- Client
- Handy Hawk
- Role
- Full-Stack Design & Development
- Timeline
- 3 days (MVP)
- Year
- 2025
- Category
- Business Platform
Overview
Handy Hawk is Jesse Hawkins’ Las Vegas handyman business. We built a conversion-focused Expo web site plus an ops admin: AI estimates, booking, invoices/Stripe, and a dashboard so the business is not run from a notebook. Public origin in code: handyhawk.org.
Why
Jesse Hawkins was quoting over the phone, tracking jobs in a notebook, and losing leads with no follow-up. Handy Hawk is a Las Vegas handyman business that needed a site that converts and an ops admin that runs the day — schedule, CRM, invoices — so admin time is not time off the job.
Relevant to any trades operator who is the brand. The public quote calculator is the wedge; Stripe invoice pay is how “yes” becomes a payment.
The challenge
A solo handyman was quoting over the phone, tracking jobs in a notebook, and losing leads with no follow-up. Admin time was time not on the job.
What made it hard
- Quotes only happened on the phone — friction before the first job.
- Booking and CRM were notes and spreadsheets.
- The public site did not convert, and it did not help run the day.
Approach
Public site: hero quote calculator, flip-card services, testimonials, contact. Admin: schedule, CRM, invoicing. OpenAI drafts itemized estimates; Stripe handles invoice pay. Trust lines on the site (job counts, reviews) are UI copy — not independently audited metrics.
Process
- Public conversion: Quote calculator in the hero; services that prefill the estimate.
- Money: Stripe invoice pay so “yes” becomes a payment.
- Ops admin: One dashboard for schedule, CRM, and revenue.
What we built
- AI quote calculator: Natural-language project description → itemized estimate (labor, materials, travel).
- Services grid: Flip cards (plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc.) that scroll to the quote and prefill.
- Invoice pay: Stripe-backed invoice checkout so jobs can collect without chasing checks.
- Admin dashboard: Schedule, CRM, and business management for a solo operator.
How it was built
Expo Web public site plus admin on Firebase `handy-hawk`. Hero quote calculator takes a natural-language project description and OpenAI drafts an itemized estimate (labor, materials, travel). Flip-card services (plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc.) scroll to the quote and prefill.
Stripe handles invoice checkout. Mapbox supports service-area context. Admin dashboard covers schedule, CRM, and revenue. Trust lines on the site (job counts, reviews) are UI copy — not independently audited metrics. Live: handyhawk.org.
Stack
- Expo Web: Public site + admin
- Firebase: handy-hawk project
- OpenAI: Instant estimates
- Stripe: Invoice payments
- Mapbox: Service-area / routing context
Outcomes
- Quote: AI estimate in the hero
- Admin: Ops dashboard
- Stripe: Invoice pay
- Live: handyhawk.org
Wins
- AI estimate in the public hero, not a contact form.
- Service flip cards that prefill the quote.
- Stripe invoice pay so jobs can collect without chasing checks.
- Ops admin for schedule, CRM, and revenue at handyhawk.org.
Hard parts
- Phone-only quotes: Friction before the first job. The calculator had to live in the hero.
- Notebook ops: Booking and CRM were notes and spreadsheets. Admin had to be the day, not a second product.
- Honest metrics: Trust copy on the site is UI. We do not treat those numbers as audited results in this case study.
Services
- React Native for Web
- OpenAI GPT-4
- Stripe Invoicing
- Firebase Backend
- SendGrid Automations