Starting my own tree business

[SteelBuck44]

Hey guys. Long story short, I've been doing tree work on the side for a few years now, climbing, living, top down removals, simple felling, hazard trees etc. I'm no beginner to tree work but I'm ready to take it on full time. My wife is usually on the ground for me, yes, I know. She's great at it though. Anyways. My few questions are simple.
1. Advertisement. What are the best ways to advertise?
2. Bidding. I've been able to give decent prices due to no insurance or licensing in the past. That will change now. What kind of prices should I look at now??
I'm from northwest Oregon, so mostly doing Doug fire, cedars, some maples, some angry alders etc. Any pointers would be big-time appreciated!!

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[ChoppyChoppy]

The biggest thing that has worked for me is having a decent website and being listed on search engines.

In this day and age, most folks will grab their smart phone or computer and google "tree removal", "firewood" etc. You need to be on there.

Repeat customers and Word of mouth is the other big one.


Google Business is free (well used to be). Fill that out and it will put you on Google. Having an ACTIVE Facebook site helps as well. I say active as in you are on there every week or two putting photos/comments, and checking daily (or as best as possible) for messages as well as replying to posts if needed.
Same with email. If you list an email address, you need to be answering emails at least within a business day or two.

 

[Woodcutteranon]

The biggest thing that has worked for me is having a decent website and being listed on search engines.

In this day and age, most folks will grab their smart phone or computer and google "tree removal", "firewood" etc. You need to be on there.

Repeat customers and Word of mouth is the other big one.


Google Business is free (well used to be). Fill that out and it will put you on Google. Having an ACTIVE Facebook site helps as well. I say active as in you are on there every week or two putting photos/comments, and checking daily (or as best as possible) for messages as well as replying to posts if needed.
Same with email. If you list an email address, you need to be answering emails at least within a business day or two.

+1

Get a web site and set up your Google Business account. I did it last year and it was free. Also, get on Facebook and Instagram. Social media is the way to go.

 

[ksvanbrunt]

Look into local magazines that target certain areas and put an ad in it. If you do good work, you shouldn't need to do this for long because word-of-mouth is a real thing.
Don't worry about being the cheapest, but being the best. This line of work is tough and we all deserve decent pay. Depending on what equip you have, as just you and your wife I would say between $70-100 per man hour. Keep in mind that its not worth working without insurance. It can save you in many ways.
Good luck with your journey and really watch out for those Doug fires because they will burn you

 

[SteelBuck44]

They're hot little SoBs lol.

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[Marshy]

Hey guys. Long story short, I've been doing tree work on the side for a few years now, climbing, living, top down removals, simple felling, hazard trees etc. I'm no beginner to tree work but I'm ready to take it on full time. My wife is usually on the ground for me, yes, I know. She's great at it though. Anyways. My few questions are simple.
1. Advertisement. What are the best ways to advertise?
2. Bidding. I've been able to give decent prices due to no insurance or licensing in the past. That will change now. What kind of prices should I look at now??
I'm from northwest Oregon, so mostly doing Doug fire, cedars, some maples, some angry alders etc. Any pointers would be big-time appreciated!!

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I have no first hand experience but I would take my worst earning year within the past 5 years and take that number of man hours and try to figure out what it would cost to break even given your new business expenses. Thst would be your absolute minimum cost. I'm order to do that though you will need to know your expenses and the number of hours you worked in the last few years. Idk what records you keep but you'll have to start if you didn't before.

 

[jonny37]

Only you can decide what to charge. Personally, I estimate the number of hours it will take and multiply times $150. So if I think a tree will take me and my son 6 hours, that is a $900 tree. Keep in mind that we have all equipment needed to do the job efficiently. And yes, insured for tree work.

 

[Bwoell14]

I started on my own with absolutely no knowledge / experience during hurricane season 2016. I had no equipment either. I’ve learned as I’ve gone. At first, I did nothing remotely close to being hazardous. I only did cleanup stuff on the ground. Slowly I did more and more. I still don’t “climb” but I’m pretty close to buying gear and slowly learning. I’ve made a lot of pricing mistakes. Basically, I bid with the mindset of getting the job, making cash and not giving the customer to get other bids. After completing some jobs, I’ve made notes saying if I had to do the exact same tree again, I wouldn’t touch it for at least $300 more. Live and learn I guess.


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[SteelBuck44]

I started on my own with absolutely no knowledge / experience during hurricane season 2016. I had no equipment either. I’ve learned as I’ve gone. At first, I did nothing remotely close to being hazardous. I only did cleanup stuff on the ground. Slowly I did more and more. I still don’t “climb” but I’m pretty close to buying gear and slowly learning. I’ve made a lot of pricing mistakes. Basically, I bid with the mindset of getting the job, making cash and not giving the customer to get other bids. After completing some jobs, I’ve made notes saying if I had to do the exact same tree again, I wouldn’t touch it for at least $300 more. Live and learn I guess.


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What state are you located in? I'm set up with more enough equipment for 2 crews, though it'll just be me and my wife working(she grew up with a family of timber fallers, so no, she's not just a girl!) And I've done a lot of hazard jobs under the table already. I got a lot of experience, I'm just getting into the game of being legal and all the trouble that comes with it lol

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[Bwoell14]

What state are you located in? I'm set up with more enough equipment for 2 crews, though it'll just be me and my wife working(she grew up with a family of timber fallers, so no, she's not just a girl!) And I've done a lot of hazard jobs under the table already. I got a lot of experience, I'm just getting into the game of being legal and all the trouble that comes with it lol

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Florida

Nothing wrong with working with the wife, especially if she can hold her own.


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[RyKR]

My brother-in-law and I own a small tree removal service. We are not full time and we are not rich by any means. With that being said, take that into consideration to what I'm saying.

As far as advertising goes, I will add that word of mouth is going to be the most advantageous to you. Make sure that you do a good job so that your customers will pass your information on without any negativity. You don't want word like "they were cheap but damaged my shed" or "they got the job done but it isn't the way I'd like it to be".

You'd be surprised at what works. I've hung up hundreds of cards in gas stations, post offices, stores, etc... As far as I know, only one person has called directly due one of those cards. That one card, however, has led to at least 7 jobs and almost $10k worth of work. He had work done, his sister then called, his church called, his neighbors called, and then the random drive bys stopped and got estimates. So that one card and word of mouth has done us well.

Simply parking our bucket truck where it is visible has led to multiple jobs as well. I'll be hanging in the back yard and passersby will stop and check on services.

Check out garage sale sites on facebook. There are always people asking for recommendations. Message them and check in.

I couldn't tell you about advertising services like home advisor, I've never tried them. A couple of the other local guys say that they get only horrible leads and they have to pay for them.