anyone successfully start a business with no equipment or land?

[evo]

I started off with a 1980 flatbed Toyota 4x4 and a 4’ x 10’ trailer. Did that for a few years, once in a blue moon I’d rent a Vermeer 6” and curse it out the whole time. Hauling and chainsaw slicing brush better than that damn chipper!

No one seemed to care about business licenses, but the biggest limiting question was ‘are you a licensed arborist’. I would try to educate and tease this out a bit most didn’t know what the certification was but that they were suppose to ask for it.

I’m damn good at fine pruning and that’s what my focus was (is). Pulling some hangers and did a fair amount of cabling work. That and WAY too many hedges, but I was great at that too. Granted dumping brush was about an hour total time to the day, fees were basically nothing at 5-15$ per load. You can cut ALOT of 2-4” firewood!

Get beyond adequate with fine pruning Japanese maples, Rhododendrons and other small pants. Make them the center piece of the property. Make friends with all the nurseries and garden clubs. Make it a point to keep busy working even if it’s volunteer work.

It’s hard work, but you have low overhead. Just spitballing numbers, but you might work twice as much at $75 an hour without equipment, as someone with equipment might be getting $100 an hour or so. Their 6 hour job will take you 8-9 hours.

A Seattle arborist would basically brag about working out of their car and would talk their clients into ‘macro’ mulching. He’d do 150’ reduction pruning on Doug firs and whack up the brush under the tree. Biologically it makes sense but it’s a tough sell!

 

[Driftlessarborist]

I am and have been a weekend warrior for a while. A super cheap one ton dump truck and a 5x10 tilt trailer w/sideboards held me over for 3 years. Hard on the body but pure profit. I honestly think the most crucial thing (aside from being responsive/skilled climber) is to be willing to wrench anywhere at anytime. Running old machinery will require constant repairs. Read forums and watch youtube and you will figure it out. Saying you are not mechanically inclined is a cop out, just tinker around!

 

[flushcut]

Are you a legitimate business? Insured, taxed and all that goodness?

 

[TeachableHuman]

Are you a legitimate business? Insured, taxed and all that goodness?

that's the plan! I started this thread to sort of kick off a chat about basically: how can a legit/experienced skilled climbing arborist, living in an apartment with a sedan start their own tree care business.

The challenge of purchasing insurance without any work lined up. Getting off the ground etc. The goal is not do uninsured work,under the table...the goal is professional, insured, taxed, etc. and without rushing it!

just getting started is a challenge....Having trouble advertising and getting work with no insurance...scared to sign up for insurance without work thus keeping the 9-5 and doing weekend warrior stuff and growing slow, STILL hard to purchase insurance with only weekends as potential working days, the fuzzy math is tight.

This community chat has helped me though and I am on my way with a plan

 

[ATH]

Have you found some options for insurance? If you are still looking, call several independent agents who offer business insurance... Somebody will help. Unfortunately, you will need to start with some out of pocket money - for example buying insurance before the first job. Check into monthly payment options. Probably will be a higher yearly cost, but less money before you build the business.

 

[flushcut]

that's the plan! I started this thread to sort of kick off a chat about basically: how can a legit/experienced skilled climbing arborist, living in an apartment with a sedan start their own tree care business.

The challenge of purchasing insurance without any work lined up. Getting off the ground etc. The goal is not do uninsured work,under the table...the goal is professional, insured, taxed, etc. and without rushing it!

just getting started is a challenge....Having trouble advertising and getting work with no insurance...scared to sign up for insurance without work thus keeping the 9-5 and doing weekend warrior stuff and growing slow, STILL hard to purchase insurance with only weekends as potential working days, the fuzzy math is tight.

This community chat has helped me though and I am on my way with a plan

Get some insurance, start an LLC. or a DBA put your name out there with a few established companies as a sub. But IMO land and equipment is what separates the men from the boys. Being in the city is rough as dump sites are few and far between and cost money. I know in Milwaukee there were enough firewood scroungers to take the wood if it wasn’t huge but in the end what’s left is on your name. And say you leave a pile of wood and a scrounger tears up your customers yard? You will be on the hook for repairs.

 

[southsoundtree]

Charge more than you think.


You can potentially find firewood charities through church groups and other places like Lions Club, etc.

You can leave wood and provide the charity contact person, keeping you out of the agreement between wood "havers" and wood takers.

 

[TeachableHuman]

thanks all - I have the LLC formed and had some phone calls with independent insurance agents and am awaiting their quotes.

very curious to see what kind of numbers ill be told. But assuming it works out I can get to work legally/legitimately !..slowly

ill grab a logo, phone number, business cards next and go from there.

 

[SeanRuel]

You recoup insurance in one or two jobs- will your current employer cover MA or ISA arb cert testing? Sometimes helpful to be on those kinds of lists for savvy clients who've heard of that kinda thing-

Not everyone cares about cert, but the people who know to ask in the boston area are usually solid clients

 

[flushcut]

We all started somewhere be stubborn and be determined it will work out in the end. Best of luck and fortune!

 

[islandarb]

that's the plan! I started this thread to sort of kick off a chat about basically: how can a legit/experienced skilled climbing arborist, living in an apartment with a sedan start their own tree care business.

The challenge of purchasing insurance without any work lined up. Getting off the ground etc. The goal is not do uninsured work,under the table...the goal is professional, insured, taxed, etc. and without rushing it!

just getting started is a challenge....Having trouble advertising and getting work with no insurance...scared to sign up for insurance without work thus keeping the 9-5 and doing weekend warrior stuff and growing slow, STILL hard to purchase insurance with only weekends as potential working days, the fuzzy math is tight.

This community chat has helped me though and I am on my way with a plan

How many years you been climbing?

 

[Dan Thornton]

Definitely do only weekend work, keeping your current full-time job, for at least a year - that way everything you make can go into equipment, insurance, and training. I saw an ad for a personal consultant in setting up tree business - Steve Hulsey with A-A Tree Service in Texas - and sent him $200. One of my best decisions. That $200 let me call him whenever I needed advice for a full year. I asked all my pressing questions, listened hard, and followed as much of it as I could. He convinced me to charge enough money, to get the biggest dump trailer I could find, explained what saws I didn't need, and a thousand other things. You can find a lot of great advice on social media, but it's nothing like having one guy and a consistent plan that you trust and follow - a thousand tiny steps in the same direction kind of thing. It's worth a little money to get a mentor, or business consultant.

 

[Mick Dempsey!]

Definitely do only weekend work, keeping your current full-time job, for at least a year - that way everything you make can go into equipment, insurance, and training. I saw an ad for a personal consultant in setting up tree business - Steve Hulsey with A-A Tree Service in Texas - and sent him $200. One of my best decisions. That $200 let me call him whenever I needed advice for a full year. I asked all my pressing questions, listened hard, and followed as much of it as I could. He convinced me to charge enough money, to get the biggest dump trailer I could find, explained what saws I didn't need, and a thousand other things. You can find a lot of great advice on social media, but it's nothing like having one guy and a consistent plan that you trust and follow - a thousand tiny steps in the same direction kind of thing. It's worth a little money to get a mentor, or business consultant.

Good post, but remember everyone has different goals and are prepared to make different sacrifices to get there.
What is sauce for the goose may not be sauce for the gander.

 

[Judson]

I think it's possible. Find a good client or friend with some land where you can park a small utility trailer. I'm a gardener that pivoted into climbing tree work over the past 7 years, and have done all my work out of a 5x8 utility trailer. It is possible. I stick to the small and medium sized jobs. Get good at loading a trailer. Get tree insurance asap. You only have to pay monthly, so it's not a huge hit all at once. I've worked out of a civic, crv, and now a honda passport. Worked my way up to a 6x10 utility trailer. I have land now, but it is possible to find places to park them. Maybe you'll owe someone a favor from time to time, but having a parking spot is worth it. Start with word of mouth and cards and local online forums, etc.... Good luck!

 

[TeachableHuman]

back from some travel/busy times. Thanks a lot this is all been very helpful getting me started and thoughts sorted. I have a plan now for doing some legit work.

How many years you been climbing?

climbing since 2010 , Pesticide lic, CDL B, ISA and working on the state arborist license now.

Another question: Do you guys actually get a lot of responses from those "contact forms" on your websites? Or is it mostly phone calls? Just curious

 

[Brando CalPankian]

back from some travel/busy times. Thanks a lot this is all been very helpful getting me started and thoughts sorted. I have a plan now for doing some legit work.


climbing since 2010 , Pesticide lic, CDL B, ISA and working on the state arborist license now.

Another question: Do you guys actually get a lot of responses from those "contact forms" on your websites? Or is it mostly phone calls? Just curious

We do yes.

 

[Chris Schultz]

I get a decent amount of interest/inquiries/leads that turn into work from the contact form. You will get website designers, SEO etc spam from it also…..

 

[southsoundtree]

Your outgoing voice mail message can offer email, text, and your webpage as alternative ways for people to leave contact info.

These allow pictures to be sent with the contact info if the customer desires, or they can leave a VM.

 

[TeachableHuman]

How transparent are you all with the clients when it comes to pricing breakdown on the jobs?

Some places I worked the boss/foreman would enforce the crew being onsite the full amount of billable time even if the pruning was seemingly done, doing extras, providing customer service value there. and then sometimes id work places where you charge X for a removal you think will take 6 hours and you get it done in 3 hours and leave. But what if the customer knows you billed for 6 hours would they not enjoy that experience?

Do you guys share your hourly rate? Do you share the pricing model where you charge a rate per crewmember etc? do you share that buckets and other equipment are charged hourly basically? How do you approach this so you make your rate without getting questioned on it. I dont feel I asked the question great but you vets know what I mean.

Some customers reallllly ask a lot of questions and being new I already am having trouble charging what I need too.

 

[southsoundtree]

You need to practice bidding on friends and family.