The toughest thing! New topic for column in TREE SERVICES

[Jim@turf]

Okay ... got the message on using existing threads.

Can we try this topic?

What is the SINGLE most challenging aspect of YOUR business. Whether it's customers, employees, competition, bookkeeping, marketing, science, whatever.

AND ... it would be useful to know how you personally deal with the single toughest part of your business.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Getting and keeping good employees!

 

[Treeman14]

Getting and keeping good employees!

AMEN to that, brother!

 

[NeTree]

AMEN to that, brother!

There's that.



And... finding a decent tree magazine.

 

[DDM]

And... finding a decent tree magazine.

I 2'nd that Motion!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Ya'll need to get with it!

 

[JonnyHart]

Employee turnover is a b!tch.

 

[vharrison2]

Getting and keeping good employees!

That says it all

 

[vharrison2]

Treeco, so true. Housing down here is a major issue.

 

[treeseer]

Maybe Jim should just contact the participants of a thread he likes and pm them. If they don't respond in a week their answers is yes, it's ok. Only negative responses don't get published.

Good idea Dan; the replies to this one so far show that pulling stuff out of the blue upon request is not easily done. I copyright generally but would automatically grant permission to a quality mag like TS, if they made the effort to ask.

Erik, Re finding a good tree magazine, I'm waiting to see some of your contributions in print somewhere. Or at least fwd the mags something you saw somewhere, for a story idea. Complaining without contributing is only so much gas passed in the wind.

 

[Stumper]

Dan nailed it with "time management". Keeping up is hard to do-oo.



Guy, Eric? Gas? Wind?...Nawwww!

 

[NeTree]

Guy, it was only some humor. Look up the term.

'Sides, according to you I have nothing to contribute anyways.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

flood or famine work.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Hey! why the ???? wont my avatar change to the one in my control panel!?!!??

 

[MasterBlaster]

It's changed. Sometimes there is a delay - just wait.

 

[R Schra]

What is the SINGLE most challenging aspect of YOUR business. Whether it's customers, employees, competition, bookkeeping, marketing, science, whatever.

AND ... it would be useful to know how you personally deal with the single toughest part of your business.

As far as i noticed in one week that im starting running a 35 man busines its not ONE single aspect. Its about ALL aspects stitching to one good oiled machiney that does the job. If a man/female is capable to guide all aspects into a flexible, troublefree working organization and all partissipants are happy and satisfied you have overcome the biggest challange. A challange to keep up to is maintaining a healty bussines to all concerned.

Regards Ronald

 

[NeTree]

As far as i noticed in one week that im starting running a 35 man busines its not ONE single aspect. Its about ALL aspects stitching to one good oiled machiney that does the job. If a man/female is capable to guide all aspects into a flexible, troublefree working organization and all partissipants are happy and satisfied you have overcome the biggest challange. A challange to keep up to is maintaining a healty bussines to all concerned.

Regards Ronald

Excellent!

 

[vharrison2]

R Schra.....you are in the mag!!!

 

[a_lopa]

yes you only have to have one thing go wrong and your downtimes gone thru the roof.getting the work and doing the job is the easy part,making good money out of it is another.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I work for several different comapnies as a subcontractor and have to agree with labor/manpower being the mpst problematic.

It touches on so many aspects of the buisness;

1. workload-in the high times you never have enough, and in the lulls it's hard to keep good people.
2. Quality of work-speaks for it'self
3. payroll and all the "hidden" expences that the worker does not see. They want "bennies" but how do you still pay a good wage? With W/C how do you pay a wage equivilent to the other trades? I've seen a number of good climbers go into concrete, construction or trucking because they need to take care of thier familes better.
4. egos in the crew, many who gravitate to this work have big heads and it can be a problem working with each other.
5. equipment maintinance, or lack of that there of.
6. ect...
   

I think what people need to do when filling a position is to over hire and "winnow the chaff" so to speak, or "pan for the gold". If an individual does not work out, then drop them in the probationary phase. Hire someone else.

If you run a 10 man show, there is at least one or two on whose shoulders you stand, much less a 35 man company.