# Starting a business, have questions.



## RhodyFresh (Jan 18, 2007)

Hey all,
I'm new to this so please excuse any mistakes. I've been visiting this site for a while, but now I'm ready to belly-up to the bar with some questions of my own. Here's my deal: 27 years old, live in southern New England, love trees, and I'm starting my own business. 
Question 1: What is a fair hourly rate for a two person crew doing HIGH quality work.
here's the set-up, toyota tacoma with a chip box and 6" chipper(renting for now) certified, licensed, insured and eager as could be and completely in love with the work. 5 years climbing and for 3 years before that I worked as a rigger/operator for my father's crane svc. 
What do you think?
Can you help me out?http://www.arboristsite.com/images/smilies/blob_fire.gif


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## OTG BOSTON (Jan 18, 2007)

I think you will be filling that truck up awfully fast!!!!

Good luck!


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## RhodyFresh (Jan 18, 2007)

*true*

this is true, very fast, but its all I have FOR NOW. I'm working on getting a bigger truck and my own chipper, and believe me this will happen sooner than later. However the question still stands: What about a fair hourly rate in this part of the country? You are from Boston right?


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## OTG BOSTON (Jan 18, 2007)

*Is there another Dirty Bean??*



RhodyFresh said:


> this is true, very fast, but its all I have FOR NOW. I'm working on getting a bigger truck and my own chipper, and believe me this will happen sooner than later. However the question still stands: What about a fair hourly rate in this part of the country? You are from Boston right?



Sorry I missed that question, and skipped to what do you think.

I would say anywhere between $50-100 per man hr. Depends what the market will bear. Doing high end pruning requires high end customers, most of which have a company already. I worked for a tree company out of Newton MA.(just outside of Boston) we had a few clients in Providence.

Seeing that your overhead is relatively low, charge low rates untill your client base builds up. Just don't go to low or you might get a visit from the boys on Federal Hill!:hmm3grin2orange:


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## RhodyFresh (Jan 18, 2007)

*thanks*

First off I was born into the Rhode Island trash business. MY Dad an Irish guy had a pretty tough go of it, threats and things, for exactly that reason(low bidding). Now though, we all get along along real well and he did really well with the trash thing, ie he"s sailing in the carribean right now!Ive done some work in Newton too, about 3 years ago. Mostly planting big trees. Who have you worked for in Providence? That was my stomping ground until my girlfriend and I moved to quiet farm country( it really does exist in RI)


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## RhodyFresh (Jan 18, 2007)

*oh yeah*

Great advice, thanks a bunch I need all the help I can get right now. Ive never written estimates before.


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## OTG BOSTON (Jan 18, 2007)

RhodyFresh said:


> First off I was born into the Rhode Island trash business. MY Dad an Irish guy had a pretty tough go of it, threats and things, for exactly that reason(low bidding). Now though, we all get along along real well and he did really well with the trash thing, ie he"s sailing in the carribean right now!Ive done some work in Newton too, about 3 years ago. Mostly planting big trees. Who have you worked for in Providence? That was my stomping ground until my girlfriend and I moved to quiet farm country( it really does exist in RI)



A very large real estate company that owns a hotel and several properties. I'll be happy to give you the name. P.M. me for details.

An Irish guy, in the trash business, in R.I.???? He lucky he's sailing over and not sleeping with.................oh fughettabowtit!:hmm3grin2orange: 

You should't have problems like that I'm just messin' with you.


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## RhodyFresh (Jan 18, 2007)

Shouldn't is right but in this little state you never ever know who might be lurking behind that tree. ha ha


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## Ed Roland (Feb 6, 2007)

I like your eagerness. Im started 2 years ago on my own with a chevy 3500 1ton pickup with boxes down the side and a steel ladder rack boxed in. I retro-fitted a "bolt on" 3 ton dump for $1000. I can hold an entire medium sized tree. I tow a 1964 6 cyl. woodchuck stolen ($1,400) from an old Bartlett tree man. with saws and rigging I was "in" for around $7000.00. my first year I made close to 40K and have had MARKED increase from there. I work as much as I want and charge a premium for the high end pruning and removal. I bid @ $65 an hour. I can make $ @ $520 per 8 hours. I am competative with the other guys and my overhead at this point is just saw/truck gas and my time.


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## Thetreewisemen (Feb 7, 2007)

I didn't even have chipper when I first started to venture out on my own, just a Landrover 90, a beaten up old flat bed trailer which everything went into and a couple of saws. I think one of my first Stihl 020s is still in my old man's garage back in England. My, how things have come along since then....


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## M.D. Vaden (Feb 10, 2007)

I know a guy who started two good size services, starting out of flat-bed and working his way up.

If your stuff works, start there and build.

I'm now recommending for busineses to start with a website as step number one. Even if it's just one very nice page, that you had to pay $200 for design and getting online. 

If one page - make sure the photo looks nice, even if its a small $10 royalty fee for an image.

See 

http://www.mdvaden.com/search_engine.shtml

After compiling that page over 2 years, I concluded that not having a website, is almost like not having a telephone or business card. As long as the site address is integrated into everything.

If there is internet in an area, I see no reason to avoid starting with a website anymore. Everything points to it. And as I wrote, you can drive traffic to your nice picture and website immediately. The end of that page explains how to do it better.

I don't think that any 3 man crew should be charging under $180 per hour.


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## CwbyClmr (Mar 3, 2007)

I posted a thread last year, when I started my business, called "Bidding Jobs". That thread alone helped me develop a strong bidding strategy. It helped me see what my expenses were and what I needed to pay those dog gone Insurance bills. I also took out a loan for a 84 chevy 1 ton dump and an 01 Vermeer BC1000 chipper. Granted my payments aren't that big and my overhead is alot less than the other companies in my area but my prices are based on what I need and what I want to be able to make. The bidding strategy in the thread I mentioned gave me a good base to understand what it takes to give good estimates.
Good luck, I've been in business since August of last year and am not doing bad at all thanks to two tornado's and an ice storm. Do a quality job, give out business cards like crazy and network with friends and family. Word of mouth is one the best advertisements out there and its free!!!


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## M.D. Vaden (Mar 4, 2007)

CwbyClmr said:


> I posted a thread last year, when I started my business, called "Bidding Jobs". That thread alone helped me develop a strong bidding strategy. It helped me see what my expenses were and what I needed to pay those dog gone Insurance bills. I also took out a loan for a 84 chevy 1 ton dump and an 01 Vermeer BC1000 chipper. Granted my payments aren't that big and my overhead is alot less than the other companies in my area but my prices are based on what I need and what I want to be able to make. The bidding strategy in the thread I mentioned gave me a good base to understand what it takes to give good estimates.
> Good luck, I've been in business since August of last year and am not doing bad at all thanks to two tornado's and an ice storm. Do a quality job, give out business cards like crazy and network with friends and family. Word of mouth is one the best advertisements out there and its free!!!



If you can remember part of the thread title, maybe you could search and add the link.


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