So I fell in love with the trade, saved 20K, what to buy first?

[Merle Nelson]

People in areas that don't have the proper equip to rent may be able to show a local rental yard how it's in their best interest to buy and put in service said equipment.

 

[Crosstrees]

Sorry if this is a derail, and for the blatant self promotion, but if you (or anyone else) are remotely interested in relocating to the Skagit Valley in Washington State, get in touch because I have a business that I'm looking to pass on to someone who is interested in quality, safe, tree care, and I'd be willing to pass along my own experience and skill through training in the transition as part of that. I'm looking for something for the equipment in terms of $ (I figure the Isuzu cab over, and chipper, saws, rigging gear, etc are worth somewhere around $16,000) but mostly I'm interested in having a good arborist who wants to continue to provide quality tree care to my customers. I'm getting out of the business to do some extended sailing, or go back to school (or both), but have been hanging on because the business is profitable, and I don't have anyone who I feel comfortable referring work to in the area.
If you can find someone who is getting out of the business (regardless of whether that's me) it's worth thinking about taking over some else's business. It saves the stress and scrimping of starting from scratch and building a customer base, you get some equipment to work with, and really can hit the ground running. I'd be careful of getting in too deep with that, but it base potential to be a really good setup. I'm not sure I would have taken the opportunity when I started, but I certainly would have a year into it.