Where do they come from???

[sgreanbeans]

Well today I got my new yearly yellowbook.........so I go to the tree section to see my new ad (which I think this is my last year) & to my amazement theres like a gajillion new tree services in there!!!

Holy hell.........some of em say 10yrs, 15yrs experience, fully insured!, we carry work comp, etc..etc.. I love the guys who do it all, they build decks, patios, excavate, trim & remove trees, diagnos, treat,...............ah hell, they shoot fire out there ass they`re so talented!!

any one else notice a surge in newcomers & the wonderful lies they spin to try to make themselves look good? I though it was bad with some of the regulars who still "top".....but advertise proper tree care..LOL, Now not only do I have to compete with the regular retards I have to compete with the new wannabe idiots!! Hmm....maybe that state licensing thing I complained about wouldnt be a bad idea!

I just see this trade getting polluted to the point of a wage plummet that would make one working at wal-mart look good!!!




LXT...............

Where your area is going, mine is already there. I am closer to getting regulation now, have been stirring the pot for the last year. Have been in the ear of everybody who is anybody,politicians,city managers, radio, news all of it. Starting to get a movement among the real pros. Problem is time. To many irons in the fire, so I work it whenever I can.
I did a background check on those who I knew their whole legal name. Freaking WOW! We have, and all this is legit, on record.
Crack/Meth heads, Home invasion, Bank robbery, Assault w/injuries, GTA, Burglary, you name, they have done it.Seriuosly dangerous individuals, again, HOME INVASION!
No regulation here what so ever, 50 bucks and your a licensed tree surgeon! I currently have a guy who's name is also Scott, he has been cuaght red handed, portraying himself as me. Copied some of my trademarked advertising materiel, got the lawyer on it. Long story short, regulation, no matter how ya shake it, is needed. Until it happens, all of us who have chosen this as our professional career, will battle this very problem, year in and year out. They just use different names. I am trying to change the general image of the "tree guy" from Joe Dirt to Mike Holmes

 

[banshee67]

on one hand, i can certainly see why you true,skilled, insured, professionals are pissed, and you have every right to be

but on the other hand, how can you be mad at those guys for just trying to work and survive and feed their kids/families ?

would you rather they collected welfare handouts

damned if they do, damned if they dont

i would guess, most of the customers who hire those types you guys are talking about, wouldnt be the type of customers you real professionals would even want to work for , for the most part, but then again, money is money, and they are cutting into some of your share... so i can understand , in one sentence most guys are for less government interference and regulation, and then in the next , they want more when the lack of, begins to hurt them

be nice, i bruise easily

 

[treeclimber101]

Go figure ... another thread derailed by that pesky license issue , amazing how selfish some people can be its takes them taking money from your own pocket to realize something needs to be done , I wis that some in this "industry" cared more about the whole instead of there own ass ....

 

[treeclimber101]

Oh and the phonebook is soooo five years ago ....

 

[lxt]

Well, Im not big on regulation, BUT......I feel if a criteria was placed on contractors at some level......then fine, but I dont want some govt. badge telling me what, how, when, etc....

as far as work & money...................im doing fine, the real test is can the new guys perform......& the answer right now is......maybe!

they might low ball, but sooner or later they`re gonna have to raise their prices............its not jerwsey shore around here!!!! its hard working folks making an honest living, not the big mouth "I make $2000 a day types".................regulations....NO!!

Stipulations......................YES!!!!!



LXT................

 

[treeclimber101]

Well bud ya can't have it both ways and 2000.00 a day is what we now have to settle for five years ago 300.00 and hour was average for a 4 man crew so maybe you should move ... Because I wouldn't own a business and be a hard working type for peanuts does fuel and machinery cost less there , not to be a #### but TV says he's banging 2 grand a day , is there a vortex of cheapo work or what around your hood , lighten up I never said that you need to stay and settle for less pay for the same amount of work that we do here , you can come here and I would accept you with open arms ....Like I said there are less guys than years past and I the phone rings alot more .. I would like to have a ride in your spider we can go together and just hug it out at 70 ft....

 

[Blakesmaster]

Wow, it must really come down to different areas as far as how bad #### is getting. From the sounds of it, you southern guys are having a REAL tough go of it. I market pretty heavily between internet, radio and yellow pages and make sure I treat every customer as if they were my only one and I've not had an issue growing my business by leaps and bounds over the past 4 years. And there are plenty of local hacks with ladders and poulans. By the ####ing hundreds it seems. And I live in one of the top 5 worst rated cities in the US as far as economic growth is concerned. I just keep plugging along everyday, take as little as I need from the business for myself and reinvest a large percentage of what I make back into more marketing and equipment. Seems to be working.

My impression of a lot of guys in this business is they get too used to handling big money and they think there's an endless supply of it. Guy's living in $400K houses working 20 year old trucks doesn't make sense to me. ####, I've only taken $350 in draws so far this year. Still living on last years savings for the most part. I could walk out the door right now and buy a modest house straight cash, but I won't. Money I spend on myself is just that, spent...gone...buh bye. Money I spend on the business keeps returning over and over and over.

 

[treeclimber101]

Wow, it must really come down to different areas as far as how bad #### is getting. From the sounds of it, you southern guys are having a REAL tough go of it. I market pretty heavily between internet, radio and yellow pages and make sure I treat every customer as if they were my only one and I've not had an issue growing my business by leaps and bounds over the past 4 years. And there are plenty of local hacks with ladders and poulans. By the ####ing hundreds it seems. And I live in one of the top 5 worst rated cities in the US as far as economic growth is concerned. I just keep plugging along everyday, take as little as I need from the business for myself and reinvest a large percentage of what I make back into more marketing and equipment. Seems to be working.

My impression of a lot of guys in this business is they get too used to handling big money and they think there's an endless supply of it. Guy's living in $400K houses working 20 year old trucks doesn't make sense to me. ####, I've only taken $350 in draws so far this year. Still living on last years savings for the most part. I could walk out the door right now and buy a modest house straight cash, but I won't. Money I spend on myself is just that, spent...gone...buh bye. Money I spend on the business keeps returning over and over and over.

Wow .... your smarter than I thought not to be offensive but you seem to have it all figured out you should be a millionaire in about 10 years , oops I am sorry your business should be worth a million about then , I am completely opposite sorry to say I make it to spend it , I enjoy what my hard work can provide , I don't need chrome to get me home I will run a truck til the doors fall off and then run it for a few more days , but that works for me I am a pretty good mechanic and can fix just about anything I own .. I do however enjoy a new truck for the first 6 months til it looks just like an old truck .... I have never had any complaints about the age of my trucks there well maintained and for the most part clean ...

 

[Blakesmaster]

Wow .... your smarter than I thought not to be offensive but you seem to have it all figured out you should be a millionaire in about 10 years , oops I am sorry your business should be worth a million about then , I am completely opposite sorry to say I make it to spend it , I enjoy what my hard work can provide , I don't need chrome to get me home I will run a truck til the doors fall off and then run it for a few more days , but that works for me I am a pretty good mechanic and can fix just about anything I own .. I do however enjoy a new truck for the first 6 months til it looks just like an old truck .... I have never had any complaints about the age of my trucks there well maintained and for the most part clean ...

I don't have it all figured out by any means and I didn't mean to be offensive, I'm just stating what I see. I don't look at this as a meas to get rich, just a means to live comfortably and I'm well aware of the fact that I am currently in a very advantageous position of not needing much to get by. As the business grows, so will my wallet, and I'm content with that.

 

[treeclimber101]

I don't have it all figured out by any means and I didn't mean to be offensive, I'm just stating what I see. I don't look at this as a meas to get rich, just a means to live comfortably and I'm well aware of the fact that I am currently in a very advantageous position of not needing much to get by. As the business grows, so will my wallet, and I'm content with that.

Thats good man truly, I like to see guys make it ....

 

[mckeetree]

would you rather they collected welfare handouts

Yeah dumbass, I would rather they just collect welfare since they already are and I am paying for that anyway.

 

[Sunrise Guy]

would you rather they collected welfare handouts?

I would rather the USA grow some stones and actually enforce immigration laws that have been on the books for more years than I've been in this world! I would rather municipalities do the same and come up with enforceable laws, testing programs and yearly fees that set standards for who can do tree work.

 

[VA-Sawyer]

Good luck on the enforcing ICE laws thing. The city of Asheville has publicly stated that they will NOT enforce those laws or pass on any help to ICE for doing so. How is that for really being stupid ?
Rick

 

[ducaticorse]

Good luck on the enforcing ICE laws thing. The city of Asheville has publicly stated that they will NOT enforce those laws or pass on any help to ICE for doing so. How is that for really being stupid ?
Rick

pretty F'n stupid......

 

[BC WetCoast]

Our province has just instituted an apprenticeship program, similar to plumbers/electricians/mechanics etc. There will begin to be an ability to regulate those who can enter the industry. At this point, I'm not sure how experienced workers can be grandfathered into the system.

Also, some of the municipalities in our region are becoming much stricter in enforcing their tree bylaws (ordinances). Some now have the ability to write tickets on the spot for offences. I was talking to one muni arborist who said they made $50k last year writing tickets against building contractors for moving tree protection fencing. They also have very strict anti topping and removal restrictions.

 

[mckeetree]

pretty F'n stupid......

Pretty F'n stupid with the four barrel kicked in.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Wow, it must really come down to different areas as far as how bad #### is getting. From the sounds of it, you southern guys are having a REAL tough go of it. I market pretty heavily between internet, radio and yellow pages and make sure I treat every customer as if they were my only one and I've not had an issue growing my business by leaps and bounds over the past 4 years. And there are plenty of local hacks with ladders and poulans. By the ####ing hundreds it seems. And I live in one of the top 5 worst rated cities in the US as far as economic growth is concerned. I just keep plugging along everyday, take as little as I need from the business for myself and reinvest a large percentage of what I make back into more marketing and equipment. Seems to be working.

My impression of a lot of guys in this business is they get too used to handling big money and they think there's an endless supply of it. Guy's living in $400K houses working 20 year old trucks doesn't make sense to me. ####, I've only taken $350 in draws so far this year. Still living on last years savings for the most part. I could walk out the door right now and buy a modest house straight cash, but I won't. Money I spend on myself is just that, spent...gone...buh bye. Money I spend on the business keeps returning over and over and over.

Where's a $400k house? In this region, that'll buy you an apartment or the garage of a single familiy house.

 

[sgreanbeans]

I have never had any complaints about the age of my trucks there well maintained and for the most part clean ...

101, u the one with the old wrecker truck, really old one? someone one here posted a pic a couple years ago with an old wrecker with a log hanging off the end, I found one! Gonna try and get it, sooooo cool!
Also thankin about buying a 818 6x6 marine corps wrecker, like the one I drove, would be handy piece with all the winches and the crane on the back end, doesn't go very high, but strong enough to left up an end of a abrams tank!

 

[treeclimber101]

101, u the one with the old wrecker truck, really old one? someone one here posted a pic a couple years ago with an old wrecker with a log hanging off the end, I found one! Gonna try and get it, sooooo cool!
Also thankin about buying a 818 6x6 marine corps wrecker, like the one I drove, would be handy piece with all the winches and the crane on the back end, doesn't go very high, but strong enough to left up an end of a abrams tank!

No thats tree vet he has the old wrecker and like a fool he sold it ... That is a parade truck or a entrance way show piece .....

 

[c.willard]

I work for a very small company, me and my boss, had another groundy/climber but he could not take the yelling so he split last week. Well he knows how to advertise well, so work comes in, but lately people on CL have been under bidding us bad, and as my boss says, " we give dirtbag prices". We bid low cause if our saws ain't running, we are not making money. Well these CL hacks have been bidding stuff next to nothing and doing terrible work at that. Beautiful oak trees with spikes marks to the top. Peelers, and damaged propertys. We have had calls from people saying they should of went to us. Here in the Kansas City area, there are tons of CL people, many in a subcontracting spiderweb. There is a tree company we have talked to that is not a tree company!!! They just say they are, then bid the work, then contract out to who ever will give them the biggest cut! These type things are flooding around here.