What is your specialty / niche?

climbingmonkey24

climbingmonkey24

Carpal tunnel level member
Location
United States
Primarily for those of you who run your own operation but could also be those who work for a company, do you do a little bit of everything, or focus more on one thing in particular like large removal, crane work, pruning, smaller-medium sized removals, shrubs / hedges, plant health care, etc.? And how did you come to realize that’s what you wanted to do?

And if you are niche-focused, do you refer out other companies that you know do good work to handle jobs that may be outside of what you do, or bring in a subcontractor, etc.?
 
My niche is crane removals. I do other stuff of course but in our area theres lots of older very tight neighborhoods with mature trees. Lots of storm damage at times as well. We have our own cranes in house. We have a 40 ton grove, a project 40 ton grove, a gmk3050, and a project 2892 manitex. We also sub to multiple other tree services in our area.

I got started in crane removals around 2013 helping a couple of friends who were mentoring me. They needed help and so did I. We still work together at times on crane removals.

On smaller crane removals, we sometimes bring in one of two different contract climbers. Other times we will just do it all in house.
 
I feel very fortunate to have trained under two very good Arborists and climbers. They both had kind of “learned the hard way” as it were and had a lot of lessons and experience to pass to me. I think they really appreciated someone who was teachable and who was eager to learn. I picked up everything I could from them. One thing that set them apart from all the other companies in the area was their level of pruning. My old boss was very thorough with good quality pruning and I took that with me when I moved away 2019.

Starting my business in 2020, that has been one of the biggest things that has set me apart, is quality pruning. I’m pretty sure no one else around me prunes to the spec that I do (or even calls it pruning). That and I don’t have a bucket truck and climb pretty much everything.

I do removals and planting too, but because I’m a climber, that tends to mean I get all the jobs that aren’t accessible with lift and bucket truck. Usually makes for some interesting and sometimes exciting dismantles. But, it has its advantages.
 
While I will do the occasional climbing removal, I focus on pruning, and preservation.
We fall into the niche between most arborists and landscapers.
In my area we do what landscapers shouldn’t be doing, and what many arborists don’t know how to do well.
Typically we leave the big stuff alone unless it is incidental to a bigger project.
I tend to make my daily, solo on the weekends just giving advise as consultations
 
Actually showing up and bidding the job in person. Evaluate the whole job so there aren't surprises. Doing work at a price that makes me money but isn't trying to take advantage of the property owner!
 
But a serious answer after my first post....

Tree work in my area isn't very multi-faceted. Most properties are 5 acres or more, so it's not about tree care, it is about forest management. Properties have literally hundreds or thousands of trees on them, so preserving one tree isn't important to be quite frank. Very different from what I used to do in Seattle... So what people call me for is to remove one, or a few, hazard trees around their buildings, or to enhance or create a view that still looks natural. I have a very good sense of forest aesthetics and can create a filtered view in a way few people can do, which either increases the sale price of properties, or increases the enjoyment of properties people plan to grow old on. Another big focus of mine is finding interesting trees hidden in second/third growth firs and exposing them to become a real feature of the property. In a day or two, I make major transformations, and it is very satisfying, both to me and to the customer.
 
We are a full-service company, pruning, removals, stump grinding, plant health care. We will work on pretty much any tree, I tell people that “once your tree is in the ground we can do everything it needs for the rest of its life.” However our specialties are large tree removals, and limited access trees. We like difficult trees, trees that nobody else wants to touch.
 
Niche Market with a grapples crane. There weren't any others in my market and I took a chance I could capture a market. I was sick of my job, tired of bad bosses and didn't want any employees. I'm just a sub. 1 man one truck. Been pretty solid so far. I've seen growth every year and the customer base continues to expand. I took a chance and it worked out.
 
27RMT0N said:
But a serious answer after my first post....

Tree work in my area isn't very multi-faceted. Most properties are 5 acres or more, so it's not about tree care, it is about forest management. Properties have literally hundreds or thousands of trees on them, so preserving one tree isn't important to be quite frank. Very different from what I used to do in Seattle... So what people call me for is to remove one, or a few, hazard trees around their buildings, or to enhance or create a view that still looks natural. I have a very good sense of forest aesthetics and can create a filtered view in a way few people can do, which either increases the sale price of properties, or increases the enjoyment of properties people plan to grow old on. Another big focus of mine is finding interesting trees hidden in second/third growth firs and exposing them to become a real feature of the property. In a day or two, I make major transformations, and it is very satisfying, both to me and to the customer.
Click to expand...
I'm ~50% in this forested property removal camp, and do a fair bit of pruning (mostly basic, large tree pruning for hazards, structure, views, sunlight along with some smaller trees-- fruit trees in home orchards and more intricate pruning of Japanese maples, etc), some support systems (cabling, bracing, rarely props) and homeowner education.

I picked up a sawmill last year.
 
Yes, this past year I got professional liability insurance. 95% of the time my consultations are verbal, in person.
For the basics of pruning, species, general questions and advice it’s easy to do in a way that doesn’t expose yourself to liability. Risk assessments are a different animal. The best part of finally getting the insurance is that I don’t have the looming “what if I’m wrong” cloud my judgement as much.
It wasn’t that much more as it was an optional add on to my GL policy.
All of a sudden I’m a FIRM believer in being insured, even over insured. Filing my first claims EVER, and I’m so glad I’m covered. (Non work related, but covered with the company policies).
 
evo said:
Yes, this past year I got professional liability insurance. 95% of the time my consultations are verbal, in person.
For the basics of pruning, species, general questions and advice it’s easy to do in a way that doesn’t expose yourself to liability. Risk assessments are a different animal. The best part of finally getting the insurance is that I don’t have the looming “what if I’m wrong” cloud my judgement as much.
It wasn’t that much more as it was an optional add on to my GL policy.
All of a sudden I’m a FIRM believer in being insured, even over insured. Filing my first claims EVER, and I’m so glad I’m covered. (Non work related, but covered with the company policies).
Click to expand...
E & O or something else?
 
I've always tried to specialize in trimming and tree care, but to be honest we end up doing a lot of removals to make ends meet. It's very difficult to pass up certain jobs because of an ideology. What happens when a customer needs a big removal but you would rather pass because you prefer trimming, so you give it to another company, but then 2 years later that customer has a big trimming job they need done? They won't be calling you. Reality is, at least in a smaller market like mine, specializing is very difficult. I don't want to be known as a guy who does "anything with trees and chainsaws", but then, there's reality to grapple with...
 
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