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Affordabletree

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
143
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Location
Grand blanc mi
Well I have spent more time lurking on this website than anything. I am extremely eager to get my business up and running full time. I have worked for every tree company in my area and then I went to work for Davey. I was in the residential side of Davey and I learned a whole crap load of tree information in the way of pruning and plant health care. I was brought in as a groundsman but started doing some basic climbing for them. As I was climbing for them I notice that as soon as I hit the 25'to30' mark i started moving a little slower but not to slow. I don't know what it is but I can not climb on spikes for some reason I just am afraid of falling on them. I currently climb for my company on small pruning and small removals and hire a climber for big stuff due to my slowness at great heights. I was wondering if those things listed above are normal when you first start climbing. Btw I am 6'3" and 285lbs I climb SRT with a Unicender.


Second part to my curiosity is that one of my many old bosses has come to me asking for a job because I have taken over all of his clients due to him losing all his equipment from poor financial decisions. The question I have on this topic is, do you guys think it would be a good idea to hire in an ex-employer or just tell him to take a hike? I have had him help me on a couple jobs just because I wasn't to sure on what to do and him being in the business for 12years and me being 19years old he has helped but he seems to want to come in and take over all of my job sites and expects 30% of the quoted price as his payment for his knowledge. I have never payed him this much but he keeps wanting it. I guess I am just looking for a pull string right now to turn on a light to point me in the right direction. I have been slowly picking up customers and I am up to about $1500 TO $2600 per week part time.


Finally am I paying people to much. For groundsman they all start at $15 per hour and it seems to make them want to work. For a Climber if there is a lot of pruning I will bring him in at $25 per hour and if it is a large removal then I pay $600 per day because I think he is a dam good climber.



If what I said makes sense to anyone and you can help please make suggestions that have helped you and have been able to grow your business.


Adam
 
Your old boss might be a good guy but sounds like he drove his business into ground, don't let him do that to you! What good advice can he possibly offer? You mentioned he lost it all. Never mind the 30% off the quoted price. You are just starting out, do as much as you can yourself and keep costs as low as you can. Things will pick up over time when you do good work and build a good reputation and name for yourself. Tell your old boss that this is your show NOT his. You sign the cheques, it's your way or the highway. Tell him you can't afford to have him around right now. You will find better people to hire as time goes on. Good luck.
 
If you keep climbing higher then 30' after a while it'll be 60' that slows you down, then a 100 will feel like 20. You just have to get use to it. But if you don't climb higher the 30' on a regular basis you'll keep that mental block.
Sounds like your doing OK. You can never go wrong paying well and taking care of your employees. It'll help you get and keep good employees. I worked for a small company a long time ago and they gave me a percentage of each job, but in turn a lot was asked of me. It made me a lot more proactive with in the company.
Is your old boss getting you costumers that you maynot of got without him. Are you using his old client book, his connections and so forth? Just wondering.
 
Beast I am not using his client book directly it is more of them seeing me running my own show now they are starting to come to me and away from him.
 
Loss the old boss, he will be nothing but a hindrance and will hold a grudge if he sees you succeed where he failed. The 30ft thing, like beast said, goes away with experience. Just remember, falling from 20ft is not much different than 200ft. Going fast is not always the fast way to go (the rabbit and turtle story) Slowing down and being careful is never bad thing. You will speed up and your attentiveness will speed up as well.
 
Affordabletree said:
I have worked for every tree company in my area and then I went to work for Davey...and me being 19years old ...please make suggestions that have helped you and have been able to grow your business.
Adam
Click to expand...

I took the editorial liberty of condensing your post down to what I consider the crux of the matter. 19 years old, and you have already worked for every Tom, Dock, and Harry's Tree Service in your area? You may be an especially fast learner, (if so, kudos to you), but I would have trouble hiring you, either as an employer, or hiring your company to look after the valuable trees on my estate on the basis of your resume and age. So, my suggestion to you is to 1. know your limitations. Sounds like you are aware of some of them, re. business savvy, climbing ability, employee management. 2. Don't get into debt over your head. 3. Keep learning; get yourself some good tree books. btw, even after a long time playing this game, I still struggle with some of the stuff you have mentioned...lowballing estimates, retaining (for too long ) workers that don't want to learn, paperwork - damn paperwork, buying equipment and gear that I don't need (cause it was "on sale"). And lastly, 4. Be a stickler on P.P.E. Make everyone wear it. Set a good example. Don't let this area slide.
 
Thanks for to advice guys I have told my boss to go bd find some other work. And as for working for all of the local tree services there are only six besides my self and 4 of them I lasted a month because of not being paid at all. They had the work but I was not getting paid one still owes me $2100 in wages. The other two I lasted a day at each of them due to showing up on a jobsite with them and just not feeling safe working with that crew. And finally Davey I went in ms worked for 8 months and loved it I learned a lot bout trees and I learned that when you have a company that big they can get to focused on profit and not enough on safety. So I politely told them that I would not be back after the winter layoff. If I wasn't so set on running my own show I think that they probably would have been a good job for me.
 
tree MDS said:
Soo... you're afraid to climb more than 30', and are set on running your own "show". Sounds about right to me. Welcome to the tree business!!!:dizzy:

God, I hate this more and more every year..
Click to expand...

Just between you and me, and I guess whoever else reads this, this thread really needed BS called on it after the first post.
 
Affordabletree said:
Why is that McKee??
Click to expand...


Location:
Grand blanc mi
Occupation:
Work at McDonalds for now
How did you find ArboristSite.com:
Internet search
Home Country:
United States
17 trying to start a tree service


You really need to ask that question. You are what? 18. Well you joined here at 17 in Oct. 2012 so I guess you could have just turned 19. You say you have worked for every tree service in your area and then Davey and blah, blah, blah and then I really didn't read much more. Didn't need to. You haven't been around long enough to have been anywhere very long.
 
He said he worked for a total of six other local tree companies. 4 of which he worked for a month each. Two of which he worked for a day each and he worked for Davey for 8 months. So he basically has a year worth of experience.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
 
2treeornot2tree said:
He said he worked for a total of six other local tree companies. 4 of which he worked for a month each. Two of which he worked for a day each and he worked for Davey for 8 months. So he basically has a year worth of experience.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yeah. I'm here laughing at this ****, my foreman just stopped by the office to pick up some paperwork and I have him laughing at this **** and he is printing it out so more of us can laugh at this ****.
 
Some guys are great climbers and lousy businessmen.
Others suck at climbing, but could sell ice to Eskimos....invisible sign on their forehead says: "I am successful, and you are gonna hire me to do your treework even though the price I'm quoting you would make a Nigerian Prince blush"
You don't have to be a (good) climber to make lotsa $$$ in this racket...just hire one. Poach him from another company, recruit him from an arboriculture program at a community college, whatever.
But if that's the way you ride, then you better be good at selling work. Sales is my right Achille's heel.
My other one right now is the #*¥€^ electrical system on the Hatz engine on my Bandit 65. There is much hate in my soul right now. Lotsa wires going into cute little boxes full of circuit boards...you turn the key, and lights blink and flash but nothing else happens. Fed up.
 
I revised this thread for one main reason. Kiddo, if your going to be in the tree business, you better get some thicker skin. Now stick around, take your lashings and learn to deal with the brashness.
Admitting that your nervous above 30, on here, makes me think you have some nads and some sense. Anyone who gets in this and is fearless, usually is not around for long. Those who get into this and have a serious puckertude, learn to overcome their fears and go on to become decent climbers that pay attention. As far as going out on your own, not so sure thats the way to go........at this point. Sounds like you need mentor first. Master the ropes before you sell something that you personally cant back up. We have a out fit here, guy is a businessman that has a degree, has no idea what he is doing in a tree so he hires all kinds. Has a horrible rep. Produces more horror story's than all others (around here) combined. He can sell his ass off, but many people are not happy after the fact. He will get a good climber, then the good one leaves because businessman tries to screw him on money, so then the guy with no experience is in a tree trying to keep afloat. Dont put yourself in that position, learn to do the good work from someone who knows your intent. If you are going to cut and run, every time u get a ear full, then go ahead and delete the thread again and reconsider your career choice. Ya gotta learn to roll with the punches, not just here, but in life in general. Remember, opinions are like aasholes...........
 
A new climber should watch or at least work with a good climber for a while, hire one and play groundie, you'll see things done that you didn't think of, you can also see things that you'd do different. Learning is much harder on your own and normally a lot slower
 

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