short on time

[mr. holden wood]

Seems like most of the guys here in buisness are doing the bids, payroll, customer relations, equipment maintence blah blah and then doing the work. How the phuck are you guys finding enough time, is my question. I inherited a company thats slammed right now. Seems like the ticket is having a estimator but that comes with a bunch more problems and lost profit. Really makes me think of a guy like tree vet who has had pretty soilid success all the while with a one man crew. How you do that for 30 plus years seems impossible to me, unless you hate your wife/G.F and don't ever want to be home.
I'm trying to do bids after three so I can work during the day but that still doesnt give ya enough time.Lots of people want bids during the day which means a lot of wasted profit/work time.Would be helpful to know how you guys are using your time,especially during the busy season.

 

[TreeAce]

I decided last season, by about the end of June, that saturdays and some times Sunday afternoons were for estimates. of course I did some during the week if they were close. But if someone called and they are 20 minutes away and they cant wait till Saturday then i guess its just not meant to be. Alot of people were good with my coming by on Sunday afternoon aswell. It was enough of a pain just getting home and then calling people and sending/answering email.

 

[formationrx]

....

i have a rough monthly plan... then a more detailed weekly plan....i give estimates real early or at the end of the day..... if they suggest meeting on saturday-- i ll agree if its early... to me adaptability and keeping your cool is the key..... you never know what the weather is going to do.....what if someone is sick or the equipment breaks..... freaking out never helps... you got to expect that #### is going to go wrong from time to time and just roll with the punches...... sometimes you just got to say #### it and just do the best you can...

 

[Mike Cantolina]

Seems like most of the guys here in buisness are doing the bids, payroll, customer relations, equipment maintence blah blah and then doing the work. How the phuck are you guys finding enough time, is my question. I inherited a company thats slammed right now. Seems like the ticket is having a estimator but that comes with a bunch more problems and lost profit. Really makes me think of a guy like tree vet who has had pretty soilid success all the while with a one man crew. How you do that for 30 plus years seems impossible to me, unless you hate your wife/G.F and don't ever want to be home.
I'm trying to do bids after three so I can work during the day but that still doesnt give ya enough time.Lots of people want bids during the day which means a lot of wasted profit/work time.Would be helpful to know how you guys are using your time,especially during the busy season.

Now you know why I post a few pics or a vid and then disappear for three weeks. Lol

 

[mr. holden wood]

Now you know why I post a few pics or a vid and then disappear for three weeks. Lol

I must admit im still learning, almost psoted they money is nice but what a pita.. Anyway post some pics when you can, they are always solid.

 

[ROPECLIMBER]

Great topic, probably lose more work because of this, need 4 of me, but going through my mid life crises I figure won't be rich so do what I can do and take the referals before the "I saw your truck 30 miles from home calls," this is one reason I took the seasonal job in Aspen, I work the slow season for my self and if it works out this spring and summer I'll just climb or run a bucket for them, less money and seems like harder work, but at the end of the day usually 4-5pm I am off the clock, no going home and typeing to fingered bids, sharpening chains, fixing saws,etc, I try to do maintenece and run around on Mondays or rain days and try to be working in a nice neborhood on saturday as people are home, and a lot of quotes get pushed till sat afternoon or Sunday, its hard to go get a chain in a work day and so mon as maintenance day and 1/2" of rain on mondays would be great that way I could start after traffic on tue -sat alot of the time stat late and finish late to avoid traffic, I think a Arborist/Estimator job would be pretty good wor a good sized small company saw one on CL in Collin Co but they never replied my inquiry,
Paul

 

[Zale]

Hiring a salesman/estimator is not a bad thing. Don't look at it as lost profit. You can't do everything and expect your company to grow. How big do you want to get? $500K, 1mil, 1.5 mil etc.? At a certain point bringing on additional staff increases your profitability.

 

[imagineero]

There's a lot of things you can do to make life easier on yourself, you just need to plan your work a bit better. Having said that, I was doing a lot of 6am to 10pm days last year and working weekends too. A typical day was;

Up at 6, get fuel and a bite on the way to getting guys. Start the job at 7, with me climbing. Can usually finish the job and cleanup by 3 or 4 most days, then leave one guy to grind stump while I drop off guys and empty truck, back to pickup stumpy, stuck in traffic all the way home and get home about 6 or 7. Make that 8 or 9 if I stop to quote on the way. Grab a quick bite, sharpen and clean saws, make sure all the gear is good, fix anything broken (lost a lot of time fixing truck last year) then a shower, send off any quotes/invoices that need sending and probably finished and ready for bed at 11 pr 12. Get up and do it all again.

What I'm doing different this year is....

I'm buying chain in bulk and have a sharpener (Jolly with cyclone wheel). I just swapout chains now and do all the sharpening once a week. 'm buying most of my other stuff in bulk too - bar lube, hydraulic fluid, poison, gloves, safety glasses etc. You save money that way, but the big saver is not having to make trips to the shop. I've also got 2 of every saw now, which means that if one gets rocked, runs out of fuel or stops running I don't need to deal with it. It can wait until I have time another day. I bought doubles of most things last year so that saves me a lot of panic/lost time.

I'm also only quoting on saturdays. This saves me a lot of time/fuel because the area I work in is pretty large. I was worried about losing jobs by not quoting instantly, but to be honest I'm getting more work than ever and I put my prices up by about 15% compared to last year as well. It's just a different way of marketing yourself. It's also quite pleasant to have neough work to smile as you say on the phone "well, we're booked out the next month already, and I can take a look on saturday but if you're in a real hurry there are a few shady companies out there that can come right away. They never seem to get much work". Those pushy types of customers are good ones not to get. I'm not working sundays any more.

I've shifted the way I'm marketing myself a bit over the last year and it seems to be working well. I can afford to pay my guys a bit more because of it which means I end up with better workers, which is in itself takes a lot of pressure off me. Not having to be 'the guy' all the time is nice. When you have workers that are competent on ropes, operating saws, grinding, chipping and do good cleanups it means there's a little less weight to carry for everyone.

Shaun

 

[superjunior]

If your a smaller outfit like me then the answer is pretty easy - you better have a real understanding SWMBO or it's divorce time. Having a tree business IS having a second marriage. Anything less then 100% commitment then you might as well climb for someone else

 

[TreeAce]

If your a smaller outfit like me then the answer is pretty easy - you better have a real understanding SWMBO or it's divorce time. Having a tree business IS having a second marriage. Anything less then 100% commitment then you might as well climb for someone else

SWMBO? not sure what this means but I bet I will like it. Or atleast agree

 

[imagineero]

SWMBO? not sure what this means but I bet I will like it. Or atleast agree

She Who Must Be Obeyed

 

[sgreanbeans]

HW-Its non-stop. You will have to schedule appointment's with your personal life.

 

[tree MDS]

Seems like most of the guys here in buisness are doing the bids, payroll, customer relations, equipment maintence blah blah and then doing the work. How the phuck are you guys finding enough time, is my question. I inherited a company thats slammed right now. Seems like the ticket is having a estimator but that comes with a bunch more problems and lost profit. Really makes me think of a guy like tree vet who has had pretty soilid success all the while with a one man crew. How you do that for 30 plus years seems impossible to me, unless you hate your wife/G.F and don't ever want to be home.
I'm trying to do bids after three so I can work during the day but that still doesnt give ya enough time.Lots of people want bids during the day which means a lot of wasted profit/work time.Would be helpful to know how you guys are using your time,especially during the busy season.

You "inherited a company that's slammed right now"?? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. How does one stumble upon such good fortune?

Sounds like you need either a climber/foreman, or a salesman. No big deal Player..

 

[treeclimber101]

You "inherited a company that's slammed right now"?? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. How does one stumble upon such good fortune?

Sounds like you need either a climber/foreman, or a salesman. No big deal Player..

Of course he's slammed tues was valentines day and all the queers are out and about buying things for one another, just kidding holden my wood , the trick is structure your chaos , get yourself in a routine and stick with it .... Wait until you and your husband have children together then it gets really hairy

 

[Blakesmaster]

You kinda have to just suck it up and do it. I relax in the winter but I'm 24/7 the rest of the year. I usually schedule my estimates after 5 on weekdays, generally running 4-5 a night 3 nights a week. Saturdays I either spend catching up on estimates or doing more jobs, if we're behind. Sundays, work on equipment, run some more estimates. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Hoping to add a another crew member this year part time, so I can run some more estimates during the days. The closer I can get to always answering my phone and immediately looking at a job I feel I'd be able to catch people in a impulse buy and sell more work. That's my thought anyway, see how it goes.

 

[treeclimber101]

You kinda have to just suck it up and do it. I relax in the winter but I'm 24/7 the rest of the year. I usually schedule my estimates after 5 on weekdays, generally running 4-5 a night 3 nights a week. Saturdays I either spend catching up on estimates or doing more jobs, if we're behind. Sundays, work on equipment, run some more estimates. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Hoping to add a another crew member this year part time, so I can run some more estimates during the days. The closer I can get to always answering my phone and immediately looking at a job I feel I'd be able to catch people in a impulse buy and sell more work. That's my thought anyway, see how it goes.

WOW thats awesome advice, thanks 12 years and I have been doing it all wrong I had no idea that running a business was a seven day a week deal , after hearing this I am gonna slap a for sale sign up on the lawn at the shop first thing in the morning , cause #### that.......

 

[TreeAce]

I am not 100% sure that being the first one to show for the estimates is always a good thing. You would think it would be but I really gotta wonder sometimes. I guess it just depends......nevermind.

 

[mckeetree]

Seems like most of the guys here in buisness are doing the bids, payroll, customer relations, equipment maintence blah blah and then doing the work.

The fact of it is if you have much of a tree business going you can't do all of the above and then do the work. Impossible. Lots of guys post a bunch of misleading crap on here about their "operation". Hell, during the Spring it takes me all day sometimes just to keep the guys what they need and get the bids out for that day. Much less have time for anything else. Not to mention the paperwork, payroll and maintenance.

 

[arborjockey]

The guy I'm helping out has his wife write the estimates, he does the sales, the foreman doesnt climb, and his wife(the foreman) is the secretary.:msp_confused:
My last boss was the pastor of a church, head of the youth group and took care of his mother and her property. On top of that he ran a successful tree company. He went to bed around 11-12. Only after every tooth was sharp and every saw was gased for the next day. Everything in bulk, chain, bar oil, mix, etc. well except gas. It starts to go bad after 30 days. Things went twice as fast with him to. no nonsense.:msp_thumbup: Did i mention he's over 60. lots of inspiration.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

I work 7 days a week, most of the year. If I am not out making money, I am doing maintanence or paperwork. Winter, I slow down but still work alot. I have been doing this too long to go back to working for someone else. So i gotta do what I got to, to make it work. My business has turned into my whole life, it always comes first.