So i recently put a patio in my house. Took me about 60 hours total and cost about $2000 in supplies......anyway, literally within an hour of completing it I had two requests to do something similar in other houses down the street....they were serious and said they were prepared to spend $6000. I had figured that if I paid someone that it would have cost me about $7000.
Keep in mind that my 60 hours was digging out and moving everything by and, so all manual labor and no machines - great workout. Certainly I could rent some equipment and trim the time down considerably.
Anyway, lets say I did this for the other people, which I won't because I have a full time job, $50K a year is about $25/hour, or $1000/week, so even if I dug it by hand and billed myself at that rate I would be making the $50k except that I would also be making $3000 of profit on top of it for that week.
That is just based on doing a some hard work myself, taking the time to do it right, and letting the work speak for itself ....no marketing involved. This has happened many times...such as when I built a deck, did a patio at a prior house, renovated a couple of bathrooms, replaced windows, and the list goes on....AND I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL CONTRACTOR....I am self taught. My wife is always trying to pimp me out and has many takers, but again I have a full time job, don't want to do this full time by need, and want to spend non-work time with family and friends.
But this will likely be my "Retirement" job. I enjoy it and can do it when I want. It shouldn't be that easy.