Forecasting new company projects

KevinS

KevinS

Branched out member
Location
ontario
My company does a lot of declining Norway maples of varying degrees of suckiness.

A high majority of the time problems can be traced back to root issues (girdling roots).

I have found a air compressor that can hook directly to the 12v battery and an air spade. These would be the new costs to the company. We have an available 1/2 ton pickup and staff to man it. It would fold into the same over head and office work. We also have a good client base behind us.

So how do you guys know or choose when to step in a new direction such as root zone care. How to project wether business wise it is a better investment, than prune, prune, prune, remove by 60 year age being an average age max, etc.
 
A 12v compressor capable of supplying enough air for an airspade? Impressive, I'd like to know more about that.

Which model airspade are you using? IIRC, there's a couple different models, depending on airflow desired, but the smallest model still needs 25 cfm. I'd need to hook up two of my shop compressor to be able to hit that, and that would be just barely. Bigger models of the airspade are in the 60-225 cfm range, and that's into the realm of tow-behind or PTO powered compressors.
 
I am working on that information details. But something like what the tire service trucks use. I'm not sure if it's enough pressure yet but an idea.

Oasis air compressor is another name that has some but again trying to sort out pressure and they haven't responded to my email questions yet
 
You have forgotten about a soil vacuum to accompany the air spade/knife and barriers to reduce where the soil ends up and to speed cleanup. You will also need a truck and materials to replace soil with (if doing radial trenching etc.). PPE should include tyvek suits on large jobs and face shields on every job

There is no way a compressor less than 125cfm will work for you. You also need to turn off the auto oiler if equipped so you don't spray oil throughout the excavation.

You also need the BMPs for soils and articles from Urban Greening and JoA. A course such as can also help:
Soil Workshop
Ground Rules: Measuring Soil Health and Managing Site Challenges
April 24, 2016 9:00am - 3:30pm
Garden in the Woods
Framingham, MA
Workshop Presented by Chuck Sherzi
 
If it's an Oasis, it'll do 8 cfm at 100 psi. Some of their models are rated for continuous duty cycles as well. They'll go up to over 150 psi, but you're dropping down to 4-5 cfm at that point. Smallest AirSpade takes 60 cfm, and general consensus is that it's not enough, you want one of the models that's at least 100 cfm. The cfm ratings for the airspade are at 90 psi, btw.
 
I got reading that to.

All of this aside an i do appreciate it, my question really was how do you look at if it is worth it to the company.

For example air spade + compressor= $5000

We have a truck, staff, etc.

If you have not offered this service before but you know it can fix many problems. How do you decide if it's good for the books?
 
One of the general rules I have heard is annual income must be 10 times the cost for the equipment to be worthwhile. Thus $5000X10=$50000 plus the cost of manpower, overhead, profit etc. per year for the investment to be worthwhile.

Another way to look at it is are all your man hours and equipment hours already accounted for? If you have available time then does it make sense to do a new service or stay with the same services? Often new services are a money loser because you can charge more and be more efficient with your current services.

What the Market will "Bare"
by J. Paul Lamarche
ISBN 978-1-897528-35-8
 
Last edited:
I was thinking about this post while I was working down in the garage. If you're wanting to avoid a trailer compressor, Vanair makes some nice PTO systems. You could even get a PTO that does double or triple duty and have a generator and/or hydraulic power of up to 40 gpm.
 
mrtree said:
One of the general rules I have heard is annual income must be 10 times the cost for the equipment to be worthwhile. Thus $5000X10=$50000 plus the cost of manpower, overhead, profit etc. per year for the investment to be worthwhile
Click to expand...
You're crazy, we've got a crane we bought for $500k, it doesn't even bring in that much per year, is it worth it? Yes it makes th payments on all the other equipment that doesn't bring in its fair share.
 
KevinS said:
If you have not offered this service before but you know it can fix many problems. How do you decide if it's good for the books?
Click to expand...
That's market research. You can look at similar markets where the service is offered. How well is it received? How many of your existing client base would be willing to contract the service and at what price point? Is the market informed enough to understand the value or to be able to see how this is the right solution for their problems? If you enter into this too far ahead of the market then it may kill your cashflow. Try running some seminars through garden clubs, Shade tree commissions, etc..., in your market on root and soil issues. Measure the response.
An informed customer is a good customer when it comes to selling these types of services.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom