Moving away from working for homeowners to more of a b to b business model.

fastbub

fastbub

New member
What are the pros and cons? We are small, just the two of us. Chip truck 12” chipped, Dingo with BMG. Rent crane or lift when needed (rare). No payments.
I don’t want to get bigger but am tired of running 7 days a week.

My strong suits are doing tree work and working on all of the equipment. I dislike dealing with customers, quotes, numbers and business stuff.

Does anybody have any experience with doing business to business work. Basically contract climbing but with more equipment.

Maybe talk to landscapers and other tree companies in the area? Not sure how other tree companies feel about working with “the competition” but they always seem to be short on good help so maybe it could help them out. Would any of you business owners be interested in a climber or a whole crew on an as needed basis?

I would still service my good repeat customers but would love to work with other companies. I feel like working with other companies could help with feeling stagnant like I do now.

Your thoughts are appreciated.
 
@fastbub; Not that I can be of any help, here, but it might help some folks to consider the offer if they knew where it is that you are located. Maybe I missed it somehow, but I don't recall you mentioning it. Thanks.

Tim
 
@TimBr We are in central NJ. Not looking for specific interest here so much as other business owners feeling about the need for such a service and how they would approach it.
 
I have personally hired a couple of climbers on as contract, one of which runs his own tree service. He helps me out when needed, and I have helped him out when needed. the rest of the time we work independently. I think anyone who is willing to hire a contract climber would love to see you show up with a mini as well, assuming that they do not have one already. As you mentioned landscape companies and smaller tree services would probably be your clientele for such an arrangement. A large company would possibly hire you for climbing only (since they already have all of the necessary equipment) and at a "climbing only price"

I don't know your market, but here I think you would have some success with that business model. I know of several companies that have worked together, but there are also others here who wouldn't be interested in that kind of arrangement. It really depends on who you reach out to.
 
It could work for you if you’ve identified a “hired gun” tree service as an unfilled niche in your local market. A good chunk of my business is B2B. Landscapers and a few tree services hire me because I provide a service they don’t offer. (PHC only). Typically, it’s a subcontractor relationship: they take my quote, tack on a percentage and pass it along to their client. It’s a good niche in the local market and one of the reasons these businesses feel comfortable working with me is that I’m not competition. I don’t offer landscaping or general tree work, so they don’t worry about me stealing their clients. I would think that would be a serious hurdle you’d have to overcome if you’re marketing yourself to other tree companies, particularly if it’s known that you do still service your own residential clients. You’d probably be well served to offer to put something in writing that you won’t pursue the clients of companies that hire you.

One other thing to consider: in my experience, businesses are VERY slow to pay. It’s not at all unusual for them to go 60 or 90 days past due, and that’s with net 30 terms. They’re good for it, but it can be frustrating. You have to be diplomatic in reminding them they owe you money, and keep an eye on your cash flow.
 
TsugaPhc is absolutely correct it really depends on your market. I work closely with him for every reason he mentioned. But we are different than most companies and don’t hesitate to work with businesses within the same market. We hire a log truck, and lift from one of the other players in our market. Hire trucks from another. But we also have a different outlook than most, in that there is plenty of work for everyone to be successful. My goal is not to steal work or put anyone out of business, my goal is to live comfortably and do this work as long as I can!
So long answer yes this would be something we would take advantage of if closer.
 
@flyingsquirrel25 I have the same outlook as you. There seems to be plenty of work for everyone around here. There are different companies around here filling different niches and I see no harm in collaborating on things when it helps both parties.I have no problem working with other businesses in the same market but I guess I can see that others might? I am just trying to make a modest living doing what I love to do and as a small company I can definitely see the benefit of bringing in some more help as needed and I wouldn’t hesitate to provide help in the same manner.
 
fastbub said:
@flyingsquirrel25 I have the same outlook as you. There seems to be plenty of work for everyone around here. There are different companies around here filling different niches and I see no harm in collaborating on things when it helps both parties.I have no problem working with other businesses in the same market but I guess I can see that others might? I am just trying to make a modest living doing what I love to do and as a small company I can definitely see the benefit of bringing in some more help as needed and I wouldn’t hesitate to provide help in the same manner.
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The only issue I have had working with other guys in this manner is sometimes communication about issues such as quality control can be tough. But as long as expectations are established in the beginning, and with some reinforced along the way, everyone can be extremely happy. It’s when I have to get a call from my clients about something my contractor did, there’s an issue.
 
I regularly partner up with a couple of different tree services even though I own my own tree service. It works out well for us because we don't have to hire as much good help which is sometimes hard to find. We can go do those small pruning jobs on our own but if have a large crane removal or something that we need a lot of man power, we'll partner up to get the job done. It's really nice too when someone has a breakdown of equipment we usually have enough other stuff between us to at least get the job done. To me this is the only kind of partnership that will work long term because everybody is in control of what how they want to run their business. Both of the guys I partner with are in their mid 50s and I'm in my mid 30s. They have both been great mentors. I climb for them because they are just getting physically older and are having a tougher time climbing. One of them is absolutely the best ground man I've ever worked with. He's a old climber so he really gets it. The other is a degree'd forrester and state certified tree surgeon of 35 years. Both of them are very ethical. The other key is I trust both of them and they trust me. I run another business as well so sometimes it's hard for me to take the time to go do estimates. One of them works as a commissioned base salesman for me pretty regularly. We are all sober as well. Another great thing about partnering up like we do is you have another person that really cares about getting the job done safely, quickly, and efficiently. This is something that can be hard to instill in employees. All of us have a full time helper as well so it's pretty even as far as labor. It definitely takes the right people but if you have them, it can work extremely well doing B2B. We all make more money as a result of doing it this way.
 
Fivepoints said:
I regularly partner up with a couple of different tree services even though I own my own tree service. It works out well for us because we don't have to hire as much good help which is sometimes hard to find. We can go do those small pruning jobs on our own but if have a large crane removal or something that we need a lot of man power, we'll partner up to get the job done. It's really nice too when someone has a breakdown of equipment we usually have enough other stuff between us to at least get the job done. To me this is the only kind of partnership that will work long term because everybody is in control of what how they want to run their business. Both of the guys I partner with are in their mid 50s and I'm in my mid 30s. They have both been great mentors. I climb for them because they are just getting physically older and are having a tougher time climbing. One of them is absolutely the best ground man I've ever worked with. He's a old climber so he really gets it. The other is a degree'd forrester and state certified tree surgeon of 35 years. Both of them are very ethical. The other key is I trust both of them and they trust me. I run another business as well so sometimes it's hard for me to take the time to go do estimates. One of them works as a commissioned base salesman for me pretty regularly. We are all sober as well. Another great thing about partnering up like we do is you have another person that really cares about getting the job done safely, quickly, and efficiently. This is something that can be hard to instill in employees. All of us have a full time helper as well so it's pretty even as far as labor. It definitely takes the right people but if you have them, it can work extremely well doing B2B. We all make more money as a result of doing it this way.
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This sounds like the perfect scenario to me. This is what I want to try to establish.
 
I'm really happy with our setup. Like I said in my earlier post, its got to be the right people with the right ethics and attitudes. I just bought a crane for us to use. My buddy is trying to buy a 75 ft elevator truck so we can have more reach in a bucket truck. That's another awesome thing about it. Having access to all this equipment without having to pay for all of it by yourself. Between us we have two bucket trucks, a 35 ton crane, two 12" chippers, a 9" chipper, 3 mini skids, a full sized skid, a 3500 with a dump trailer, a c6500 chipper truck, a grapple truck, an f550 dump/chip truck, an f750 dump, 25ft tag trailer for log hauling, and a fuso.
 
fastbub said:
What are the pros and cons? We are small, just the two of us. Chip truck 12” chipped, Dingo with BMG. Rent crane or lift when needed (rare). No payments.
I don’t want to get bigger but am tired of running 7 days a week.

My strong suits are doing tree work and working on all of the equipment. I dislike dealing with customers, quotes, numbers and business stuff.

Does anybody have any experience with doing business to business work. Basically contract climbing but with more equipment.

Maybe talk to landscapers and other tree companies in the area? Not sure how other tree companies feel about working with “the competition” but they always seem to be short on good help so maybe it could help them out. Would any of you business owners be interested in a climber or a whole crew on an as needed basis?

I would still service my good repeat customers but would love to work with other companies. I feel like working with other companies could help with feeling stagnant like I do now.

Your thoughts are appreciated.
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I do plenty of b2b. Its convenient and easy as far as the business end. But there is less profit due to more hands in the cookie jar. If your are happy with a lower profit margin stick with it. I hear you though the business end is the toughest end if you already have the climbing and production end down. I have been a climber 1st and a business man 2nd. It hasn't been an easy transition. I think your approach is good. My goal is to always reinvest in my company and corral as much equipment under my name as my revenue affords. A crane being the end game.
 
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