Checklist Home Services

Liz Piccarazzi spent a decade juggling corporate work at American Express (earning six figures), motherhood, and marriage—leaving little time to maintain her family's biggest investment: their home. As the honey-do list on her refrigerator grew, so did a realization. Every time she hired a contractor for home services work, she was disappointed or underwhelmed. "In really all cases, I was either disappointed or underwhelmed and recognized a gap in the marketplace for professionally run handyman services," she recalls. The gap wasn't in the technical work itself; it was in customer experience—a term barely used in the trades. Armed with marketing expertise and a clear pain point, Liz made the leap.

In 2011, Checklist Home Services launched in New York. Liz married her customer experience expertise with the trades industry, building a company focused on handymen, electricians, carpenters, and general home improvement. Instead of outsourcing to 1099 contractors, she chose the harder path: hiring W2 employees. She pays handymen $15-$35 per hour depending on experience, benchmarks against the field, and covers 20% workers' compensation (a massive cost). The operational footprint includes a loft space in Navy Yard, two full-time office staff, liability insurance at 5-6%, and all the overhead of running a professional service business.

Customers discover Checklist through Google search, Yelp, and Angie's List. The company uses an interactive web form (front and center on the website) where homeowners create their own honey-do list, selecting services room-by-room. Virtual estimates happen first; on-site visits follow if needed. The website includes portfolio pieces, interviews with handymen, and the quote request form—all designed to differentiate Checklist through professionalism and transparency.

The business model is straightforward: handyman services priced by time increments. A half-day in Brooklyn/Queens is $395; a full day is $595. Manhattan commands higher rates ($500 half-day, $725 full-day). In October alone, the business completed 65 jobs at roughly $400 average per job. After paying the handyman ($120 for a typical half-day job), workers' comp ($25), liability insurance, rent, and office staff salaries, Checklist nets $60-$75 profit per $400 job. Supplies provide an additional 4-5% revenue stream, marked up 25%. The W2 employee model proved correct—Liz watches the litigation against 1099 misclassification and sees Checklist and competitors like Managed by Q (which she follows closely) validating the professional employment approach through rapid scaling and team stability.

Four years in (approaching November 2015), Checklist has become a thriving local business in Brooklyn and Queens with plans to expand into Manhattan. Reinvestment is constant—Liz has poured $60-$75,000 into Citibin, a separate venture focused on junk removal and waste management for homes. This new business is capital-intensive, requiring equipment and prototyping, but represents Liz's evolution from single-service to multi-service. Her Twitter handle is ChecklistNYC; the website is ChecklistNYC.com. Despite the operational complexity and the opportunity cost of leaving six-figure corporate work, Liz continues to scale, one satisfied customer at a time.