here it goes!

[CanopyGorilla]

This is the official "watch CanopyGorrilla build a company" thread. It will contain laughter, it will contain tears, it will contain the criticism of old fart tree guys. Come one, come all, and stay tuned as another fed up employee goes out on his own and flownders through the murky competitive world of tree care and tree removal!
This week: writing my business plan with a partner to take to the loan officers. Enjoy!!

 

[OLD OAK]

I wish you the best of luck. To each his own but the first 2 problems i see are Partner and loan officer. Not that i dont owe $$ on equipment but it can kill a business in slow times, especially a start up.

 

[treecutterjr]

What are you guys going to get as your first pieces of equipment? Are you planning onthe basics? Chipper and chipper truck? Or hoping for the whole enchilada? Bucket,crane, stump grinder, etc.

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[Blakesmaster]

No partners! The sheer fact that you are online seeking input shows you are more committed to this than your partner. Just sayin.

 

[CanopyGorilla]

Really a good chunk of the loan is going to sallery. We want something to float families our first year. He was a logger turned small time firewood and small removal guy and I am a full time production climber. We have all the saws, climbing and rigging gear and a loan would be around 90k for $20,000 each in start up salery and 50k for mini skid and large dump trailer. We also are looking at a private investor who may float up to 6k in advertising. Chipper will be first business purchase.

 

[CanopyGorilla]

No partners! The sheer fact that you are online seeking input shows you are more committed to this than your partner. Just sayin.

Respect that! We have a good relationship and different skill sets .

 

[CanopyGorilla]

What are you guys going to get as your first pieces of equipment? Are you planning onthe basics? Chipper and chipper truck? Or hoping for the whole enchilada? Bucket,crane, stump grinder, etc.

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I'm thinking deep route injection and spray truck will come sooner than crane/ stumpy. There are already big removal guys and hacks, very few true tree care companies around here.

 

[tree MDS]

Partners are for dancing. I don't dance, but that's just me.

 

[imagineero]

Only you know your local market, but sounds like you're starting out in quite a hole. Have you been doing work on the side building up your name and client base, or are you starting really from scratch?

Are either of you strong salesmen/closers with a proven background in selling work?

 

[Toddppm]

You're in big trouble from the start if thinking about a loan just to live off of. Hard to find time but take some business classes and figure out how much it's really going to cost to run the biz. Forget equipment, get a dump truck and spend ALL of the rest on professional advertising and promotional materials.



Oh yeah, ditch the partner!

 

[EcoTreeCo]

Good luck. I started with a f100 and some saws. Work smart, not hard. Buy what you can, when you can. Save for the big items. Rent when necessary. Be prepared to work all day, everyday, if needed. It will keep your labor costs low. Kiss your wife and kids goodbye every morning and know that you're doing this for them.
I agree with the others in regards to a partner. I sleep better at night knowing the fate of my business relies solely on my decisions, good or bad, and nobody works as hard as me on my jobs.


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[tree MDS]

Lol. Celery can be a *****, indeed.

 

[treevet]

I'm thinking deep route injection and spray truck will come sooner than crane/ stumpy. There are already big removal guys and hacks, very few true tree care companies around here.

Also if you plan on selling deep route injections...trees don't have routes (unless you mapquest them) and roots ain't deep. You may be intellectually challenged for a high end market which is what you will need if ya gots a partner (uggh). One partner will always be taking it up the poopy and it likely will be you as you (say) you're a production climber...and you gots no bucket.

Toss the pard and get a one ton drive around (chip truck) and a chuck and duck and get your azz to work and see where you go in a year.

 

[imagineero]

It is arboristsite, not spellingsite ;-) I've got to agree with most of the comments about partners though. Realistically someone needs to be the boss. Nothing wrong with one of you subbing to the other though, which is a better arrangement in my opinion. Alternatively, an arrangement of one being a salesman at a set commission and possibly an employed sub contractor and the other running the work is a possibility.

 

[tree MDS]

Yeah, seems like nobody wants to earn anything anymore. I ran a one ton 4x4 dump and small diesel chipper for a decade, climbed anything and everything. Used friends and retards out of the paper for ground help. Nowadays everybody wants everything softer and gentler. A partner.. go get yerself a one ton, chipper, and a tard, climb. Then you'll be a start up tree service. Welcome to the party!! Lol

 

[tree MDS]

And polish up on your screaming, cuz you're gonna need it.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Interesting. opcorn:
Jeff

 

[Groundman One]

Partners are for dancing. I don't dance, but that's just me.

+1

We have one boss to tell everyone what to do and several surly employees to backtalk him and question his every move.

That`s the way it should be.

 

[arborlicious]

Don't get a bank loan to pay your salary. The bank loan helps you buy some equipment in order to go out and earn more money which you then use to pay off the loan and possibly pay yourself too.

Keep sub-contracting while you can.

 

[CanopyGorilla]

I thought this is what this thread would look like. Enjoy boys! I will keep everyone posted. Like I said, here it goes