Decision Point Approaches

Steve Connally

Steve Connally

Been here much more than a while
Location
Suffolk, Virginia
It's becoming crystal clear the time for decisions is closing in a breakneck speed. I had spent the majority of last year making sure I had funds to cover the business expenses for a while in case things slowed down. All the while I never really thought (A) it would slow down (B) I would have plenty of money to ride it out. I was wrong in both areas. It slowed down and the money isn't lasting nearly as long as I had expected. Expenses this year have run me through 50% of what I had set aside. Insurance increased 8k a year, a 10k repair and maintenance expense I hadn't estimated to be as expensive as it was. Timing of bills and renewals and the loss of replacement funds in the account hit at all the perfect times. I honestly thought I had 10-11 months of reserves. I was wrong. The downturn in work isn't recovering predictably as it has in the past. My contractors aren't picking up like they usually do and the market prices aren't bouncing back yet. For me, being a sub, the resilience of the market has to take hold before I can get to a safe place of income. I might not have enough to float until that point. I've worked 12 days this year. I have 4.5 days on the books if nobody cancels. Some interest in me looking at jobs for primary tree service contractors but very little follow up from them. I have pushed out into other areas of crane work with no leads at all. The people I work for aren't getting the jobs. The jobs I am getting are for big companies who have large contracts or such great customer relations they don't question the bids. I have a contractor that has been ditching me on payment since October and I'm net 10. I don't really know what to do about that at this point other than small claims court. Wondering if anyone has a good suggestion? I made it through the last 8 months of 2023 breaking even. I can hang on if I am breaking even, or even close but to loose on such a massive scale every month isn't sustainable. The decision point is coming very soon where I'm gonna have to decide of cashing out is the best option for me. I am giving a talk at ArbFest about my business model and some things I learned along the way. I'm struggling with the concept of standing up there and sharing information with folks about running a business like mine while mine fails. It seems a little.......idk.........disingenuous. I guess I just need to remember, me not being able to make this work doesn't really relate in any way to someone else doing the same thing in a different market. Maybe some of the information I have to share will help someone else avoid the situation I seem to find myself in. It's a strange spot to be in. Do we ever really think we're gonna have to start over or change course on the last decade of our careers? The only word I can really put on it is "unsettling". I'm unsettled. It's like sitting on the edge of a tall, hard chair with nothing to lean on and you think the legs might slide on the slick floor. Constant state of tension and the inability to relax. Perhaps in the next month or two, I might be hanging it up with the crane and moving on to something I can enjoy doing. I spend a lot of time thinking about where this path is leading me. What I'm still capable of doing and who would hire me to do it. If I go back to climbing, it'll be like learning it all over again. 6 years of climbing a few times a year takes a toll on skill and confidence. I read the threads on here and feel so out of the game. The bend radius thread is fantastic but hasn't been my area of focus so it kind of hits home as to all the stuff I've forgotten and haven't kept up with. Interesting place to be. Don't really know what I'm looking for out of this post. Maybe just a place to send thoughts out into space where people understand the language I'm talking. I lead an extremely isolated existence so sometimes this is good therapy for me to cast it out and let it go. Anyway, I hope things are at a positive turning point for everyone and that spring has sprung. Be well.
 
Steve Connally said:
It's becoming crystal clear the time for decisions is closing in a breakneck speed. I had spent the majority of last year making sure I had funds to cover the business expenses for a while in case things slowed down. All the while I never really thought (A) it would slow down (B) I would have plenty of money to ride it out. I was wrong in both areas. It slowed down and the money isn't lasting nearly as long as I had expected. Expenses this year have run me through 50% of what I had set aside. Insurance increased 8k a year, a 10k repair and maintenance expense I hadn't estimated to be as expensive as it was. Timing of bills and renewals and the loss of replacement funds in the account hit at all the perfect times. I honestly thought I had 10-11 months of reserves. I was wrong. The downturn in work isn't recovering predictably as it has in the past. My contractors aren't picking up like they usually do and the market prices aren't bouncing back yet. For me, being a sub, the resilience of the market has to take hold before I can get to a safe place of income. I might not have enough to float until that point. I've worked 12 days this year. I have 4.5 days on the books if nobody cancels. Some interest in me looking at jobs for primary tree service contractors but very little follow up from them. I have pushed out into other areas of crane work with no leads at all. The people I work for aren't getting the jobs. The jobs I am getting are for big companies who have large contracts or such great customer relations they don't question the bids. I have a contractor that has been ditching me on payment since October and I'm net 10. I don't really know what to do about that at this point other than small claims court. Wondering if anyone has a good suggestion? I made it through the last 8 months of 2023 breaking even. I can hang on if I am breaking even, or even close but to loose on such a massive scale every month isn't sustainable. The decision point is coming very soon where I'm gonna have to decide of cashing out is the best option for me. I am giving a talk at ArbFest about my business model and some things I learned along the way. I'm struggling with the concept of standing up there and sharing information with folks about running a business like mine while mine fails. It seems a little.......idk.........disingenuous. I guess I just need to remember, me not being able to make this work doesn't really relate in any way to someone else doing the same thing in a different market. Maybe some of the information I have to share will help someone else avoid the situation I seem to find myself in. It's a strange spot to be in. Do we ever really think we're gonna have to start over or change course on the last decade of our careers? The only word I can really put on it is "unsettling". I'm unsettled. It's like sitting on the edge of a tall, hard chair with nothing to lean on and you think the legs might slide on the slick floor. Constant state of tension and the inability to relax. Perhaps in the next month or two, I might be hanging it up with the crane and moving on to something I can enjoy doing. I spend a lot of time thinking about where this path is leading me. What I'm still capable of doing and who would hire me to do it. If I go back to climbing, it'll be like learning it all over again. 6 years of climbing a few times a year takes a toll on skill and confidence. I read the threads on here and feel so out of the game. The bend radius thread is fantastic but hasn't been my area of focus so it kind of hits home as to all the stuff I've forgotten and haven't kept up with. Interesting place to be. Don't really know what I'm looking for out of this post. Maybe just a place to send thoughts out into space where people understand the language I'm talking. I lead an extremely isolated existence so sometimes this is good therapy for me to cast it out and let it go. Anyway, I hope things are at a positive turning point for everyone and that spring has sprung. Be well.
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Very sorry to hear!
We are still slow also and hoping for the best?
Have you thought about putting a lien on the property that you worked on and haven’t been paid?
 
Well, you're on the right track already: Sharing your situation with others is the best way to get to the other side, while letting folks in similar situations know they, too, are not alone. I'll bet folks here will have lots of helpful insights for you.

And, as Venas suggests, I'd go after the money owed to you, if at all possible. People who don't pay deserve no respect.
Best of luck!
 
Steve Connally said:
It's becoming crystal clear the time for decisions is closing in a breakneck speed. I had spent the majority of last year making sure I had funds to cover the business expenses for a while in case things slowed down. All the while I never really thought (A) it would slow down (B) I would have plenty of money to ride it out. I was wrong in both areas. It slowed down and the money isn't lasting nearly as long as I had expected. Expenses this year have run me through 50% of what I had set aside. Insurance increased 8k a year, a 10k repair and maintenance expense I hadn't estimated to be as expensive as it was. Timing of bills and renewals and the loss of replacement funds in the account hit at all the perfect times. I honestly thought I had 10-11 months of reserves. I was wrong. The downturn in work isn't recovering predictably as it has in the past. My contractors aren't picking up like they usually do and the market prices aren't bouncing back yet. For me, being a sub, the resilience of the market has to take hold before I can get to a safe place of income. I might not have enough to float until that point. I've worked 12 days this year. I have 4.5 days on the books if nobody cancels. Some interest in me looking at jobs for primary tree service contractors but very little follow up from them. I have pushed out into other areas of crane work with no leads at all. The people I work for aren't getting the jobs. The jobs I am getting are for big companies who have large contracts or such great customer relations they don't question the bids. I have a contractor that has been ditching me on payment since October and I'm net 10. I don't really know what to do about that at this point other than small claims court. Wondering if anyone has a good suggestion? I made it through the last 8 months of 2023 breaking even. I can hang on if I am breaking even, or even close but to loose on such a massive scale every month isn't sustainable. The decision point is coming very soon where I'm gonna have to decide of cashing out is the best option for me. I am giving a talk at ArbFest about my business model and some things I learned along the way. I'm struggling with the concept of standing up there and sharing information with folks about running a business like mine while mine fails. It seems a little.......idk.........disingenuous. I guess I just need to remember, me not being able to make this work doesn't really relate in any way to someone else doing the same thing in a different market. Maybe some of the information I have to share will help someone else avoid the situation I seem to find myself in. It's a strange spot to be in. Do we ever really think we're gonna have to start over or change course on the last decade of our careers? The only word I can really put on it is "unsettling". I'm unsettled. It's like sitting on the edge of a tall, hard chair with nothing to lean on and you think the legs might slide on the slick floor. Constant state of tension and the inability to relax. Perhaps in the next month or two, I might be hanging it up with the crane and moving on to something I can enjoy doing. I spend a lot of time thinking about where this path is leading me. What I'm still capable of doing and who would hire me to do it. If I go back to climbing, it'll be like learning it all over again. 6 years of climbing a few times a year takes a toll on skill and confidence. I read the threads on here and feel so out of the game. The bend radius thread is fantastic but hasn't been my area of focus so it kind of hits home as to all the stuff I've forgotten and haven't kept up with. Interesting place to be. Don't really know what I'm looking for out of this post. Maybe just a place to send thoughts out into space where people understand the language I'm talking. I lead an extremely isolated existence so sometimes this is good therapy for me to cast it out and let it go. Anyway, I hope things are at a positive turning point for everyone and that spring has sprung. Be well.
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First up dont trip on bend radius conversations to be a 'modern' climber, its a interesting topic but it really boils down to tried and true.

I don't envy your position at all, it sounds like tough choices that no one really wants to make, yet many do have to make them.

Can you do solo crane jobs, and seek a employee/sub climber with skills to help you? I get the POV where this could be competing with your target customer base, but if your target customer base isn't providing the bread and butter.....

You are a humble man, and massive hats off with respect. I wouldn't trip on your talk. Just tell it how it is, much like you did with this post. Worse case, and you do have to 'throw in the towel' so to speak, there is a huge lesson there as you posted today. You are in a multifactorial situation, in which you did your best in anticipating, you are speaking to the factors which are out of your control. Yet, while you put effort into mitigating this. As well, you are doing something entirely novel and new. This social/economic world can invent unheard of factors.. Predicting this makes physics and bend ratios simple and predictable.

Chin up, your frank humbleness makes for leadership we can all look up to.
 
So, if I understand this correctly, your work is almost exclusively being sub-contracted in to do jobs for other tree companies.
Is that right?
 
Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes!
I think every business owner has taken hits and questioned whether or not they want or are strong enough to continue. I know I’ve been there, a few times, but I am too stubborn to call it, I’ll die trying. In times of great stress you have to retool, reinvest, rethink, reinvent, and rework your plan. Stay strong stay positive. You have skills and hardware that are valuable to others never forget that. The market will pick up just be stubborn enough to take the hits as they come.
I know it’s rough and the stress is unbearable at times but I don’t think you or anyone else who gets into treework didn’t have passion for it.
 
Steve, I listened to your video several times the other day and thought about it since then. Seriously, it really hit home with me. I'm still not sure what to say but feel a real sense identity. For now I'll just say your skills and knowledge are what make you, that is your identity, not the tools you use or the hat/helmet you wear. THAT IS WHAT WILL SEE YOU THRU. When you speak, and I wish I could be there but don't have the time, remind people that your real story is one of success...with some ups and downs.
You have and do, give so much to the climbing community, I've watched you donate thousands to the climbing competitions to sponsor events, that is difficult as a small company. One would think all of this given to support the community would be enough but I don't know the business model and the competition that exists. I can only hope that the good guys always win.
 
I’m sorry that you’re going through a tough time Steve. You are in my prayers. I’ve seen how God provides. I should be in debt over my son’s cancer treatments because we found out that we were under insured. Through a series of unexplainable events everything got covered and my son survived stage four brain cancer!

A few months ago God put a burden on my heart for a family that helped watch our oldest son while my son Zeb was in the hospital. I heard that they were going through a difficult financial crisis. So I prayed, “God what do you want me to do for this family?” A few days later I went to work for a client who lived across the street from the mother of the wife of the family that helped us. We got the pruning job done in the morning and went to lunch. My helper ended up paying for my lunch because I forgot to bring my wallet from home. Then I got a call from another tree guy asking if I could take the top out of a pine that he couldn’t reach with his bucket truck. We took care of it that afternoon and he paid me $300 in cash. Then I remembered that I had left a sling at the previous job, so after dropping off my helper I went back to get it. While I was there I decided to walk across the street and ask the mother for some prayer (She is one of the most devoted people I know of, to prayer). She started talking about her family and she mentioned that her daughter (the one who helped my family) was having car trouble. She went on to talk about something else, but I said wait a minute, what’s wrong with her car? She said that the husband originally thought that the car had a really expensive transmission problem, but now he thinks it’s a $300 part. My jaw about hit the floor. I had forgotten my wallet and the only money I had on me that day was from a job I wasn’t even planning on! God provides according to his will.

I hope that encourages you Steve.
 
Steve Connally said:
....
I am giving a talk at ArbFest about my business model and some things I learned along the way. I'm struggling with the concept of standing up there and sharing information with folks about running a business like mine while mine fails. It seems a little.......idk.........disingenuous.
...
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First - here's to hoping for a turnaround so things pick up quickly. Or, absent that, hoping you find a new path you can follow that will bring vocational fulfillment, allow you to use your expertise, and meet your needs.

However, my reply is more to the question of your upcoming presentation. If you stood up and talked about a fool proof business model and here's what it looks like, then I heard you were struggling, I'd doubt everything you said. Heck, even if you were wildly successful for 30 years, I'd still doubt any "fool proof" model. I'd be far more interested to hear you discuss a business model, talk about why you think it's a good model and share your successes. AND talk about struggles and - even if you don't know all of the causes - give reasons or theorizes about where things might go wrong or have gone wrong. Even if you don't know the cures...heck, someone there may be able to help???

Point: you have a LOT of value to a crowd like that. Don't second guess your ability to help others!
 
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ATH said:
First - here's to hoping for a turnaround so things pick up quickly. Or, absent that, hoping you find a new path you can follow that will bring vocational fulfillment, allow you to use your expertise, and meet your needs.

However, my reply is more to the question of your upcoming presentation. If you stood up and talked about a fool proof business model and here's what it looks like, then I heard you were struggling, I'd doubt everything you said. Heck, even if you were wildly successful for 30 years, I'd still doubt any "fool proof" midel. I'd be far more interested to hear you discuss a business model, talk about why you think it's a good model and share your successes. AND talk about struggles and - even if you don't know all of the causes - give reasons or theorizes about where things might go wrong or have gone wrong. Even if you don't know the cures...heck, someone there may be able to help???

Point: you have a LOT of value to a crowd like that. Don't second guess your ability to help others!
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Exactly!
 
Mick Dempsey said:
So, if I understand this correctly, your work is almost exclusively being sub-contracted in to do jobs for other tree companies.
Is that right?
Click to expand...
I am sure Steve will answer this question for you. But yes that is pretty much all he does...and is all I do now for the last year.

It can be challenging to just work for tree companies, espesically with these trucks. If tree companies are slow, we are even slower. Most of the trees I do could be done without me, I just do them safer and faster. If they don't have a lot of work they may choose to spend 2 days rigging out a tree, versus a half day to full day with me. On a specific tree they may "lose money" on the job (give me around half the cost), but they make money on the volume of work they can do in a day/week.

The other challenging aspect is dealing with saftey standards on a jobsite...whether the company I am are working for follows them and what is my responsibility in that as a sub. If the company doesnt follow all the standards, do I no longer work for them?? Do I still work for them and continue to try and educate them etc? For me, my contract says they are required to follow all safety guidelines (helmet, safety glasses, saw pant/chaps etc). But in all honesty the only thing I strongly enforce (shut down job over) is no helmet. Head protection is something that can directly affect me (liability wise) if something breaks off tree or limb while I am craning/grapple sawing. All the other ppe things have no real tie back to my actions or company. Also as a Certified Arborist they can't use me to make improper cuts (large wound cuts, tree topping, etc). Most time I also require them to fix any stubs I leave in a tree, if doing pruning type work. Holding all of the above standards make it harder to find companies to work for, limits the pool size. The grapple saw is doing 3/4 of the work, but we are not in charge of the work...nor do we want to be running the whole site.

Most of the companies I work for are small operations (2-3 man crew, 1 crew company). Of those several are young guys that are pretty fresh in the industry. I look at it as a teaching education challenge...where i have to build a relationship with them and slowly help them to be a better safer company. It is pretty wild working for companies like that, and then on the other hand working fro several Bartlett offices.

Steve - I know I will be in your class at Arborfest, and pretty sure Julie will be too. Feel free to make use of us in anyway you would like.
 
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