Business Competition In The North East of The States

Fairfield

Fairfield

Participating member
Location
Bucks County pa USA
If you are doing business in the tree care world in the North East of America you find yourself in the most heavily populated area of tree care in the country. Hell, it seems where I am in Bucks County I can spit out my front door and hit at least 5 tree guys.... ( "tree guys" used loosely). With that said how do you see business in the current state of the economy and with customers education level of our world being not really there to understand right from wrong anyway. I don't want to go down the wormhole of "educating the customer" our telling them that ABC tree care is a bad guy to use bla bla bla.....

Instead, how are you making yourself even be seen or known about (stand out) in all the noise? Are you just buying yourself time for another few years to save up money and get out? are you considering taking another job away from tree work?

I talk to a lot of guys that all seem fed up with the competition factor and having to deal day in and out with other guys low balling and so on. Although in the back of my head that is how I have always known and seen business be done anyway. I don't see how waiting it out will ever lead a person to the golden times.

Or are you one of the rare guys/girls that live and breath for that competition of business. A person that gets motivated by the struggle and get pumped when you are wrong or beat by another? Something is in you that fires you up to hit harder next time?

I have seen where company owners have banded together and tried to fix the rates of workers so that the workers would not go to another company over pay ( that didn't work well), I have seen where companies just refused to lower prices even when not getting any more work into the door yet pushed the crews harder. There for sure is a sweet spot and that normally is owned by one or two shops in an area ( they are normally a one or two crew shop).

I have just gone on my own as a climber and am also building my photography/film work company for marketing business. My biggest fear was insurance but then quickly found out that the same insurance I had was cheaper then I was paying while in a company.... Imagine my happy face knowing I was being huckstered.....

Anyway, where do you all stand on this, and have any of you found your comfortable place in this crowded market?
 
Fairfield said:
If you are doing business in the tree care world in the North East of America you find yourself in the most heavily populated area of tree care in the country. Hell, it seems where I am in Bucks County I can spit out my front door and hit at least 5 tree guys.... ( "tree guys" used loosely). With that said how do you see business in the current state of the economy and with customers education level of our world being not really there to understand right from wrong anyway. I don't want to go down the wormhole of "educating the customer" our telling them that ABC tree care is a bad guy to use bla bla bla.....

Instead, how are you making yourself even be seen or known about (stand out) in all the noise? Are you just buying yourself time for another few years to save up money and get out? are you considering taking another job away from tree work?

I talk to a lot of guys that all seem fed up with the competition factor and having to deal day in and out with other guys low balling and so on. Although in the back of my head that is how I have always known and seen business be done anyway. I don't see how waiting it out will ever lead a person to the golden times.

Or are you one of the rare guys/girls that live and breath for that competition of business. A person that gets motivated by the struggle and get pumped when you are wrong or beat by another? Something is in you that fires you up to hit harder next time?

I have seen where company owners have banded together and tried to fix the rates of workers so that the workers would not go to another company over pay ( that didn't work well), I have seen where companies just refused to lower prices even when not getting any more work into the door yet pushed the crews harder. There for sure is a sweet spot and that normally is owned by one or two shops in an area ( they are normally a one or two crew shop).

I have just gone on my own as a climber and am also building my photography/film work company for marketing business. My biggest fear was insurance but then quickly found out that the same insurance I had was cheaper then I was paying while in a company.... Imagine my happy face knowing I was being huckstered.....

Anyway, where do you all stand on this, and have any of you found your comfortable place in this crowded market?
Click to expand...

My first point would be, it's not limited to that corner of the States...


Reed Wortley
CA# SO-6953A
CTSP# 01739
 
We had at one point 3 brothers that made three different companies and would all bid on the same work. 9 times out of 10 one of them would get the work and the other brothers would go help with it. Genius pretty much..... Only hey all sucked yet they ate up almost 70 % of work in the area for like a 15 year time frame till one dropped dead one night ( unfortunate as that was for him). Although we have way less topped trees now in the area
 
Fairfield said:
We had at one point 3 brothers that made three different companies and would all bid on the same work. 9 times out of 10 one of them would get the work and the other brothers would go help with it. Genius pretty much..... Only hey all sucked yet they ate up almost 70 % of work in the area for like a 15 year time frame till one dropped dead one night ( unfortunate as that was for him). Although we have way less topped trees now in the area
Click to expand...

So, exhausting.... uggghhh


Reed Wortley
CA# SO-6953A
CTSP# 01739
 
What services are you providing?

Follow up questions, what do you do best that can seperate yourself from others? What services could you possibly add to improve your work load? Is there a particular market segment you're going after?
 
You either have to be in it for life or have a solid plan to get out. Otherwise half assing if you want to stay in the industry or if you want to get out will waste a ton of time. You'll end up thinking shit I should of tried harder sooner or got out sooner
 
In my area there sure are a lot of "tree guys" and I attribute that to the ash tree epidemic. Once all of these ash trees are gone people are going to be scrambling for work like crazy.
I started contract climbing and doing my own work this spring. Working safer, more efficient, and not being a heroin addict gives me the leg up on most of my competition in regards to contract climbing.
Most of the work I sell steers more towards tree preservation I suppose and my customers appreciate that a lot. Being knowledgeable, personable, and polite tends to get me the job and then working hard and showing the customer that you actually care about their desires and the well being of the trees and their landscape gets me the referrals and repeat customers.
Doing these things gives me the leg up on the git-er-done boys that will hopefully end up taking their trucks and trailers and start cutting grass like every other tom dick and harry that isn't trying to do trees.
 
My take is don't worry about the other guys. Do you have a passion for trees and their proper care? Do you spend time educating you self about trees, tree care, diseases and pests? This will all come out when you meet clients. That will set you apart.
I don't worry about my "competition". Hell, many of them are friends of mine and are quite good. What I do care about is doing the best by the trees and my clients, then I let the chips fall were they may.
 
I find in our area the only competition is with myself. I'm not talking about getting jobs because sure I'm gonna loose a few or even more than a few. That to me is not competition, that's just guys trying to feed our families. But I look at it differently than most. I don't want to take over the world, I don't want every job just want to pay for my equipment, have food on my table and live comfortably. Sure I get frustrated when the landscaper hacks a tree, not because he "stole" the job from me, but because of the lack of education. So I think competition is in the eye of the beholder. If you put yourself into the rat race, you have to run run run and compete. Just my weird a$$ way of thinking!
 
That aint weird Squirrel Master Flex, thats a damn good attitude.

@jed1124 good points as well, many times I get work because of superior knowledge, and sometimes not because there are a lot of great tree folks/peers in my market. Cream rises perhaps but most times theres plenty of good work for good folks.
 
There's just so much unpredictability in deciding to save up as a young climber working for a company then buy some equipment and "start up". Sure you could save up, buy it all and still work for that company but then you have to be prepared to work weekends and after work. And you just keep going through the cycle hundreds of guys have done thinking they could start their own shit. And that's what I find to be the percentage I look at when I think is it worth it to sink all my money into my own thing. I've seen just about everyone whose in our industry think about trying it and it looks like hell with little pay off
 
I agree with flying squirrel, I know the other guys in my area. Hell, some of us help each other out. I know what I need to make an hour to provide a good life for my family and my crew. I don't discuss other companies when customers ask me about them. I just acknowledge I know who they are. I don't have time to worry about the other guys. I concentrate on my company and make sure things are done the way they should be. Customer also is informed i will be onsite and am not just a salesperson.
I make sure my crew has company shirts, pants, boots, ppe and good equipment. When we get awarded a job, communication to the customer is very important. Let them know when you will be there, what equipment you'll be using, how you will protect things and how long the job will take. If neighbors houses or property is close to trees we will be working on, I personally introduce myself to them. There's been many times early in my career when I've been pruning over someone property only to have that property owner flip out because debris was falling in their yard. I always offer customers to see my insurance. If they say yes, my agent sends them an insurance binder. We call 2 days before doing jobs an ask customers to mow lawns during spring or summer. A follow up call or visit to make sure the job was done to what they wanted goes a long way. Being a certified arborist and having my spray tech also being certified goes a long way.
 
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