- Location
- Nashville, TN
My sons Ben, Zack, my wife Linda, and I started Poteet Tree Service eleven years ago with nothing but a dream and the willingness to do a lot of hard work. Zack was fifteen, Ben was sixteen, and I was forty four. My background was in construction and sales. I had been the champion tree climber in my high school and both Zack and Ben were good climbers, especially Ben. We started the business because I wanted to spend more time with my sons as they finished growing up. Linda had home schooled all of our nine children up to that time. At first we borrowed a saw and a construction trailer from a friend that we pulled with our fifteen passenger family van and went door-to-door asking people if they had any concerns about their trees. We had no money and no credit. Not bad credit, just didn't have any loans sufficient to build a good credit score and we had always rented our home. After removing just one tree for a lady, she hired us to do all her rental houses. A local lawn-care centered hardware store took a chance on us and sold us some saws on credit. I bought an old Isuzu dump truck that was totaled in a junkyard for $1500 cash. It had no door glass and the driver side door wouldn't shut all the way because of the wreck. It was hit so hard that the frame was bent under the drivers side and would turn in it's own length to the left but if you wanted to turn in a driveway to the right sometimes you would have to go to the end of the block and turn left seven times before you could turn in. I'm not kidding! We saw some other guys using a chipper and thought it looked like a good piece of equipment, but were pretty sure we could never afford one. Using the hardware store as a credit reference, we rented a 6"Vermeer chipper and couldn't believe how it increased our production and actually made our job fun! We used cables and log chains. We didn’t know how to tie a bowline, figure eight, or any other useful knot, but that was okay because we didn’t own a rope. We free climbed everything or used a ladder. I’m not making any of this up! One of the best things that ever happened to us was when a guy named Troy Klein from the local Vermeer dealer saw us working and stopped to meet us. He said he saw that we were using a rented chipper and wondered if we had ever thought of buying one. We said we would like to but didn’t think we could afford it. He ask if we minded if he sent a salesman over to see us and I told him I thought he would be wasting his time but it was up to him. In about an hour Mike Thilmoni pulls up with a twelve hundred Vermeer chipper and tells us to try it a couple of days for free! Of course we wouldn’t let him take it back and somehow they got us financed. The owner, Wendel DeVries and all the guys at Vermeer were lifesavers. They introduced us to ISA and arborist seminars taught at the Vermeer facility. Scott Profit and Rip Tompkins were both very helpful but I’m sure we scared them pretty bad when they realized we were actually in the tree business. We studied hard and eventually two of us became certified arborist and Ben won lots of climbing competitions. Thanks to the help, patience, and hard work of a couple of very capable and knowledgeable certified arborist, Keith Pancake and Rob Bramlett brought our company up to a level to became the first TCIA accredited tree service in the state of Tennessee. Keith and Rob have both moved on to bigger and better opportunities but their help was invaluable. There would not be enough time to mention all the people who have helped us along the way but I can’t leave out Shayne Bell and all the folks at Community Bank of Cheatham County, John Gaught and the team at CraneWorks and Tim Anderson and the crew at Thompson Catapilar. We now do about $600,000 a year with a two-man crew and the best equipment money can buy. Ben and Zack have both grown into good men with families of their own. They both have decided they would like to try something different for a job and I also have other interest. Poteet Tree Service has a 1200 plus, loyal repeat customer list that reads like a who’s who of prominent people in the greater Nashville area. We have been profitable since year one and continue to be. We have equity in our equipment and would like to sell our business with the equipment included. Our credit score is 750 and we have perfect credit with all our suppliers. Our marketing program is unique in the industry and cost very little to maintain. Poteet Tree Service is the most recognizable name in the tree business in Nashville and our 399-9999 phone number, web site www.poteettree.com, and name goes with the purchase. I will even consider training and a partial finance of the business for the right man.
Asking $400,000
Dale Poteet
Call Dale if interested 615-399-9999 or email dale@g2ww.com
Asking $400,000
Dale Poteet
Call Dale if interested 615-399-9999 or email dale@g2ww.com
