before an appointment
- Handling part runs during the day for missing supplies
- Assisting with cleanup and transporting waste to the dump
- Learning by osmosis to prepare for technician advancement
Jon and other experienced owners recommend hiring minimally trained or entry level staff for this role. High school students, part time workers, or apprentices can often fill this slot at a lower labor rate while boosting technician efficiency. One practical tip is to have the assistant deliver materials to the customer a day before the job to reduce on site delays the next morning.
🤝 Company Culture and Leadership
Culture was a recurring theme in Jon’s story. Building a team that shows up and performs requires more than pay and equipment. It requires leadership that people want to follow. Jon distilled several principles he lives by:
- Lead by example and by character. People can detect authenticity quickly.
- Invest in people beyond the job tasks. Ask about their dreams and personal goals.
- Hold team members loosely. Support staff who want to start their own businesses rather than clinging to them.
- Set clear ethical boundaries, for example forbidding staff from undercutting former customers if they leave to start a competing venture.
Jon believes that releasing people to grow is part of strong leadership. He prefers an abundance mindset. When someone on the team expresses a desire to build their own business, Jon will help with guidance and sometimes equipment rental, maintaining a supportive relationship rather than a possessive one.
“I want people to be able to look back and say he helped me get to the next level.”
That approach fosters trust and attracts people who are both skilled and loyal. Jon invests in lunches, one on ones, and conversations that go beyond work. This pays off in retention and in creating a team willing to go to work for each other.
📋 Processes, Systems, and the Role of the Operations Manager
As the business grew, Jon moved from performing most tasks to coordinating others. That progression required solid systems for estimates, invoicing, scheduling, and quality control. His operations manager role is pivotal to this shift.
Operational responsibilities to document and systematize include:
- Estimate creation and pricing guidelines
- Scheduling cadence and dispatch procedures
- Material ordering and staging processes
- Customer communication templates and follow up
- Onboarding and training for technicians
Creating these systems allows an owner to step back and focus on higher level growth, new business lines, and mentoring the team. Jon moved his son into operations management so he could scale back involvement in day to day estimates and field oversight.
💡 Practical Advice for New Handyman Business Owners
Jon’s journey contains many actionable takeaways for new owners:
- Start small and validate demand. A few consistent customers prove the concept quickly.
- Show up professionally and build trust. Repeat business and referrals follow reliable service.
- Invest in a local shop when travel time becomes a bottleneck.
- Hire for fit and potential rather than perfect skills. Train and develop staff.
- Create an assistant role to protect skilled labor productivity.
- Build systems early for estimates, scheduling, and materials handling.
- Lead with an abundance mindset and help team members grow.
Jon also emphasizes the emotional and spiritual dimensions of business ownership. For him, the business is a platform for mentorship and legacy building. That perspective shifts priorities away from the numbers alone and toward the people served by the enterprise.
📌 Final Takeaways and Next Steps
Jon Sanders demonstrates how varied life experiences can become assets in entrepreneurship. Firefighting, pastoral ministry, coaching, and family relationships all contributed to the leadership style and business model that drive Dakota Small Jobs and 605 Blinds.
For those starting or growing a handyman business, Jon’s story underscores that success is not about a single technical skill. It is about showing up consistent, creating reliable systems, investing in people, and making strategic choices about infrastructure and roles. Practical steps like establishing a shop, creating a technician assistant role, and hiring an operations manager are tangible levers that accelerate growth.
Above all, leadership matters. A company culture that values people, fosters growth, and sets clear ethical boundaries will outpace a business that focuses only on transactions. Business can be ministry, mentoring, and community impact when it is led with intention.