Tree trimming Options
- Thread starter TreeTechs
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
banshee67
Poulan Wild Thang
Just look at the equipment pictures in banshee67's sig, and you should be ready to go 
On a more serious note:
-What type of job were you laid off from? (just for my own curiosity)
The 'real questions' are:
-Why are you looking to do tree work?
-Why go independent? (sure....you can't be laid off, but the hours are long, the pay is slow to come (as a start-up), the stess is high, etc...).
-Why are you qualified to do tree work and run a business?
-What type of tree work do you want to do/are you good at? (may be 2 separate answers)
I don't care what your answers are to the last 4 - but you better. I ask them because you better know a rock-solid answer before jumping in or you are looking to be a deeper hole than where you are now.
Now...supposing we are good to go there, here are some other things to consider:
1) What market do you want to serve? (location, type of work, type of client, etc, etc, etc, etc...). You must identify this before moving forward. You can move out of that market, but you shoud really start by focusing on that core.
2) Who is your competition in that market?
3) How are you uniquely qualified to compete here? You better find something to say or clients will just hire your competition. Some examples include: Charge less, do better work, get your work done more quickly after bidding, be the first to show up to bid, act more personable, drive a prettier truck, drive an uglier truck (that may communicate 'value' to some clients...), serve as a subcontractor for other companies, offer services nobody else in your maket does, etc...
4) After answering questions 2 & 3 does the market identified in question 1 still sound like a good place to be? If not, don't be affraid to change, then answer questions 2 & 3 again. and keep changing until you can come up with a good answer to question 3. That may mean moving. If you can't answer question 3, then find a new line of work - and that doesn't just apply to tree work, that is business 101.
Developing customers is tricky. How you do that will depend largely on question 3 - market yourself based on your strenghts. There are 1000 other business who will happily take your money to help you do that, but most are not effective. If they were, there would only be that one form of advertising...and the yellowpages are becoming more irrelevant each year. The bottom line is, you have to leave people happy. That means meeting the expectation for which you were hired (see question 3). I have forgotten the exact numbers but these are close: 1 happy customer will tell 3-4 others. 1 UNhappy customers will tell 10-12 others.
You may also talk with the local chamber of commerce to see what help they can offer. There are also SBA (Small Business Administration) offices around who have small business coaches.
On a more serious note:
-What type of job were you laid off from? (just for my own curiosity)
The 'real questions' are:
-Why are you looking to do tree work?
-Why go independent? (sure....you can't be laid off, but the hours are long, the pay is slow to come (as a start-up), the stess is high, etc...).
-Why are you qualified to do tree work and run a business?
-What type of tree work do you want to do/are you good at? (may be 2 separate answers)
I don't care what your answers are to the last 4 - but you better. I ask them because you better know a rock-solid answer before jumping in or you are looking to be a deeper hole than where you are now.
Now...supposing we are good to go there, here are some other things to consider:
1) What market do you want to serve? (location, type of work, type of client, etc, etc, etc, etc...). You must identify this before moving forward. You can move out of that market, but you shoud really start by focusing on that core.
2) Who is your competition in that market?
3) How are you uniquely qualified to compete here? You better find something to say or clients will just hire your competition. Some examples include: Charge less, do better work, get your work done more quickly after bidding, be the first to show up to bid, act more personable, drive a prettier truck, drive an uglier truck (that may communicate 'value' to some clients...), serve as a subcontractor for other companies, offer services nobody else in your maket does, etc...
4) After answering questions 2 & 3 does the market identified in question 1 still sound like a good place to be? If not, don't be affraid to change, then answer questions 2 & 3 again. and keep changing until you can come up with a good answer to question 3. That may mean moving. If you can't answer question 3, then find a new line of work - and that doesn't just apply to tree work, that is business 101.
Developing customers is tricky. How you do that will depend largely on question 3 - market yourself based on your strenghts. There are 1000 other business who will happily take your money to help you do that, but most are not effective. If they were, there would only be that one form of advertising...and the yellowpages are becoming more irrelevant each year. The bottom line is, you have to leave people happy. That means meeting the expectation for which you were hired (see question 3). I have forgotten the exact numbers but these are close: 1 happy customer will tell 3-4 others. 1 UNhappy customers will tell 10-12 others.
You may also talk with the local chamber of commerce to see what help they can offer. There are also SBA (Small Business Administration) offices around who have small business coaches.
treemandan
Tree Freak
Security? Show me one ounce of that anywhere. But if ya got a moxy...
Similar threads
