Here is a great one from around here! I see this crap all the time.
Unsplit (Poplar?) Firewood
I'm sorry... when did poplar get reclassed as "firewood"? You heat with it by standing in front of the stove feeding tree length logs continuously or soak them in kerosene?
Weekend warrior firewood sellers don't make a true profit. Moving a pickup load of wood for beer money is more of a hobby, something to keep the missus from ragging about how she ain't got that nice dress she saw in the mall last week.
Where I lived in VA there was an old joke... everyone who has a truck is selling firewood, and everybody and his Aunt Tilly has a truck.
There was truth to it. What was once a profitable business where everyone worked together had split into two camps. There were the old-school guys who'd been in the biz all their lives trying to compete with kids who were buying truckloads of splits from local farmers and reselling it in the city dirt-cheap. Much of it was off the stump green, pawned off as seasoned.
It got to where city ordinances were passed to keep firewood peddlers out of the subdivisions. If you were driving a truckload of firewood and a local cop or eager beaver neighborhood watch saw yas, you got pulled over and asked exactly who ordered the wood and where they lived.
Things were bad for awhile... you'd wake up in the morning to flattened tires, drained oil pans... equipment sabotaged overnight. The boneheads were dumping brush at the side of the road and calling the cops (anonymously) to blame it on competitors. The town passed a "brush law", saying any tree brush from outside the county couldn't be driven through. Ridiculous, to be sure. But it served to demonstrate just how desperate the whole situation had become.
It was just too much work and worry for too little money. The old-timers got into tree work instead.
That's just straight nuts! Personally, that's the kind of endemic stupid that makes me worry that there's something beside fluoride in the water rotting their brains.
We have some stand up dealers around who have a loyal clientele that they've usually gathered from the victims of the hit and run types. Having not been involved, but knowing many around me that buy wood, I was surprised each year by the number who were off looking for a new supplier each season 'cuz their last year's supplier was gone. These are people of reasonable means that are used to paying at least $200 a cord for mixed hardwoods, often short seasoned if at all. There are still opportunities out there. Forgot who, I think it was Haveawoody who was including a re-order form with each delivery along with his storage pallet and some kindling. I think that is a great idea since it also allows the customer to store and pull wood to burn without having to handle it twice themselves. Also contributes to customer loyalty. It's all about adding value to your brand to set you apart from the competition.
I don't wanna clean anybody's chimney but my own, but people are freakin' lazy as crap, so why not offer some kind of co-op with a sweep, or start doin' them to supplement the wood?. I've replaced a half dozen caps in my block, and repointed four chimneys just 'cuz the folks needed it done and they knew me (or in spite of them knowing me), but I wasn't even looking for the work - I've been tryin' to stay retired. Maybe a free cleaning with every (X) number of cords. Chrisesakes even the convenience stores are pushing customer loyalty plans these days. Partner with the company doing their landscaping and lawn care. I used to get wood and tree work from those guys all of the time, when they'd get into thinkin' that they could handle anything that had a two stroke engine involved, and again - I wasn't looking for the work, they just needed somebody that they knew who would get it done and not screw everything up. I had equipment resources from my other businesses that most don't have, but the idea is still the same. Just posting an ad on CL and waitin' for the phone to ring sounds like a great way to starve. Also bein' the cjeapest guy in town a business model does not make, it's all about sellin' value, not firewood. If you believe that business is all about having the lowest price, than I would suggest that you try and explain IBM and Apple, who represent the highest end of their prospective markets. I won't buy any power tools but Festool these days (especially since B&D bought and destroyed Porter Cable). They are one of the most expensive out there, and while I'm comfortable, it's only 'cuz I'm careful. Most good customers will pay for quality, and the ones that can't or won't... well let Fred and Lamont take care of them.
Maybe try educating the retarded. Teach and SHOW them the difference between properly seasoned and not. Guarantee a certain moisture level (Sanford and Son ain't gonna even know where to buy a moisture meter, much less what it does). Get some all-weather stickers and put them on people's wood rack when you deliver. Do email or direct mail to keep in touch. Explain how wet wood steals all of their supposed heat and cruds up their chimney faster. Maybe scare the crap out of 'em with pics or a video of a raging chimney fire that ate a house. Use a little psych on 'em, and then add some peer pressure. Try the old Home Improvement "Model Home" come on (assuming it's not illegal in your area). Offer a neighborhood association discount for a bulk buy. Everybody on Mockingbird Lane gets a special buy if the total order reaches 10 or 20 or whatever makes you the most money, number of cords. Buy a wood working branding iron and brand a couple dozen sticks in each cord. You'll have people thinkin' you build their firewood in a factory. If your wood processing and handling logistics can support it, maybe pressure wash muddy logs before processing. They sell little fire starting bundles of crap at the 7-11's here for $12-15 'cuz they look clean and neat. Offer custom lengths, a lot of old folks might have room for 18" sticks, but find 12" worth payin' a little more for so they don't break a hip.
One of my eight hundred past lives was consulting/mentoring small businesses - everything from Sub Shops to Ice Carving, Plumbing to "Gentleman's Clubs", and the core elements are always the same.
There are only a handful of ways to increase revenue; raise your prices, increase the number of customers who buy from you, increase the frequency with which they buy, or the very best - which is increase your average sale. Makes sense... better profit as well when you deliver two cord instead of just one to the same address at the same time. Maybe expand on that and try a blitz on a neighborhood where you see a lot of smokin' chimney's in the fall, and if not this year, catch'em next year. If you're haulin' more wood into the same area you're gonna realize some economy of scale, so maybe you can afford a little price drop there. Obviously not all inclusive, but ya get the gist.
The most common problem that I've witnessed with the majority of small business owners is simply this. They are usually really good at doing the work, and more often than not making some money. They just don't know what to do from there. How do I play keep away from the gov't, how do I raise sales, how should I best buy/replace/upgrade my equipment and when. All a very common scenario. Of course then there's the one who is beyond help - the guy who's making some money... so far. You usually can't help these cats 'cuz the fact that they have a wad of cash in their pocket tells them that they are already doing everything right. I usually wait to see them when their equipment goes up for sale at the auction.
Sounds like your old timers diversification did the trick. I'm kind'a surprised at the number of tree companies that still don't market firewood or wood products around here. Vertical integration and diversification is what built Standard Oil and Ford Motors. Hell, if ya get big enough maybe tell the DOE you're involved in a "Green" alternative fuels program and ask for a couple 40 or 50 million in grants.
