At your service.

Fixing a leaky faucet, changing a light bulb or hanging a picture on the wall are fairly easy tasks. In Sao Paulo, they just got easier: Just rent a husband. Literally. Two years ago, Valdir Jose Perez lost his job. To make ends meet, he started doing housework for family members. With the help of a Web site, his tools and a car decked out with advertising, Peres went into business on his own as Marido de Aluguel (rent-a-husband). He takes care of everything on his clients' to-do lists, things often left undone by the typical spouse. "I lived in a building where I heard women complaining that their husbands never did the things they were asked," Peres says. "They always going on about it in the elevator."

The idea became reality and today Peres says he has 80 clients, mostly single or divorced women, although some are businesses and families. "I have many married men who need my services," he says. "There are many men who just aren't handy." Claudia Rodrigues Ferreira, a psychologist, calls on Peres for all of her bothersome odd jobs. "I got divorced a year ago and there was no one to fen the little things around the house," Ferreira says. "My ex-husband always took care of everything." The country's national architecture and engineering consulting union is another regular client. "He does everything around here. He takes care of any electrical or maintenance problems," says Ana Maria Nunes, who works in the union's finance department.

Peres wants to expand his business, and he's studying several franchising proposals for Sao Paulo. He's plenty busy these days: He was recently called upon to change a tire and to help fire up the grill for a backyard cookout.