Business Owners: What did you start with?

[mauldinoutdoor]

The problem with no comp (as an owner I don't cover myself) is if you or a family member gets hurt and it lasts longterm - who's going to pay their bills both medical and personal. The business almost always goes under. I plan on adding myself to our policy as soon as my margins get better.

 

[stltreedr]

Decide what kind of business you want, and plan your work to that end. If you want to be an owner/climber that's fine for some folks... But the hours can get out of control when bidding everything and doing all the work yourself. That can be profitable, but remember that any time you want to take off work or sell work, everything else comes to a halt. You will struggle to keep good employees, and that will be very stressful.

If you want to be a small, multiple crew company, hire either the best salesman, or the best climber you can find. Someone you can trust with your life and money. Pay him whatever it takes and provide benefits so that he stays with you for the long haul. You CANNOT do everything on your own. Don't even try.

If you want to have a large company, see steps 1 or 2, do that while saving every penny, for many years....Until you have a 1/2 million dollars or so in the bank. Then re-evaluate whether you want to reinvest all of that money or just retire a little early.

You will be blown away at the amount of money it takes to run a tree business. Essentially, you work 4 days a week to pay the bills. Then if you're lucky, Friday should be profit.... But if something breaks down that week, your profit days are gone for the next month or so.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

It's a huge jump from being an owner/operator to being a boss with workers, both in costs and responsibilities. My 3rd year I hired a full time guy and a part time and I almost lost my shirt.
Whatever wages you plan, easily double it for actual expenses.
I'm on year 6 now, have mostly been just me with part time help here and there. Certainly could use 1-2 full time guys, I'm not huge fan of the 100+hr weeks I do, but I just can't make the numbers work. I'd rather work long and hard and buy steaks on Saturday vs hoping to be able to afford lunch meat.

 

[mckeetree]

You will be blown away at the amount of money it takes to run a tree business. Essentially, you work 4 days a week to pay the bills. Then if you're lucky, Friday should be profit.... But if something breaks down that week, your profit days are gone for the next month or so.

More like you work 5 1/2 days to pay the bills. Then if you are lucky, Saturday afternoon should be profit. At least that's the program I'm on.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Expect to work 7 days a week too, there should be no such thing as 'bankers hours" for a young business. Pretty much at least dawn to dark, 7 days a week. Even more so if your competition keeps banks hours.

Take days "off" when the weather is too bad or business is a bit slow, and even then you should be catching up on paperwork, doing maintenance, cleaning the shop, etc.

If you are married or have kids, don't expect just because you make your hours it means you can leave at 2pm to go "help" with stuff she can easily do, etc. Stick to a set of hours just like a normal job.
My thoughts anyhow. Have a friend that might put in 1/2 the hours I do, always "something" going on... dog appts, fundraisers, ball games, teacher meetings, etc, etc, etc and wonders why he's just barely floating along. Yes, I understand family is important too, but they count on you to keep a roof over their heads and the lights on.

If you aren't decent with people and time management, better figure it out or hire someone to help you. It's tough to play secretary, scheduler, mechanic, laborer, truck driver, boss, etc, etc all at once.

Also though, keep an "off" switch too. You do need to go into "can wait till tomorrow mode" as some point in the evening. I'll get calls sometimes at midnight or 4AM and the person is upset when I call back later vs answering. At that point, I just politely let them know I'm not interested, they'll need to go elsewhere.

 

[jefflovstrom]

More like you work 5 1/2 days to pay the bills. Then if you are lucky, Saturday afternoon should be profit. At least that's the program I'm on.