South East Florida ??? Earnings

[spike-columbia]

I have a guy with stump grinder and mini loader claims he's making 125K+ yearly.
The guy works about 16-20 hours a week.
I worked one week and he made $1800 4 days.
Not grinding for tree guys.
Problem is he cannot prove his income.

Asking $25k with 2003 3/4 ton vehicle, saws, blower, etc.
Assume note on grinder, mini loader, trailer, vehicle paid for.

What do you think?

 

[ropensaddle]

I have a guy with stump grinder and mini loader claims he's making 125K+ yearly.
The guy works about 16-20 hours a week.
I worked one week and he made $1800 4 days.
Not grinding for tree guys.
Problem is he cannot prove his income.

Asking $25k with 2003 3/4 ton vehicle, saws, blower, etc.
Assume note on grinder, mini loader, trailer, vehicle paid for.

What do you think?

Ask yourself, Why is he wanting to sell?

 

[Sunrise Guy]

You said that he can't prove his income=DANGER!

A P&L statement is required by all business brokers, and any private individual selling a business without one should not be trusted, with a few exceptions. As stated, ask yourself why is he selling his business? His figures sound too good to be true. Also, what is his net? Was that 125K figure gross or net? Throw in some hefty $$$ on his notes, and I'll bet that 125K figure goes down, maybe considerably. In addition, he may have contacts that won't necessarily be available to you should you take over. Be careful!

 

[RoyalTree]

not impossible

Being in the Miami market I can tell you that it is definitely not impossible to make that kind of money just grinding. I know there are people that are able to make that and more but also some that cant rub two nickels together. If he cant prove any of it I would definitely urge on the side of caution and just assume he is full of bs.

also remember he is probably counting time just after the last storms when everybody has alot more work then they can handle.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Asking $25k with 2003 3/4 ton vehicle, saws, blower, etc.
Assume note on grinder, mini loader, trailer, vehicle paid for.

What do you think?

How much is left on the equipment loan?
How much do you figure to budget for maint costs?
What is the operating area and required fuel budget?

How much he was making is irrelevant to you, there is no client list you are buying. Your question should be is how much can I reasonably net on a part time basis after loan payments and funding the budget.

1800 * 50 weeks = 90,000
(125000 / 50)4)=625

Assume you take topsoil and are refurbishing the grind areas with removal of some debris and backfill of topsoil to grade. For this service you bill @ 3.50 per diameter inch at grade.

your average stump and soil crown at grade is 4 ft wide or 48 * 3.5 = 168 so you would have to average around 4 of these large stump jobs per day on a 4 day a week budget.

 

[Treeinnovator]

I have a guy with stump grinder and mini loader claims he's making 125K+ yearly.
The guy works about 16-20 hours a week.
I worked one week and he made $1800 4 days.
Not grinding for tree guys.
Problem is he cannot prove his income.

Asking $25k with 2003 3/4 ton vehicle, saws, blower, etc.
Assume note on grinder, mini loader, trailer, vehicle paid for.

What do you think?

i'm in Ft. Lauderdale. that seller is full of crap.

1) he may have made $125k the year following Hurricane Wilma, but that's over now. the clean-up is done and alot of the guys are going out of business or struggling. believe me if he was still making that kind of money, he wouldn't be selling.

2) if he's not selling you existing multi-year contracts, then it's worthless to buy his business over the value of the equipment itself. i have a healthy tree business, but it's only because i have large multi-year commercial contracts. without those, i'd be struggling along with the rest of the tree guys. if i were to sell mine, the contracts would be a big factor.

3) ask yourself... if he made so much money, why isn't his equipment loans paid off? or ...if he makes $125k working part-time, why in the hell would you give up that gravy train?
he's full of crap man. maybe he "grossed" $125k, but "net profit" is a completely different animal.

 

[Treeinnovator]

your average stump and soil crown at grade is 4 ft wide or 48 * 3.5 = 168 so you would have to average around 4 of these large stump jobs per day on a 4 day a week budget.

JPS,
in south florida, the average stump is the size of a 5-gallon paint bucket. (small oaks, blk olives, and palms)

 

[Ekka]

Yeah, everyone thinks .... whooo, tropical jungles and stuff.

Reality is the world's largest/tallest trees seldom come from tropical jungles. Seems the temperate rainforests have them.

Sure they still have big trees with big stumps, but on the grand scheme of things no comparison by volume. Look at your logging, where's the productive timber? Lots of crap timber grows in tropical areas too, like palms, ficus, umbrella, tulip trees etc.

 

[DDM]

Are you thinking of moving there or just buying his equipment?

I have a guy with stump grinder and mini loader claims he's making 125K+ yearly.
The guy works about 16-20 hours a week.
I worked one week and he made $1800 4 days.
Not grinding for tree guys.
Problem is he cannot prove his income.

Asking $25k with 2003 3/4 ton vehicle, saws, blower, etc.
Assume note on grinder, mini loader, trailer, vehicle paid for.

What do you think?

 

[dontbasap]

treeinno

I talked to Steve (you know who) today at Youngs' Power Center. His four grinders are sitting and collecting dust. Thank God he paid them off with the storm income. The biz is that slow in SE Fla. Only the strong will survive this herd thinning.

 

[Treeinnovator]

I talked to Steve (you know who) today at Youngs' Power Center. His four grinders are sitting and collecting dust. Thank God he paid them off with the storm income. The biz is that slow in SE Fla. Only the strong will survive this herd thinning.

yeah it's thinng. i see more and more equipment up for sale and guys going out of biz. plus the city ordinance people are really cracking down on non-permitted removals now that the hurricane is long gone.

 

[Stihl User]

So you want to buy his "company"? Or just the equipment?

Also what years / models are the equipment?