Demand for consulting arborists (especially in a recession)?

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c.breck.m

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Oct 31, 2019
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New York
Hi all,

I do municipal urban forestry work and am considering trying to get established as a consulting arborist (risk assessments, tree protection plans, health inspections etc.). Would be working New England, upstate New York, possibly NYC.
Basically I’m trying to gauge how much demand there is out there for consultants, especially one just starting out, and if I could expect to find consistent enough work to make a decent living. I also have a feeling that any arborist that doesn’t climb will have a pretty tough time in any kind of economic downturn. I love the idea of being self employed but am afraid I may live to regret giving up my cushy government job if the economy goes south.
Any experience or advice you could share would be greatly appreciated.
 
Keep your day job. Nothing wrong with having the credentials of a " tree expert" with many letters after your name so to speak but it has been my experience that most people that call for a problem with a tree are just looking for free advice after they have searched the internet and can't find the answer they are looking for in regards to the problem they are having with their tree.

I am retired from the tree business but when I was active doing consults on trees was a very, very small part of the business and didn't make any money when compared to the income from trims and removals. Like I said most people were looking for free advise and didn't want to pay for a consult and the cost of cure was always too much . There were exceptions to this statement but they were few and far between and making a living from it ,no way. Most of the trees I did do a consult on were usually to far gone to save from diseases or were ready to fall over from decay.

I don't know if the east coast market would be better than it is here in the Midwest or not . People on the east coast seem to be a little more tree conscience and might provide a niche market but I doubt it. If you do this target a market where people have lots and lots of disposable income to spend on trees . Just my 2 cents on the matter.
 
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