Entrepreneurial business, the law of attraction and demographics

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Levi

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Was reflecting recently on the fascinating ins and outs of having a small business and the different people and situations that can arise. I can't help but feel that the success or failure of my business has everything to do with my own attitude, somehow I can't explain but my attitude seems to directly manifest in the results of my business.

Thinking specifically about demographics, what's my target market and how to do I reach them? It's all becoming a bit more clear to me on how this works and it's a wonder.

Any other small biz owners have insight into this topic?
 
Epic topic :drink:

Business is utterly fascinating. And one way it is imo is how a small tree biz like yours or mine pretty much runs identically to a behemoth biz like GE, only the scale is different.

Anyway, what do you mean by attitude? You mean overall approach or do you mean sometimes on a given appt your attitude might not be up to par so the results won't be as good as usual?
 
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Both micro and macro. Definitely blown quite a few appts by not being in the proper mind state for one reason or another. On the macro I feel that if I could orient my intentions, actions and communications in the proper channels that things fall into place in their rightful way. I've experienced short moments where I felt like I was in the right trans pacific current being guided and transported to the proper destination, if you catch my drift. Other times it seems there is not much action and I'm stuck in some type of eddy.
 
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One interesting observation/ experience- at times i will be working really hard to improve my biz, trying hard and the whole thing seems to deteriorate. Then I get to a point where I say, frig it! What will be will be, and at that exact moment I'll be inundated with great new clients and projects to work on. wtf:?
 
I think it's often the luck of the draw of the customer too that plays in. As well as some of the dynamics you touched on Levi, and then how those things mesh together or not.

I was just commenting to my wife on Thursday evening how much more customers seem happy and appreciative with the chimney work I do now. Not that my customers were unhappy with the treework I used to provide but I feel like a larger percentage of them no matter how good of a job was done were still a little resentful to hand over the kinds of sums that are often involved in treework even if they were in fact getting great value. With the chimney cleaning espescially, the dollar amount (150-300 range)is reasonable enough that people are just happy to get it done by a pro outfit(like treework I've really upped the ante in the chimney sweeping industry around here). So I see less of that resentment due to the financial burden end of things.

Then I show up at my job on Friday morning and have a total personality clash with a full grown bully and end up packing my stuff up and barely keeping my cool. Which kind of blew my theory all to hell and brought me full circle back to just some custys are going to be a-holes and there's not much I can do about it.
 
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Yes, sometimes there is nothing you can do and it boils down to luck of the draw and you have some type of incident like you described!

Great points about the differences of your 2 endeavors, past and present. A large part of me is ready to move on from tree work and into a realm of business that is not so odd and obscure. One of my mentors was what I call a "treevangelist" for years, going to great lengths to educate lay people in the proper ways of tree care, he created a great business but after 14 years he threw his hands up and decided to only do tree removal. Too much ambiguity and obscurity in the tree care world, but on the other side of the coin that just elevates the oddity of the adventure!:)
 
A large part of me is ready to move on from tree work and into a realm of business that is not so odd and obscure. .... Too much ambiguity and obscurity in the tree care world,)

Lordy there is a vast amount of meat and taters to be explored in this thread, but regarding the above, I read between the lines and it seems like where you want to get into something less obscure you will face greater competition and on the other hand there is a niche to be exploited and money to be made by mining into the ambiguous areas.

And just to touch on the money end of things.....Plant Health Care. I never got into it cuz I was too busy with general tree work and too hands on to leave the gtw to others. But the money to be made is substantial, and in this day and age it seems spraying etc can be done in an environmentally friendly capacity which is of course a huge plus.

As one spray guy told me recently, not in so many words- you find the right market and the rich people will not be happy unless they are paying too much. Of course 'paying too much' need not be a sign of unscrupulous biz, it can just mean the value they are willing to pay for goes beyond the dollars and cents of gallons of material applied. The value is not clear cut, theres some ambiguity
 
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Great points! And I agree on several fronts. We are moving our focus towards PHC with good results thus far.

Funny thing about the value or perceived value. I got to a point a few months ago where I was considering asking the prospective clients what they thought was a fair price for a project after discussing their needs and wants.
 
I hear ya but thats probably too far out there to be part of the everyday biz model
 
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Indeed! Would be a fun experiment though.
 
My understanding is reports are part of the package.
 
Not in CT. You just have to be a state licensed arborist and that is not a high bar.
 
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Quite a difference between here and AUS, not surprised... here you need absolutely 0 credentials to write reports, in CO at least.
 
I'm sure lots of reports are written recommending removals then if every man and his dog can write one up. I'm seldom asked for reports so not all that concerned about the study requirements etc

I'd likely change my tune when a little older and worn out tho
 
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I guess it's a curse and a blessing that we have a fair bit of standing dead trees in the area so arbs don't often recommend unwarranted removal, there's plenty to keep removal guys going as it is. It happens, but not often from what I can tell.
 
Cool, back to your OP I can certainly agree with the attitude being important, I think the irregular nature of tree work helps to keep us interested even when motivation levels are low- its always interesting to see what the clients have on offer.
 
I have only very recently wrapped my head around the fact that being a businessman and a treeman are two very very different things. Luckily my wife grasped this concept right away. She has developed the same passion for business as I have for trees. For her, she might as well be operating a pie store or a window cleaning service or an oil refinery or something. The ins and outs of operating a business are pretty fascinating if your into that kind of thing. Im into trees which is needed for the business to run well. I have gotten more and more interested into the whole business thing in just the last couple of years. It is pretty interesting. Before my wife came to the rescue I was working my ass off as a treeman but not making any money. Thats what a business person is for.
 
I've heard that story before, until a second invested person gets involved, the head honcho is overwhelmed, and can't focus on the business end.

Sounds familiar, truth be told.
 
PHC with scheduled visits ie recurring income. Word of mouth and referrals will hopefully bring in more and more when your climbing, pruning, etc work is running thing. Also include a yearly or whatever pruning visit for PHC customers. I save a bunch of these for winter billable hours.
 
Like Kevin, I have a wife who is a wizard at keeping the books.

In regards to getting business, it is just like picking up women*. They smell desperation and gravitate to those without it....



*I've been married longer than I care to remember and know sweet f#ck-all about picking up women.
 
People with lots of disposable income, and interest in the job done right, not right now. Olympia has the full economic spectrum, with lots of saltwater shore lines. I prefer saltwater air to city lots.

I like people close to home, too.

Call me snobby.


I see it as efficient to do all the work at once, and then see them in a few years.




Let your truck be seen in your target markets' neighborhoods. Park in the fancy grocery stores for an hour or two.

Tell people you really appreciate word of mouth referrals. Let's you focus on doing quality work, not chasing down work. Doing quality work on the customer's timeframe and constraints will have work chasing you in a couple years.

Take the time to talk to your customers, whether at the bid or after you have check in hand.
 
Yep, find some saltwater and there should be money not far off :lol:

I use geography & base my target markets around a combination of income levels, amount of trees & general access. In Sydney many areas with the highest concentrations of wealth also have pretty poor access (streets parked full with cars, narrow lanes, or difficult & steep terrain). Also, the people at the very upper end of the wealth spectrum can be difficult,flighty & tightarse clients in my experience.
 
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