It got my California Contractor's license in 2010 (started the business at the end of '08). Right now I am running a 3-4 man crew most days and payroll and worker's comp (40% for climbers) is just costing me so much. My 6 month bill is due next week. Liability and commercial auto are starting to get expensive too (3 trucks). I am by no means a large company but having employees costs me a ton. They are pretty good guys and I have a great foreman but in addition to payroll things are constantly getting broken and jobs often aren't getting done on my timescale (this is often my fault due to underbidding though). Yesterday they worked 12 hours and today it was around 11. Typically though it's 8-10. Traffic is a bear around here so it's pretty ordinary for 2-3 of those hours to be driving time.
Most of what I do is manage and go on sales to keep my guys going. Maybe once a month I spend a day working with the guys (I do miss it). I am thinking of selling my bigger equipment (f450 dump and Bandit 90) and most of my saws. I'll just keep my 2 grinders (alpine and vermeer 252), my f350 pickup, and a couple saws and climbing gear. I'll drop worker's comp and just work by myself. I might put a dump hoist under the pickup bed to make it a little easier for me. I would likely even sell my ranger and just use my wife's car for estimates.
I am thinking about getting into stump grinding as my main deal but would probably also contract climb and do arborist consults (usually I charge $75 a pop to flap my lips, which I could probably raise since some charge 200 around here).
That way making 300 bucks a day grinding with little over-head would be great for me... instead of having to make 15-16 hundy+ per day to make a profit with a lot more risk and variables.
It seems that mostly older guys do the stump grinding. If it makes a difference I am 27.
Have any of you guys downsized in this way? Looking for advice to help weigh the options. Maybe I am just crazy and need you guys to straighten me out. I do have tons of work and a really good reputation on yelp and angies. So far I've grossed around 220k this year but it sure doesn't seem like it! I never thought the expenses would be what they are.
Most of what I do is manage and go on sales to keep my guys going. Maybe once a month I spend a day working with the guys (I do miss it). I am thinking of selling my bigger equipment (f450 dump and Bandit 90) and most of my saws. I'll just keep my 2 grinders (alpine and vermeer 252), my f350 pickup, and a couple saws and climbing gear. I'll drop worker's comp and just work by myself. I might put a dump hoist under the pickup bed to make it a little easier for me. I would likely even sell my ranger and just use my wife's car for estimates.
I am thinking about getting into stump grinding as my main deal but would probably also contract climb and do arborist consults (usually I charge $75 a pop to flap my lips, which I could probably raise since some charge 200 around here).
That way making 300 bucks a day grinding with little over-head would be great for me... instead of having to make 15-16 hundy+ per day to make a profit with a lot more risk and variables.
It seems that mostly older guys do the stump grinding. If it makes a difference I am 27.
Have any of you guys downsized in this way? Looking for advice to help weigh the options. Maybe I am just crazy and need you guys to straighten me out. I do have tons of work and a really good reputation on yelp and angies. So far I've grossed around 220k this year but it sure doesn't seem like it! I never thought the expenses would be what they are.
