Starting Business - Competition Questions

[Cambium]

Location is key to all businesses and real estate investing.

I'm in an area where almost 70% of the homes use wood for energy. (Just my area, not entire city)... but as I'm driving the roads I see a lot of homes with logs, split wood piles, and big trucks.

My concern is, how do I compete? I'm a start-up guy with just cars. I want to do it for fun, to work from home, and of course to make some money.. I'm not looking to get rich or big...yet. But besides the obvious of selling a cord of wood for $175 instead of the usual $250 here...what else should I think about doing to keep me motivated?

Is there a rule of thumb to use? Like for every 100 homes you need 3 customers?

I would love to hear success stories and failure stories. Thanks.

 

[lego1970]

It's hard to service your customers when they have better equipment then you do and or knowledge, but I know a lot of well do do home owners out on the skirts of town that will pay for someone else's labor. They may have the toys and knowledge but sometimes they don't want to do the labor. If you can, trade the car for a P/U truck, if not a cheap trailer from Harbor Freight will at least help. I grew up around some pretty rich folks and the ones that owned their own business always seemed to have a brother, wife, Dad, or somebody real close that they could trust and that handled some of the work load. The other thing I've noticed is that the business was the most important thing to them. Sometimes, even more important then family. That's the only thing I've noticed that I can share. Good luck.

 

[fishercat]

i found a couple tricks.

get a used dump for around 4-5K.you'll need a dependable efficient splitter.

don't lowball the market.firewood prices need to come up.they should be at least $250 a cord. i'm at $225 right now.

don't short people.sell them a true cord and if you say it's seasoned,deliver seasoned!

there are cheap bastards out there.oh well.let them see how cheap and easy the firewood business is.maybe Obama will help them split and load.

 

[Cambium]

LOL. Obama can help me sell unseasoned wood to people in florida...anyway...before we go off topic... I could and would never BS a customer.

Someone told me the other day to sell the Elm wood I got but say it's Oak...Thats so wrong and I know there are crooked people out there; I'm not one on of them thank god. I could never live with myself.

I got a dead beat brother but I got some good neighbors and a dog. LOL My brother would help though.

Do any of you guys post flyers or drop in mailboxes? If so how's the return on that?

My Goal: $20,000 between September and March. Thats 88 cords at $225 per cord. 88 just sounds like a lot. I dont even know if there are that many trees being taken down here.

 

[fishercat]

lots of guys here selling GREEN wood.

lot of guys not selling folks a true cord.

i got lot of calls in Jan and Feb when everyone was sold out.if you need practice,i got plenty that needs cutting and splitting.

 

[Tree Pig]

lot of guys not selling folks a true cord.
if you need practice,i got plenty that needs cutting and splitting.

Yeah me too.

 

[treeseer]

My Goal: $20,000 between September and March. Thats 88 cords at $225 per cord. 88 just sounds like a lot. I dont even know if there are that many trees being taken down here.

Do you have a kiln, or do you plan to sell wet wood for top dollar?

Don't quit your day job.

Maybe this thread belongs in the Firewood forum.

 

[tree MDS]

I've got this crackhead thats been splitting my firewood with one of those TSC splitters for years now. This guys awesome at it and can go 7 hours on a good day @ 12 bucks cash.

We call him "Darkman" and I would pit him against anyone when it comes to splitting firewood, he actually likes it, lol.

 

[Cambium]

I've got this crackhead thats been splitting my firewood with one of those TSC splitters for years now. This guys awesome at it and can go 7 hours on a good day @ 12 bucks cash.

We call him "Darkman" and I would pit him against anyone when it comes to splitting firewood, he actually likes it, lol.

Hmmm, a thought that hasn't crossed my mind yet... hire someone for cheap to split wood. Even at $150 a day for 7 hours. You can split 4 cords in 1 day you're still making out.
Do you carry insurance in case he gets hurt?

Thank you.

 

[tree MDS]

Hmmm, a thought that hasn't crossed my mind yet... hire someone for cheap to split wood. Even at $150 a day for 7 hours. You can split 4 cords in 1 day you're still making out.
Do you carry insurance in case he gets hurt?

Thank you.

Four cords is a little much. I could see Darkman doing 2 on a good day - at least with the TSC splitter.

I dont really worry about him getting hurt, the splitter is pretty slow and he's pretty darn good at it.

 

[fishercat]

my fear exactly.

Hmmm, a thought that hasn't crossed my mind yet... hire someone for cheap to split wood. Even at $150 a day for 7 hours. You can split 4 cords in 1 day you're still making out.
Do you carry insurance in case he gets hurt?

Thank you.

what happens when you pullout onto the road and he pulls out the bottle of Boone's Farm? next his hand is crushed and him and his PI attorney at waiting at your door when you get home.

not sure why his name is Darkman but i hope Jesse Jackson and/or Al Sharpton don't carpool with his attorney.

 

[tree MDS]

what happens when you pullout onto the road and he pulls out the bottle of Boone's Farm? next his hand is crushed and him and his PI attorney at waiting at your door when you get home.

not sure why his name is Darkman but i hope Jesse Jackson and/or Al Sharpton don't carpool with his attorney.

Darkman is in refference to his last name, nothing racial, he's a white boy.

 

[treeman82]

Darkman is in refference to his last name, nothing racial, he's a white boy.

A friend of mine got stuck with a houseguest who we refer to as DrunkMan. I can tell you this, it does NOT have anything to do with his name, first or last.

On the firewood end though, don't overlook the internet. I've had a few people contact me through the internet looking for wood... not off craigslist either.

 

[tree MDS]

hey treeman 82, you interested in helping me with some treework by any chance? I'm trying to get a couple more jobs done and having lost my good crew a while back after a slow spell I'm sort of screwed at the moment.