The Journey from Cowboy to Professional

dov

I know it's a strange title, as a professional is just someone who gets paid to do what he does, ye? By my use of the word here, I mean someone who can provide a decent service to the customer, work safely and knows what they are doing.

Well, admission time. I'm currently on a journey. Everyone is, but mine is coming from what many of you guys would call being a cowboy, to being a decent tree worker. Now I never, ever cheated my customers. I don't overquote when people look wealthy, I don't cold call for customers. Sheesh, much of my work is from referrals, but I started out as a cowboy in the industry.

I started out in the industry doing groundie work for a cowboy. He was just a guy who got sick of mowing lawns and cleaning gutters, did a day or week long chainsaw and ropes course and set up in the industry. Instead of actually getting qualified in any way, he keeps on talking about setting up a guild for tree fellers with a card that 'free enterprise businessmen' can display when they want to look professional and qualified. He thinks it's unfair that people should be qualified before they can write an arborists report. He doesn't know how to identify trees, how to shape trees with an eye for growth habits or where to place a cut, but for all that he makes a fair living out of tree felling. Good for him. I started working for him in late 2004 and continued sporadically over the next few years.

I used to kinda be like him. I started up a PC repair business in late 2008 and to make ends meet while I was building the business I went back to working with the cowboy. Then I realised that I really, really like climbing trees (not so much fun with a harness though ,) so I bought myself a saw and started out, mainly using my mates equipment. After a while I got myself a small trailer (6x4) and another saw. Then I fell out with the guy (over money - he doesn't like paying tax etc) and kept on working on my own with word of mouth advertising.

Then I found treeworld.

Now when I started out in business in 2008, it was with the determination to prove that one can run a business honestly. No skimping on my customers, no hiding things from the tax office, no dodgy service. Reading treeworld got me thinking about that. Was I really providing a quality service to my customers? It really got me thinking. Was I actually what a lot of guys call a cowboy? To be honest, the truth kind of hurt.

So what can an industry cowboy do about it?

I can only say what I've done and what I plan to do:

• I've bought some more safety and climbing gear (harness and flipline - I don't generally use an adjuster as I prefer to double-tail my flipline with a prussik in the middle, climbers, another daisy-chain, etc). My groundies have always had safety gear including helmets. I made sure of that! Unfortunately, I've only just started providing hearing protection.
• Reading, reading and more reading. Both on treeworld and in books on tree climbing and tree felling. Learning knots and other useful things wherever and whenever I can.
• From next week I will be fully insured - it really isn't that expensive when paid monthly and absolutely worth it for both my sake and the customers.
• I couldn't afford the arboriculture course this year, but will begin next year.
• Studying industry standards.
• Talking with others in the industry and being willing to accept criticism - as long as I can learn something useful from it!

This journey is going to last several years. I know that, but I'm on the way and already providing a better, more professional service to my customers with less risk of accident.

I guess it's a hard question to ask, but is anyone else going through this process, or have you gone through it in the past?

Brodie

Hi dov,

First up congratulations on admitting to being a bit of a cowboy to the public I know it must take some courage assuming you have read the comments about cowboys on this forum. Having said that I and im sure many others will applaud you for taking the steps to get educated in this wonderful industry of ours. There is so much to learn these days that it sometimes gets a bit overwhelming but take it slow and everything will make sense.

I to am in a similar situation to you I was fortunate enough to start with training before I worked in the industry but I am trying to start a business in this industry and let me tell you its some tough work at times and im not talking about the actual tree work im talking legal and government requirements that need to be carried out before you can start to run a business as a professional.

So as someone in a similar position to yourself id say keep on the track that your on now and get all the "paper work" side ready and your half way there. You will find some invaluable information doing your TAFE course and although it seems like alot of work at the time it really is not that much and you will be wondering where the year went.

Lastly just stay safe thats the key to being professional.

dov

Thanks Brodie, most of the legal/government stuff was out of the way anyway from the PC side of the business. The accounting still drives me to distraction. The TAFE course can't be anywhere near as taxing as the degree I'm finishing off at the moment (including papers in up to three languages and exams in ancient Greek or Hebrew!)

In putting up this post, I'm guessing that there are a lot of tree fellers like myself hiding in the woodwork (pun intended).

Eric Frei

I think starting today is much easier than years ago.

For many there was no internet, no idea where you bought gear and it was near on a secret kept by others.

These days the information is much more easily accessed.

Learning never ends I assure you, the practical side of tree work is one aspect, beyond that is an entire other, it's good to blend the two later.

What are you studying in uni?

__________________

dov

I'd get bored if there was nothing more to learn Ekka. That's one thing I like about the industry. I've always said that if you stop learning, you may as well just drop dead!

Almost completed a degree in Biblical Studies, hence the ancient Hebrew and Koine Greek. Only a few more subjects to go now. It's taken a couple of extra years cos I've had to look after my parents a lot, but they're doing well now, so I went back this year to finish it all off.

Eric Frei

OK, not being smart here but WTF did you study that for and WTF sort of job does one get with that?

__________________

dov

Well, I'm a Christian, so the desire to understand the Scriptures better is a start, but I felt that I was called to go and study this. That calling has been confirmed over the years. In the end, the degree is aimed more at someone becoming a teaching pastor. I've had a strong focus in my electives on cross-cultural studies and communication, so missions is also a possible path.

In the Christian movement that I'm a part of, the pastor often works full time in his own profession and does his Christian work on top of that, so having a business of my own is a bit of a bonus. I seriously don't know if I'll ever actually have the title of 'pastor' and don't really care to be honest, but I've done quite a bit of pastoral work - more with people on the 'edge' that other people in the church found it hard to connect with or understand - drug addicts, alcoholics, the mentally ill etc. and I've seen some amazing things come out of that. My main focus however is cross-cultural ministry.

Eric Frei

Well, if I spot any people that need help I'll send them your way .... now where's Newguy18!

__________________

Garry Brockley

__________________

dov

I'm very happy to say that as of today, I'm fully insured. Been a long time coming, but I owe it to my customers.

Drouin Tree Service

How much did it set you back?

__________________

Drouin Tree Services | Excavator Hire - Drouin and SE Gippsland | Landclearing Melbourne

dov

It's $1180 a year including equipment insurance, but I'm paying monthly, they haven't told me exactly how much yet... An extra 8% I think. Not bad compared to what I've heard of others paying.

Drouin Tree Service

Thats not bad im guessing its $5mill?

__________________

Drouin Tree Services | Excavator Hire - Drouin and SE Gippsland | Landclearing Melbourne

dov

Yes. $5 mill. Should be sufficient. The worst I've ever done is smash three roof tiles. That was before I knew how to make nice cuts to direct branches properly. Since then I haven't really dropped anything where it shouldn't be.

Surprised a customer when lopping a 10m Euc (with a decent canopy spread) the other week, dropping everything around a derelict car 2m from the trunk, but not actually dropping anything on the car. Worst the car got was a layer of sawdust! Still would have been a lot easier if we'd been able to move the car... Gave me a lot of job satisfaction though.

dov

On a separate note, I finally arranged for business cards yesterday. $40 for 250 cards (colour) is ok, ye?

sueann

Oh wow! I think that's lovely dov, that you feel like that!

I'm not religious, pretty much a heathen and an atheist really, but I still think it's a great thing you want to do.

For myself, I'd rather help someone who trys, not loser druggo's and so on but I guess someone has to help them. Sorry if I sound harsh, I'm soft as really, but not for people who drain you like those sort of people do.

dov

It's all about seeing who people are without the drugs/drink/bad habits etc and seeing who they could be. I could show you a whole range of people from different walks of life - and you would never, ever guess that they used to be criminals and/or drug addicts/alcoholics, but in every single case their families had almost given them up as dead.

Anyway, this isn't the main theme of the thread, but maybe it blends in nicely. Is there hope for the door-knocking Samoans?

sueann

We don't get those door knocking people here Dov, we're a bit out bush for them I think, and the dogs would terrify them poor things. They're not that good with strangers lurking around. We're catholic anyway, though not very good one's.

I think it's lovely and completely unselfish to do what you do, sometimes I wish I was a nicer person but I have not a lot of patience with crooks and druggo's.

If I was going to ever get involved with stuff like that, I think it would be for the children of the people who are like this, I think they must cop it pretty bad through no fault of their own.

dov

I guess I grew up with a psychotic speed addict in the house - who is now clean I'm glad to say and very happily married - so trying to help people who are in those dark zones of life seemed pretty natural. That makes up a decent amount of my pastoral experience.

One has to consider who one can reach and where the issue stems from. If the parents can be helped, then help the parents. The kids need them and will do far better if they can grow up with their own parents off the drugs. One way or another, the cycle has to be stopped or it will very often repeat in the next generation. In most cases to remove children from even quite a bad home is, in my opinion, the worst option and no real solution to the problem. One has to look for a more wholistic option.

As I'm in a different fellowship group now and my social circle is now almost entirely Nepalese, I don't get to even meet many severe drug addicts these days. Somehow I just became sort of a member of the Nepalese community here in Melbourne. I do a lot more counselling people through culture-shock (which can be quite severe with depression etc resulting from the rigours of adjusting to a new host culture) and supporting international students by teaching life skills, advice (culturally contextualised - the right advice in one culture may be the worst thing in another!) and job skills etc. In this capacity I do come across some students with longer term mental issues or drug issues, but can only try to give them the tools to overcome their problems and encourage them as they put those tools to good use.

The Samoan door-knockers I was referring too were the cowboy tree-loppers who charge a fortune and often do a pretty shoddy job. I guess you wouldn't get them too much out your way, but in the major cities they seem to be doing their best to give the rest of us a bad name!