Create A Tree Service Business Plan Example To Level Up Your Profit Margins

Starting the tree service business and surviving consistently in a market for a long duration is not easy. It requires a lot from you. But have you ever thought about why this is difficult? There are numerous businesses in the market achieving excellence. Currently, an estimated 54,500 arborists are involved in the tree care business, with an average salary of $46,970 per year in the United States.

So, when everyone is rolling in it, where are we lacking?

The answer lies in creating a long-lasting and durable business plan. To get a spark in your just-started tree service business, create a tree service business plan example that will help you map your business strategies. Moreover, planning shows you the roadmap of where you are, and where you should head further to meet your target market. It will further guide you on

• What services you’ll offer
• How will you market the services
• And what will be the effective revenue streams

The tree service business plan will be a blueprint to keep you going smoothly, despite the unexpected obstacles coming your way. Read on to know why a tree service business plan is essential and how you will successfully implement the same.

Are There Any Perks of Having a Tree Service Business Plan?

Undoubtedly, YES! After the economic fallout of COVID-19, tree care businesses have experienced a decrease in revenue. However, experts have further anticipated that tree service companies will achieve a slow recovery. As per the reports of the tree care industry association, the revenue growth rate of the tree care business industry will grow by 2.5% annually. But how will you achieve these?

For this, you need to frame an effective business plan to put your goals, and objectives into action.

Many tree service businesses skip this step and get straight toward making money. Such impromptu activities will lead you into trouble. The fact is, having a planned business structure will make your efforts worthwhile. There will remain no chance of your potential getting waste. So, without further ado, let’s know why you need a tree service business plan example:

1. To get finance

Layman also thinks twice before spending a penny on their needs that whatever they are spending is worth or not. So, think about the banks, investors, or financial institutions. It is a fact that the tree service business requires a significant capital investment as compared to other local businesses. Hence, a robust business plan will help you get those funds into your account.

But the question is, why will they invest in your business? Whether they will find it a profitable opportunity or not? To get their eyes on you, a lucrative tree service business plan example is a must.

For starting a tree service business, you might need around $10,000 to $50,000 as a startup cost. Each one of us to take can’t take a self-finance approach, and hence at that time, you need to knock on the doors of the banks or investors. The above-listed capital investment consists of various startup costs as mentioned below

• Business license
• General liability insurance
• Disability insurance
• Warehouse
• Equipment insurance
• Worker’s compensation fund
• Equipment you need, including chippers, chainsaws, gloves, boots, ropes, etc.

Hence, after reviewing the business plan you presented, the banks or investors decide how realistic your cost structure is, whether to loan you money and how much you will be able to pay them back.

2. It intensifies your goals

See, we understand that being a tree service provider, you guys will be in a hurry to directly jump into the business without any prior planning. We also accept the fact that trees must be your center of attraction, fascinating you every moment, and you would like to make them a part of your work life.

But hold on, make you every effort worthy. As a tree service provider, there are thousands of things to focus on, from tree trimming to various tree maintenance services like stump removal, tree removal, tree pruning, tree planting, etc. Having a strong execution of a designed business plan will help you achieve the end results smoothly.

Tips to Create a Functional Tree Service Business Plan:

Creating a plan and seeing how properly it is being executed is equally important. Making unrealistic business plans will just ruin your valuable resources.

So, there are certain tips listed below with which you can create a functional tree service business plan example:

• Design the shortest plan length available and see that it lines up with your mission statement, vision, goals, and objectives.
• Start working on your plan, and assign tasks and responsibilities to your departments. Maintain the work orders, create reports and
• See whether the plan is being implemented as designed and whether you are getting desired results.
• Consider your business plan as a living document, and keep it open for changes and updates.

What Consists of a Tree Service Business Plan?

The tree service business plan should be designed in a way that covers all the areas of the effective implementation strategy. It does not have to be absolutely perfect till the time it covers all the areas which keep you going toward your end goals.

Here are the 9 components which should be a part of your tree service business plan example

1. Add a detailed executive summary of your business

A tree care business plan should have a detailed executive summary, where a user can get a glimpse of the entire business plan in no longer than a page. This will answer the below-listed questions of the users

• How will you stand in the market, beating competitors?
• Who are the faces representing your company?
• What are you coming up with?
• And how will you manage the funding?

To answer above mentioned questions, the executive summary should have

• Projections about the income and expenses and how you will make this plan a profitable one.
• Introduction about the business partners you have, the basic information about them, and the experience they possess. It actually opens up the investor’s mindset, and they can start trusting you once they know that you can run the business efficiently.
• A brief about your company and how you are different from other tree service local businesses in the market.
  Last but not least, you need to mention the funding source. From where will you bring the funds into the business?

2. Give the entire business overview

Before knowing the service you provide, your clients need to know you. This section will provide an understanding of all the technical details related to the business.

• What is the structure of your business – LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership, or a corporation
• The legal existence of your tree company and trade name
• The contact details – email address, phone number, or any land connections
• Social media profiles – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.,
• Your official web address
• Your Registered details – on which date you got registered, registration certificate, etc.,

3. Include company description

This next section in your tree service business plan represents what you are for. What
services will you offer? How will you emphasize the fact that you are solving your customer’s problems?

This part of your plan needs to be clear and precise. Your existing and potential customers should be very clear about what you are offering them. It can be either

• tree trimming and removal
• stump grinding
• pruning
• tree planting
• risk assessments
• consulting services.

Any ambiguities in this section will waste your and their time which is really precious nowadays.

To make your company description more effective with an intent to scale up your business you can also add the services which your customer is facing as a problem. This will get the troubled customer straight to you. An example of this will be, broken branches, fallen trees, yellowing leaves, etc.

4. Your vision and mission statement

Your vision and mission statements can either stand your tree service business plan example ahead of your competitors or make it worse. Hence, while framing it, utmost care and attention should be given.

• Vision:Your vision should have specifications like clarity and transparency regarding where you are seeing yourself in the future. You should be very clear about what you want and where you want to stand in the coming years. After knowing this, you can create the mission statement to find a solution on “How you will achieve what you want.” It is actually a roadmap putting all your resources together to achieve the specified goals and objectives.
• Mission statement:Your mission statement should define what you want to give to your customers, employees, and society through your project. How will they get benefited? What are the value proposition activities that you will be done by you toward the targeted market? It is basically the actions you will take to meet the future position which you have dreamt of for you and your company.

5. Broad market analysis

A detailed and broad market analysis will help you document only those things which are market savvy and help you stand among the competitors in the market.

While doing market analysis, you need to brief about who your customers are, the categories of the same, either residential or commercial properties or both, and even the list of your competitors.

While doing the marketing campaigns, you will come across the existing tree service providers in the market. Get to know the size of their business, the capital they invested, and how they are currently surviving in the market. Also, do not forget to look at the market trends. Are they favorable enough to let you enter the market, or do you need to wait for a little? All these things will help you define unique selling propositions different from your competitors in the market.

6. Marketing plan

No matter how efficiently you try making a dish, if you won’t serve it well to the customers, it will remain underrated. The same is the case with the marketing plan of your tree service business. “In order to earn well you need to market well.” You can start inculcating the tree service marketing ideas in your plan to get the results. For instance:

Introduce a referral program. Referral programs are of two types. One among them is word-of-mouth marketing. It is the paid-free and organic method of making strong brand awareness and reputation in the market. Most businesses rely on this method.

Another strong marketing tactic that you can have in your plan is making a strong online presence. You can start regularly updating your online portals like

• your website
• Facebook business page
• Instagram page
• Whatsapp
• LinkedIn
• Google LSA

Online platforms are another effective medium to solve customer issues, get their queries resolved and adopt a customer-friendly business approach in the future. This way, you can adopt various marketing-related strategies to level up your business plan.

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7. Some insights on business operations

This section will include all the steps that you will take to reach your goals and objectives. This will include:

• Who will you hire for your business, along with their skills, qualifications, and responsibilities?
• What type of equipment will you be in need chainsaws, brush chippers, climbing boots, mini skid steers, arborist apps, etc.?
• What software will you need to support your business operations?

For example: How will you maintain the client data, and important client information, build reports, generate estimates and invoices for your jobs, schedule the payment, and get the payment instantly with minimum overdue?

8. Financial plan

Banks, investors, or financial institutions will jump on this section directly to find out whether it is worth investing in your project or not. There are three essential areas to cover. They are

• Calculate your start-up costs:
  Usually, the startup costs range between $10,000 to $50,000. However, the start-up costs vary depending on the size of the business, and the various business operations you undertake. The startup costs will include the costs of the equipment you are using for running the business, the salary you pay to the hired employees, etc. For more salary information, you can go through the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Apart from equipment and employee costs, startup costs will also include basic general liability insurance, business license, permits, separate business insurance, marketing, equipment, and other such costs.
• Figure out the income and expense:
  The expense forecasts hugely covers the startup costs. However, for the income forecast, you need to mention how you will price the services, the methods to price the services (either on the hour-based method or project-based), and how many requests you are going to book per month.
• Analyze the break-even:
  Have a reasonable break-even point where your income matches your expense and get an idea of where exactly you can start earning profit.

9. Plan summarization

This will be the closure part of your entire business plan example. You need to conclude the whole business plan in a way that your clients can get the whole idea by just reading the below-mentioned three areas:

• Your unique selling proposition,
• Why your tree care business will work
• Your funding requirements.

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Conclusion

By going through this whole blog, you must have got a complete view of how to prepare an effective tree service business plan.

Remember, indulging your business in this efficient planning procedure will only rise your possibility of creating huge profit margins. It will undoubtedly optimize the current business scenario, and you will have nothing to lose but only gain.

Also, if you use system improvising automated software for maintaining client data, generating reports, scheduling payments, and creating day-to-day estimates and invoices, then you can scale your tree service business to new heights by being a board-certified master arborist.

InvoiceOwl should be the first thought you can have while thinking of having such user-friendly estimating and invoicing software for your tree care business.