How to Start a Tree Removal Business Easily

Trees always need extra care, as they keep falling now and then. If left unattended, trees can create quite a huge mess, irrespective of what season it is. Thus, arborists have a great scope over tree service businesses.

Not only this, the statistics presented by the US Bureau of labor statistics prove that. The tree care company has an annualized growth rate of 4.2% per year on average, over the past five years from 2018-2023.

For the fun fact, “Money grows on trees.”

If you are also on the hunt for ideas on how to start a tree removal business, give this comprehensive article a good read.

Here’s How to Start a Tree Removal Business

1. Be a certified arborist

2. Create an effective business plan

3. Determine the legal factors of your business: registration, and licensing requirements

4. Select the appropriate business structure

5. Choose business name and logo

6. Work on your capital requirements

7. Set up business accounting

8. Marketing plans

9. Hire your first employee and kick-start your business

1. Be a Certified Arborist

The initial point coming your way while starting a tree service business is certification. 

When you When you work as a certified arborist, you have ample opportunities for winning jobs and seamlessly tracking business finance.

It will also help you stay safe in dangerous work environments. This is because as a certified arborist, you will have to have a deep understanding of various pruning techniques, grip over handling the tree care tools, safety equipment, stump removal equipment, and the necessity of using safety gears.

If you are looking for more helpful tips on managing your business finances seamlessly, give this blog a good read: How to Manage Business Finances? [7 Key Tips]

If you are looking for more helpful tips on managing your business finance seamlessly, give this blog a good read: How to Manage Business Finances? [7 Key Tips]

2. Create an Effective Business Plan

The other significant step while starting your own tree service business is to create a tree service business plan to level up the profit margins.

Formulating a business plan involves extensive research. It requires you to

• Add a detailed executive summary
• Give a detailed business overview
• Produce an effective company description
• Draft the organizational structure
• Specify your company goals
• Create financial strategies
• Work on marketing tactics
• Analyze the competitive market
• Formulate the pricing strategies 

If you don’t want to go with a detailed description of your tree service business, you can go with another business plan, which is a lean startup business plan.

A lean startup business plan is a summarized business plan where an individual can just validate the business idea by developing MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and the impact of the same after trying it on a few target audiences.
As per your business scope and requirements, you can decide traditional business plan vs. a lean startup business plan, which is best for you.

3. Determine the Legal Factors of Your Business: Registration, and Licensing Requirements

In order to operate legally, it is very much essential for the businesses of the tree service industry to fulfill the legality of the business. Have a look at some of them:

• Business registration: Tree removal businesses need to be registered with the local or state government agency. Further, if you need trademark protection for your tree removal business, you can go and get yourself registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Local or state government agency varies from state to state, but mostly they need to get themselves registered with the Secretary of State or the Department of Revenue.

• Licensing requirements: A tree care business requires at least two types of business licenses one among which is a city or state license and the other is a contractor’s license.
  Additionally, you must be a board-certified master arborist to gain licensing. You can receive your certification as an arborist from the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).

4. Select the Appropriate Business Structure

Choosing an appropriate business structure for your tree company is a must. However, it depends on various factors such as

• Size and scope of the business
• Number of partners involved
• Level of personal liabilities involved

From sole proprietorship to partnership to limited liability company or corporation each has its own pros and cons.

• In sole proprietorships, the power is fully vested in your hands. You won’t be required to share your profits with anyone. However, it would be best if you took full liability for the losses and the stacked-up interests. 
• If you are opting for a partnership, the main advantage of it is its inexpensiveness, while the disputes that may arise are the biggest disadvantage. 
• A corporation is a separate legal entity in itself. This business has major pros:

• Better financial resources 
• Specialized management 
• Perpetuity
• Transferability
• Continuity

However, the cost of establishing is one of the greatest cons of a corporation.

5. Choose a Business Name and Logo

Deciding the name and logo of your tree care business is the apparent part of starting a tree service business. However, it is also the most tricky bit. 

Since you must use this name on all the important paperwork and legal documents, it is essential to decide on a name for your business as soon as possible. 

Even though the business name can be catchy, it should be easy to pronounce and spell. Additionally, the name should reflect what your business is about, shed light on your mission, and have a sense of personal touch.

6. Work on Your Capital Requirements

A significant question is how much capital is needed to start a tree service business.

The answer largely depends on how many employees, services, and equipment you plan to use. The larger the number of employees, services, and equipment, the more required revenue. 

For penning down each purchase of equipment and then tracking all of them in one place – Use InvoiceOwl to create customized purchase orders.

Once you have decided on the scale of the business and the capital needed, you need to think about resources for obtaining the capital.  

• small business loans, 
• savings, 
• crowdfunding, 
• and bootstrapping 

are some common methods used by small businesses to arrange capital funds. 

Large-scale businesses resort to

• bank loans, 
• retained earnings, 
• borrowing money from lenders, 
• and equity capital. 

Thus, determining the capital requirements is one of the key steps in setting up a tree-cutting business.

7. Set up Business Accounting

To open a business bank account for your tree-cutting business is significant. A business bank account would help if you also considered having a business credit card.

Before you go ahead with opening the business account, acquire an employer identification number through the internal revenue service and use it on all pertinent business documents. 

Having separate accounts for personal and professional transactions helps you avoid confusion. It is easier to manage your business expenses, file sales tax, spend money on business tools, and more via a business account. 

Thus, to have a proper and functional accounting system possible, it is a must to open a business bank account as well as have a separate business credit card.

8. Marketing Plans

Once everything is taken care of, you must finalize your team and work on different marketing ideas to grow the tree service business. Marketing your business is one of the most significant aspects of establishing a successful tree service business. 

The right marketing strategies can help your business bloom manifold. The main aim of employing an effective marketing plan for promoting the tree service business should be to generate leads, maintain an existing customer retention base as well as convert potential clients into real-time customers.

• Search engine optimization 
• Publicizing on social media platforms
• Referral programs 
• PPC advertising 

are some of the most often-used marketing techniques to promote a business.

You can even create business cards to reach out to potential clients and place them in your estimates and proposals or use it as referrals.

9. Hire Your First Employee and Kick-Start Your Business

Depending upon the types of customer service you wish to offer, you need to hire a team of skilled field technicians. 

Field service businesses also require dispatchers, schedulers, and competent office staff. Therefore, you must conduct a thorough hiring and screening process to hire able employees.     

You should also provide the employees with automated estimation and invoicing software, like InvoiceOwl, to help them generate professional estimates, create quick invoices, and receive fast payments. 

Let’s discuss this in detail.

Business Management Software – Estimation and Invoicing Tool 

Tree care companies may have a hard time managing everything at once. Field service businesses, such as tree service companies, require you to perform many tasks. These chores include 

• Providing professional tree care services
• Competing with other local other business owners
• Dealing with commercial and residential clients
• Assessing the market data
• Storing customer details
• Processing payments
• Lastly, handling various social media accounts.

If you are a tree service business contractor or plan to become one, you should consider seeking the assistance of an estimate and invoicing software like InvoiceOwl. 

Some of the primary features of InvoiceOwl that help you focus on other regular chores of your tree removal company are

• Generating estimates & invoices online for free 
• Quoting a price for residential and commercial clients 
• Accepting upfront payments quickly for work done by tree service providers 
• Personalized tree service invoice templates.
• Real-time notifications
• E-signing

Conclusion

These were the detailed comprehensive guide on how to start a tree trimming business or tree removal business. However, to kick-start your business, you need to precisely follow the steps mentioned above. For the smooth boarding process of your tree service company, you can definitely take assistance from estimating & invoicing software like InvoiceOwl.