whadja do today?

[SecondGenMonkey]

I like you enough to tell the truth not to discourage , I feel a lot of guys will straight face lie about the stress ... Not me I am honest Abe when it comes to what I get from being my own boss !

He's not joking. Its not easy.
Those trucks you see in my pics? Those are mine.
I dumped everything I had and a nice sized loan into those three trucks and helped my father start the company.
Its been a real p.i.t.a to not give up and just sell everything and go back to fixing computers.
At 17 I was making 76k to 84k a year now I make about a quarter of that after all is said and done.
And I just do the field work, since he threw his back really nasty two years ago my father just does the office stuff and some estimates, and he's still working 8-12 hrs as day just to do that.
Unless you already have a customer base the first couple years are a mother too. We got lucky in that my father had such a strong rep with some of the people he'd trimmed for at his previous job that they refused to let anyone else in their trees.

sent using logic and reason from a device forged of witchcraft.

 

[treeclimber101]

Been doing snow removal for a long time...lawyers and insurance companies have both advised me that there is no liability for slips & falls due to ice if no snow removal was performed. As soon as you shovel, plow, or ice-melt, it becomes your obligation to assure safety.

I got out of a lawsuit once because we had never done any salt applications. Knowing the ropes, I got out of a second lawsuit by never sending in my snow removal bill. I ate the cost, the customer never used me again, but I never got sued. It should never have been brought up anyway, since it was an employee of his that fell on an obvious ice patch that he wouldn't pay me to salt.

Guys like my brother , I wouldn't dare actually sue him . But I get what your saying , I had 2 slip and falls last year , both were settled . Both were my sites but I am a sub so I was named as a codefendant

 

[mckeetree]

I like you enough to tell the truth not to discourage , I feel a lot of guys will straight face lie about the stress ... Not me I am honest Abe when it comes to what I get from being my own boss !

I have been in the tree business for me for 27 years. For seven years before that I worked in the tree business for the other guy. Before that I worked summers and weekends for a large nursery/growing operation so this is all I really know...and although I have made it on my own for the past 27 years this damn business has taken too much of my life in relation to what it has given back. The things you have to do to edge out your competition is tuff. One thing is you can never really close in the market I'm in. If you are not there for a client and they use somebody else and they half ass like that guy there is about an 80% chance that is all for you with that one. And you can't afford to lose the good ones. No, if I could go back in time I would for sure have went a different way.

 

[mckeetree]

I agree. It used to easy to make good money. Far from the way it is anymore. If your making good.money what your doing, keep doing it and let someone else worry about the stress.

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Yeah that, and then also there is no customer loyalty like there used to be. You have to be up their ass 24/7 or you could lose them for good.

 

[treeclimber101]

I say being successful in tree service is like being a successful gold miner , once and a while a guy just gets lucky or preserves and really makes it , but most guys have nothing but bad memories . I just talked another guy I've known since high school he aswell is a tree guy who lives an hour or so from at the jersey shore . From the outside he looks successful , yesterday I called him to unload on him about what my day consisted of and he told me that he has actively decided to start to seek other avenues . And his business makes mine look like just a crew of his . He said the money takes longer to show up the work gets harder to find and the customers only are loyal from the last estimate you give .

 

[mckeetree]

I say being successful in tree service is like being a successful gold miner , once and a while a guy just gets lucky or preserves and really makes it , but most guys have nothing but bad memories . I just talked another guy I've known since high school he aswell is a tree guy who lives an hour or so from at the jersey shore . From the outside he looks successful , yesterday I called him to unload on him about what my day consisted of and he told me that he has actively decided to start to seek other avenues . And his business makes mine look like just a crew of his . He said the money takes longer to show up the work gets harder to find and the customers only are loyal from the last estimate you give .

He is 100% correct.

 

[Oak Savanna]

I like you enough to tell the truth not to discourage , I feel a lot of guys will straight face lie about the stress ... Not me I am honest Abe when it comes to what I get from being my own boss !

Oh ya! I am 27 and the grey hair is coming in nice!! I have 5 guys working for me, I am onsite right beside them everyday dragging brush, up in the bucket or climbing. Park the trucks around 4-4:30 each day, everyone goes home and I am out till dark quoting. In work boots and cutting pants 12-14 hours a day. If I had a wife and kids they would have probably taken off by now!!

 

[teamtree]

I would agree....I would not go out on my own, again. I spent 15 years trying to build something. It is hard, hard work. I had a good reputation for doing good work but at the end of the day I was just not cut-throat enough to charge what I needed to make a living. I hated competing against the part-time guys who took cash for every job and did not pay workers comp. I merged with another company and I wish I would have done it sooner. We control our costs better as a unit and we can get more work and charge what we need. I would think long and hard about starting your own business, unless you have a few things going for you, like a big wad of cash in the bank, proficient in climbing, and you want to work longer hours.

 

[treeclimber101]

Hindsight for me .... 2 really good trucks and a chipper ! That's it go out trim ******** all day , maybe mix in a take down here and there . All this stump cutters , loaders minis ... **** all that a pruning company ! And one guy work monday through thurs , Friday bid work sat CLOSED , sun CLOSED !

 

[formationrx]

i dont know.... seen some happy and owning... some not... seen awesome climbers who dont want the responsibility so they head up companies or just want to be a lowly crewman... i say own yourself first..know the risks..then you'll know where you fit...

 

[pdqdl]

Guys like my brother , I wouldn't dare actually sue him . But I get what your saying , I had 2 slip and falls last year , both were settled . Both were my sites but I am a sub so I was named as a codefendant

So how did it all turn out? Was your insurance company out of pocket, or did you get out of paying any claims?

 

[treeclimber101]

I'm a sub , I work and pay a percentage of my pay goes towArds me being additionally insured ! Yes they paid (meaning the ins.) comp.

 

[treeman75]

Hey Ed, I will call ya in the morning

 

[treeman75]

Two years ago I hired two extra guys one of them climbed and ran the bucket the other was a ground guy. I went from me and two guys to me and four guys and was out selling work all the time to keep us busy. I was doing alot of work but the extra stress about killed me, it was not worth it. I let three guys go in august and started cutting back on the work so its me and my main ground guy thats been with me for seven years and my dad started working with me. I love my equipment and wouldnt do this work without it. I guess its like anything else it has its ups and downs.

 

[Zale]

I admire you guys who have taken the risk and started your own thing. I've been a climber/ production manager/ salesperson etc. but never ran my own company. There is enough stress in the job I have and the owner is 100 times more stressed than I am. I make a comfortable living but I'm not rich. Peace of mind is priceless.

 

[mckeetree]

I would really love to quit this **** right now. Just say F it and have the phone turned off. But I have about five years till our house is paid off and I owe six or so years on our business property so can't quit right now.

 

[SecondGenMonkey]

I would really love to quit this **** right now. Just say F it and have the phone turned off. But I have about five years till our house is paid off and I owe six or so years on our business property so can't quit right now.

We've been trying new climbers these past couple years with the intention of either running two crews or possibly having my father do just paperwork while I do estimates (and small jobs) and a crew does 90% of the labor. But we'll see what happens next year, when we're projected to pay off the business investment and (finally) turn a real profit.

sent using logic and reason from a device forged of witchcraft.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

Finally rolled into flaggler beach, Florida. Traveling with kids sure makes a long trip.

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[2treeornot2tree]

Took the boy down to the beach this morning. Didnt get to stay and watch the sun come up cause some little boy must have gotten ants in his pants. I have to say I slightly resemble a muslim in these picture with my beanie on.

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[treeclimber101]

Took the boy down to the beach this morning. Didnt get to stay and watch the sun come up cause some little boy must have gotten ants in his pants. I have to say I slightly resemble a muslim in these picture with my beanie on.

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You look a lot lessed stressed ! I would even venture to say happy?!?!?!