Running a business is sometimes stressful and time-consuming. Downtime, otherwise, known as R and R is a valuable commodity. When you are facing a long Honey-Do list on your weekend time off, who are you going to call? Perhaps, Mr. Fix It, Dominick Cottone.
He provides Aiken and surrounding areas with an extensive list of services that reads like the yellow pages, including electrical work, plumbing projects, painting, and automotive work.
“In the past couple of months since I started my business, I’ve installed ceiling fans, repaired garbage disposals, faucets, toilets, painted trim and molding, and even done small engine repair,” Cottone explained.
He comes by his fix-it skills naturally. By the age of eight, he spent almost every day after school at his father’s repair shop, just south of Buffalo, New York.
“That was back when customers would haul in those big console TVs with tubes, radios, vacuum cleaners, and lamps for repairs. I worked alongside him till I was out of school and learned a lot.”
Later, Cottone owned a popular restaurant called Beefeaters in Bradford, Pennsylvania. He was the chef and manager, but also the fix-it guy for anything that broke down.
He sold the restaurant in 2015 and headed for warmer weather in Graniteville.
“I was burned out at the time from the long restaurant hours, but then I got bored. Opening Mr. Fix It was a great way to meet people and to help them.”
For example, plumbers might not come for a leaky faucet and sometimes senior citizens living on a fixed income can’t afford them. Cottone tries to keep his prices reasonable no matter the job.
“I’m a one-man band. Unless it’s a big job that I have to farm out, I can probably handle it.”
Most of his jobs are residential, but about 25% of his business comes from companies that need a hand.
His business motto: “If I can’t fix it, it’s free.” Sounds like a great deal for all those odd jobs you don’t have time for. To contact Dominick Cottone aka Mr. Fix it, you can call or text him at 814-598-4258.
Editor’s Note:
Mitzi Oxford is a veteran broadcaster and features writer who also worked at the same television station in Columbus, Georgia as Augusta’s Brad Means!
If you have a South Carolina story idea for Mitzi, please email her at mitzioxfordcreative@gmail.com.
