Questions about being self employed/contract climber

Hi all!

I currently work as a full time 50+ hour climber/foreman for a company in Nashville, TN.
I am tossing around the idea of becoming a more self employed climber, and contracting my work. Some to the company I work for now and maybe for some other companies around Nashville as well.
The goal is more freedom in my schedule to pursue other interests, hobbies and such. One of which is starting a recreational tree climbing school in Tennessee.

My question is who here is self employed/ contract climbing? How much of PITA or cost is insurance? What type of insurance do you have, what are 1099 taxes like, etc?

Do you find it more freeing or more stressful not being tied to an everyday, 5-6 day a week schedule?

If anyone made the switch in their career from full-time employment to contracting how did it work out financially? Was it a bit of a hit at first?

Just all around curious, really! Thanks, I appreciate the thoughts and feedback.

Get any loans you need, business, vehicle, mortgage, while you have a work history and salary/ wages from an established employer.

Insurance is the easy part of the business. You shop around, go to Stratum in CA if they cover your state. You proabably need a contractor's license, contractor's surety bond, commercial auto insurance, etc.

Get an accountant to set up books for yourself, or just have them do the taxes.

As a business owner/ to become a business owner, I had to set up an account with Dept. of Revenue for sales tax, and Dept of Labor and Industries for a Contractor's license, and Worker's comp (not applicable to you). ETC, ETC. Your state will vary. WA has a simple link on their Department of Labor and Industries about starting a business.

Incorporate, possibly, over sole prop. I would.

Most contract climbers I know don't even have insurance. Doesn't make sense to me as its less than $1k a year.

What sort of insurance are we on about? Just curious.

Over here I have personal injury and income protection insurance. But I cancelled my public liability insurance about 6 years ago, due to not needing it as a contract climber is covered by the primary contractors insurance.

I have opinions on this, not everyone agrees with them, but here we go.
It should only be as a step towards starting your own business. Do it yes, but start advertising for your own work.
There was a telling post on here from Reg Coates where he knocked over and chipped some piddling birch for 450 dollars.
He then showed a picture of a monster fir he had spent 10 or so hours dismantling as a contract climber for.......450 dollars.

Yup but when you are done with your day as a contract climber you are done.

When you are done with your own job you go home, return calls, fix equipment, sharpen saws and stress the heck out. Just saying.

What about when you're in mid 40s, Or whatever age the years catch up and you don't feel like it anymore?

I would be worried that you might find you have more stress and less free time being self employed. I know I do.

I think that is what PC was talking about.

About the only benefit is that I can go to the lake on a Tuesday, which I seldom do anyway.

I'm a sub par climber, I still get contract climbs, real PITA up here, often I'm the only one who shows up to work, no crew, no chipper, POd custys.

Keep it up!

When you get older, but still able to produce, or do something at all, you count your lucky stars, that you are still in the game.

I don't think it's the right choice to get more free time from your schedule,from my experience anyway.

I still have a bunch of tools to maintain and all the calendar days still gotta be booked,it's up to you to schedule your days and that in itself can be a task, ime. Started off scraping up days,now it's 2 weeks out constantly.

I've managed to find a little niche market for myself. On the big properties around here the Mrs. is usually in charge of the gardens and they like to have a female arborist to chat to. Some these 'Gardens' can be 10 acres with approach drives of a km or more!
Word of mouth is spreading and I have enough work for me and the hubby without working myself into the ground.
Yes, sometimes it can be annoying when sitting down to do invoicing and taxes and stuff that is not revenue earning, but the pace of life is good.

I'm not fast or daring enough for full-on commercial work, so bidding and working my own jobs to the satisfaction of my clients is working for me.

We need stress in our lives, why is it to be avoided at all costs?
I would be more stressed being at the beck and call of another human being.

Totally depends on the person Mick.

Stress can motivate or cripple. Fight or freeze.

I was just saying that self employment may not be the road to less stress.

For sure, but it's become such a bogey word, pressure, deadlines and overcoming challenging situations (in all aspects of life and work) are the ones that produce results.

I feel for the contract climbers that are not so well established etc and they get absolutely flogged by dodgy operators...

La becasse said:

We need stress in our lives, why is it to be avoided at all costs?

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Why? Because some people fear failure more than they fear not trying.

Therefore they stick in lower risk positions like climbing vs higher risk, higher reward positions like running a business.

Stress is what you make of it. They can kill you, but they can't eat you. Growth doesn't come from a comfortable place.

Wow, just read all of the replies so far. Thanks guys.

Some thoughts- The stress levels I typically face are from things like salesmen, not enough money on jobs, having to work 12-13...14 hour shifts, feeling guilty about not wanting to work saturdays, having to work with unexperienced employees constantly. I don't know, I'm just younger and don't want to work these huge long work weeks for no good reason other than to further this one particular company. The commercial tree world has just always seemed 100% full throttle production mode to me. I have always been a little bit more laid back and less intense, so it's constantly been a battle of adaptation for me int his industry. I love climbing and caring for trees. But the pace and intensity seems to wear on me.

Maybe asking for a 4 day, 40 hour work week would be a better start than being a contract climber. I just have other things in life I want to focus on other than this constant work grind. I love teaching tree climbing, so I want to get that business venture off the ground and running. Trained with Tree Climbers International to facilitate group climbs and one day I would love to teach people to climb on their own as a tree climbing instructor. And I love turning wood, might want to see if some money can be made there. And I want to travel more for outdoor recreation purposes, etc...

Basically I want to be freed up while I'm still young-ish. But still earn a living. My bills aren't huge, so it's not a huge stress there.

It does sound like beginning to contract for myself might bring more stress. It's been good to hear everyone's opinions on the matter.

La becasse said:

We need stress in our lives, why is it to be avoided at all costs?
I would be more stressed being at the beck and call of another human being.

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For me it's when stress overwhelms me and it affects me even after I get off work. I'm so frazzled and tired and shot that it affects my quality of life. I don't mind the high stress work environment to an extent. I like a challenge, I like the risk, and I like taking down the trees considered difficult. It's when it wears through to the bone...often after really long days, and you don't have the mental capacity to fully deal with it anymore. And you're back up and at it, waking up at 5am to do it again the very next day.

Set you boundaries.

Sounds like management problems.

(4) 10's, or (5) 9 or 10's, no Saturdays is a start.

Why do YOU feel bad about not working Saturdays, after work weeks like that.

Sounds like the company has to get their poop in a group.

High turn-over is part of tree work, until you can find a good person. Nobody good will want to come into that schedule and pressure. A cycle, perhaps.

Stand up for yourself, and at the same time have some solid ways to benefit the company, if they need it. I don't see your boss on a forum with pro advice about running a business. Does the boss read forums?

McGuarantee said:

For me it's when stress overwhelms me and it affects me even after I get off work. I'm so frazzled and tired and shot that it affects my quality of life. I don't mind the high stress work environment to an extent. I like a challenge, I like the risk, and I like taking down the trees considered difficult. It's when it wears through to the bone...often after really long days, and you don't have the mental capacity to fully deal with it anymore. And you're back up and at it, waking up at 5am to do it again the very next day.

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My climbing mentor calls that dog years... doing monster trees every day, 5-6 days a week... 1 year of that is like 7 years of wear and tear on the body...

Always a tough call whether to go out on your own or not. One major question is "how good are you?" I don't care for many of the contract climbers I've worked with ... watching them fumble around is a waste of my time and $... on the other hand the good ones are like gold.. hard to book though. they have their regulars and I just don't need them that often. So if you are that good, you should be able to make plenty of cash and have more flexibility in your schedule.

McGuarantee said:

For me it's when stress overwhelms me and it affects me even after I get off work. I'm so frazzled and tired and shot that it affects my quality of life. I don't mind the high stress work environment to an extent. I like a challenge, I like the risk, and I like taking down the trees considered difficult. It's when it wears through to the bone...often after really long days, and you don't have the mental capacity to fully deal with it anymore. And you're back up and at it, waking up at 5am to do it again the very next day.

Click to expand...

That does sound quite tough, I'll admit.

How much money you need to sustain and grow, your debt-load, capital for the tree climbing school, employees/ WC/ Training costs/ retention/ etc, additional revenue streams outside CC...factors to weigh.

Risk vs Reward.

Are you getting compensated sufficiently for the effort you put in and the risks you face for someone else?
It's not always money, benefits, time off, gear, training, does it add up sufficiently to justify the effort you are making for someone else's business?

Starting out on your own sounds better, you get to keep the profits, but you have to know your market. is there room for you or will you have to make your own space being slightly different?