Here I am fretting over buying a new truck, a bigger trailer and maybe a chipper at some point, upping my insurance to cover all of it, and the nightmare of paperwork that will inevitably follow...I've recently reconsidered my business model. My buddy owns a landscaping company and only works his crews 3-4 days a week. He has several large trailers and is looking to expand his business but doesn't know where to go. I approached him about having his crews do clean up on my tree jobs. We're trying to work out figures and pay scales and such. I don't have any workers comp because I don't employ anyone. My brother who is frequently my ground guy, works for my friend and runs one of his lawn crews and is covered under my friends workers comp. I would technically be hiring my friends company as a sub. I figure this way, I can keep my overhead low, keep my investment capital low, and avoid hauling sticks. I show up with one of my buddies guys as my ground man, put the wood on the ground, cut it to manageable size, and then I'm done. They handle clean up. My friend and I are discussing a flat rate for tree clean up, something like 25%, which we figure based on what I bid, is plenty to cover hourly pay for his guys. We are also working out a percentage for me to pay him for wear and tear on his equipment. I'm covered under my insurance, everyone else is covered under his. Everybody is happy, It's all legal, legit, insured, and allows me to spend more time at my other jobs and at school.
How's this sound?
