Family and friends offering you up for jobs

[PUclimber]

Well since I have started to learn and gotten better at doing tree work I have done some work for family, and friends but now they are starting to offer me up for work on their friends and even now some random guy met in a bar. My brother somehow got on the subject of tree work and this guy has a tree he wants removed and the lowest bid give i guess was around $700 so my brother tells him sight unseen that him and I ......mainly I can put it on the ground and do all that stuff for about $600. To dispose brush he wants to load it on trailers and haul it back to our house and cut the trunk into firewood and take it home which the firewood is no problem since we sell wood. but right now i'm not sure what he's gotten me into. Supposedly he thinks its an oak but not for sure. If we do it i definately want most of the money. I guess the only possible obstacle is a fence. He's gonna get some pictures of it and when i get those i'll post them.

 

[clearance]

All I am going to say about this (others will talk about insurance, safety and so on) is that you tell your relatives to get the other persons phone number, thats all, the phone number. Then you go and meet the person. look at the tree and figure out the price on your own. You are just asking to be put into a bad scene letting others decide the price, you will be working your bag off for low pay, or you will call BS and there will be hard feelings all around.

 

[treeminator]

for a friend or family member i tell them "just pay for my ground crews salary and any other large expenses such as dump fees"

for their friends, i give them a break, but like the guy above said... get the phone number that's all. anything else is going to turn into a bad idea.

 

[tophopper]

Id tell your brother hed better go out and get his own gear, cuz to me it sounds like hes got a job to do.

 

[skwerl]

Ditto above. Tell your well-meaning relatives that it is not appropriate for them to be setting your prices. And lowballing a tree sight unseen is completely over the line. TH is correct, tell your bro to go do the tree for $600. He can hire you to help but you're not setting your price till after you see it.

 

[Diesel JD]

Tell your family, not to promise anybody a price until you have seen the tree. that being said, thank them for helping throw work your way...just make sure it's on your terms.

 

[TreeLady]

Since no one else said it I will...what happens if one of you gets hurt on this job? Do you have insurance? And most importantly, do you trust the decisons and ability of your brother enough to do tree work with him? Given how he undercut another bid sight unseen should make you wonder a little.

 

[okietreedude1]

If your family and friends want to help your business succeed, make up some business cards and hand them out to them for them to pass along. Let the potential customer call you.

As for the lowball est, one other thing to consider is the person that bid the $700 may have been lowballing it too. Go look at the tree and feel free to walk away. Ive sold many a job that I was not the lowest price. Customer service and a friendly attitude will sell a lot too.

If your bro wants all the wood, sub yourself out for the climbing work and let him clean it up.

 

[PUclimber]

Well thanks for the feedback guys. I've yet to see the job and as far as insurance goes with the creativity of a friends mother and my parents we've linked it in with our family lawn service we run in the summer. I just talked to him again and he's got another job lined up. Both jobs are of girls who work with the girl he's dating now. So the only good part is it's spring break week and i have 4 weekend days to look at these jobs and also another guy that is from school that lives close to home and he's got more experience. So i think were' just gonna climb and put it on the ground and he's gonna do clean up.