Built the business. Now I can’t find the first person to help me operate it.

I recently started a home-services company built around knocking out homeowners’ accumulated repair/maintenance to-do lists in 2- or 4-hour blocks.

I’m a civil engineer, and I’ve spent the last couple months building this more like a scalable service company than a traditional handyman business: website/booking, branding, standardized equipment and processes, an internal field app, automated workflows, AI-assisted homeowner reports, etc. The idea is that eventually multiple people can deliver a consistent experience without the company depending on one great handyman.

The unexpected bottleneck has been finding Pro #1.
I’m looking for someone who’s genuinely capable with residential projects, dependable, professional in customers’ homes, and interested in roughly 8-16 hours/week of supplemental evening/weekend work.
I provide the customers, scheduling, tools/equipment and systems. No estimating, selling, invoicing or chasing customers. Current compensation is $40/customer-facing hour as a 1099 contractor.

I’ve tried Facebook/community groups, LinkedIn outreach, referrals and direct recruiting. I’ve found people with the skills, but surprisingly few with the right combination of skill + reliability + professionalism + part-time availability.
For anyone who’s built a home-service or other skilled field business:

Where would you look for this person?

And am I missing something fundamental about the offer, candidate profile, $40/hr compensation, 1099 structure, or part-time schedule?
I’m also debating whether I should just perform the first few jobs myself to get revenue and real-world experience flowing while I continue recruiting.