Founded by Jo Behari in October 2006, HomeJane.co.uk is one of the UK’s first all-female home improvement and property maintenance companies. After several frustrating experiences in her own home with unreliable trade firms, Jo hit upon this novel but much needed concept.

Online Presence

Behari realised immediately that having a presence online would make marketing the business a far simpler task.

As a woman living alone, she often felt uncomfortable having tradesmen in the house. Upon sharing her experiences, she soon realised many others felt the same and having heard numerous stories about women who felt intimidated or who had been conned by ‘rogue’ traders, she took the plunge.

'Female' Gap in the Property Maintenance Market

She instantly realised there was a gap in the market for a service which addressed such issues as:

• Lone women feeling uncomfortable or intimidated by having tradesmen in the home
• Elderly or vulnerable people feeling anxious inviting tradesmen into the home
• Organisations for whom it is disruptive or inappropriate for a man to make repairs on their premises (e.g. female changing rooms, women’s hostels etc.).

Women DIY Tips and Workshops

As a DIY enthusiast herself, Jo was also keen to support women in entering trades that still today remain male-dominated. As a result, Home Jane has opened up numerous opportunities for professional tradeswomen (both current and potential) across the country. 

As you look around the site, you begin to realise this company is more than just a group of trades-women with a site explaining their services.  Not only do they have Youtube videos giving quick and easy DIY tips, they also run workshops - aptly titled 'Tools for the Terrified' - and recommend useful websites.

Originally working in marketing for a large city corporate, Jo always knew she wanted to run her own busines, but a fear of failure made her hesitant in the early days.  It is fortunate, however, that the fear of regret was far stronger, and knowing she didn’t want to look back in years to come thinking ‘If only I’d….’, she took the plunge.

What makes Home Jane an interesting company is how it has harnessed the web and gone with the flow of the digital revolution, when so many others in the same place would not have bothered.  And the best part? They are not the only ones doing it...