Seeing the need, filling the need

[ddeese69]

Recently in my area, I have taken great notice upon the need for post hurricane storm damage clean up on peoples property and homes. This has led me to seek out and acquire the machines so that I am able to fill that need, I have contacted several different people and have the work lined up for myself which will enable me to break free from my current job and go out on my own. While doing some looking around I have also noticed the major shortages of dump trucks in my area which can be contracted out or used for my own purposes. The only thing i am uncertain of is that this endeavor will be still be tied by my time as far as yard and property clean up is concerned while the dump truck can be slightly more free of my time by hiring a driver for it. I am trying to look into the future about this endeavor and it will improve my current life, but I am unsure on how I could push it into the fastlane. Thoughts?

 

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[MHP368]

Shooting from the hip , does FEMA subcontract for a thing like that maybe?

 

[ddeese69]

Shooting from the hip , does FEMA subcontract for a thing like that maybe?

Yes they do, but unfortunately for my area FEMA has shut down funding for roadside debris clean up, therefore the work that is available now is private people wanting their damaged timber land cleaned or yards and stumps from their yards removed.

 

[MHP368]

unsure on how I could push it into the fastlane

Well you'll need year round demand so just a landscaping company that specializes in extreme stuff?

Crime scene cleanup?

Lets leave that aside , When you map this out as it stands whats it look like? How do you get leads? Website? Advertising? Door to door?

How do you eyeball a job to see what its worth to you and what it will take to finish? , how do you hire?

Even if you havent done these things how would you?

Seems to me like scaling a service like this becomes problematic with the human element. You go one county over and youd need hr and a manager for a crew , but then whats stopping them from just doing it themselves?

You can only compete on price

Ive heard of roofers going all over the country for big jobs so maybe if you get a good set of crews going local then the next time a hurricane hits you could be johnny on the spot with a solution for the right price.

That brings you back to that first problem though , how do you keep the cleanup crew paid when hurricanes arent happening?

Personally i'd pay a bit of a premium to have a big tree trimmed or something like that if it was done by a company that dealt with hurricane damage , it has a sexy branding opportunity . I think you'll have to diversify the offerings a bit though , what about septic cleanup? Dont yhose things blow out with flooding as well? Cross train the guys maybe?

Have you networked with any other companies that get business during a disaster? I imagine portable toilets need to be rented and brought in , generators and such . What else could you offer to someone right after a hurricane that solves problems for them? Do insurance companies pay for any of this?

 

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[CopyDane]

The only thing i am uncertain of is that this endeavor will be still be tied by my time as far as yard and property clean up is concerned

I may have misunderstood something, but this seems rather simple to me; you hire someone to do that part of the work down the road too?

Good luck!

 

[Ernman]

Your obvious challenge is that you're tied to a location. Remember the part of MJ's books where he talks about swimming in a pond vs the ocean? You're dealing with both the demand on your time and is there really scale? That said, I have a friend who seems to have found a good balance. He runs a "tree service" here. He has a half dozen trucks and crews. They are busy throughout the year and he makes bank. But here's the secret sauce. He and his crew are well trained and do a fantastic job. He can demand and get higher prices because of the quality of their work. It's also not just tree removal. They are experts at large tree pruning and care.

I'm not suggesting you become a tree service. Rather that you consider the size of your pond and what you can/must do to ensure top quality that allows you to charge higher prices.

 

[ddeese69]

Well you'll need year round demand so just a landscaping company that specializes in extreme stuff?

Crime scene cleanup?

Lets leave that aside , When you map this out as it stands whats it look like? How do you get leads? Website? Advertising? Door to door?

How do you eyeball a job to see what its worth to you and what it will take to finish? , how do you hire?

Even if you havent done these things how would you?

Seems to me like scaling a service like this becomes problematic with the human element. You go one county over and youd need hr and a manager for a crew , but then whats stopping them from just doing it themselves?

You can only compete on price

Ive heard of roofers going all over the country for big jobs so maybe if you get a good set of crews going local then the next time a hurricane hits you could be johnny on the spot with a solution for the right price.

That brings you back to that first problem though , how do you keep the cleanup crew paid when hurricanes arent happening?

Personally i'd pay a bit of a premium to have a big tree trimmed or something like that if it was done by a company that dealt with hurricane damage , it has a sexy branding opportunity . I think you'll have to diversify the offerings a bit though , what about septic cleanup? Dont yhose things blow out with flooding as well? Cross train the guys maybe?

Have you networked with any other companies that get business during a disaster? I imagine portable toilets need to be rented and brought in , generators and such . What else could you offer to someone right after a hurricane that solves problems for them? Do insurance companies pay for any of this?

My advertisements at this point have been more of a door to door basis on the grounds of spotting land that is in need of general clean up after the storm or a property that has been clear cut and is in need of clean up to prepare for replanting. I judge a job by the amount of work that the owner wants done to the property (general clean up or preparing the land for farm usage) and yes I agree I do see the scaling problem and also I will be limited travel wise. I think my only way around some of these obstacles would be landing contracts with some of the local power companies to keep clean and maintain the areas around power lines. I have networked with several travel crews who are contracted with Fema but they only specialize in roadside clean ups and not general land clean up or maintenance of properties

 

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[ddeese69]

Your obvious challenge is that you're tied to a location. Remember the part of MJ's books where he talks about swimming in a pond vs the ocean? You're dealing with both the demand on your time and is there really scale? That said, I have a friend who seems to have found a good balance. He runs a "tree service" here. He has a half dozen trucks and crews. They are busy throughout the year and he makes bank. But here's the secret sauce. He and his crew are well trained and do a fantastic job. He can demand and get higher prices because of the quality of their work. It's also not just tree removal. They are experts at large tree pruning and care.

I'm not suggesting you become a tree service. Rather that you consider the size of your pond and what you can/must do to ensure top quality that allows you to charge higher prices.

Thank you, I appreciate any different perspectives and viewpoints. I had an idea of maybe trying to contact my local counties or power companies and maybe connecting with them and seeing if it would be possible to land any contracts to maintain dirt roads or along powerlines as overgrowth is quite the frequent problem here due to climate.

 

[ddeese69]

I may have misunderstood something, but this seems rather simple to me; you hire someone to do that part of the work down the road too?

Good luck!

Yes, I guess I seem to overlooked that haha, that would definitely be a big consideration for the future.

 

[ddeese69]

Well you'll need year round demand so just a landscaping company that specializes in extreme stuff?

Crime scene cleanup?

Lets leave that aside , When you map this out as it stands whats it look like? How do you get leads? Website? Advertising? Door to door?

How do you eyeball a job to see what its worth to you and what it will take to finish? , how do you hire?

Even if you havent done these things how would you?

Seems to me like scaling a service like this becomes problematic with the human element. You go one county over and youd need hr and a manager for a crew , but then whats stopping them from just doing it themselves?

You can only compete on price

Ive heard of roofers going all over the country for big jobs so maybe if you get a good set of crews going local then the next time a hurricane hits you could be johnny on the spot with a solution for the right price.

That brings you back to that first problem though , how do you keep the cleanup crew paid when hurricanes arent happening?

Personally i'd pay a bit of a premium to have a big tree trimmed or something like that if it was done by a company that dealt with hurricane damage , it has a sexy branding opportunity . I think you'll have to diversify the offerings a bit though , what about septic cleanup? Dont yhose things blow out with flooding as well? Cross train the guys maybe?

Have you networked with any other companies that get business during a disaster? I imagine portable toilets need to be rented and brought in , generators and such . What else could you offer to someone right after a hurricane that solves problems for them? Do insurance companies pay for any of this?

This is rather random, but I noticed on your profile you have bars that you have read Unscripted and The millionaire fastlane , I have also and I was curious as to how to acquire those bars on my profile also?

 

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[Get Right]

Storm chasing is difficult and lots of people do it (almost no barriers to entry). Might I suggest a way to "sell shovels" instead of mine for gold:

1. Find a company selling their used 30 yard roll-off containers. Make a deal with the owner to find a buyer. Run an ad in the storm damaged area. Mark them up and hire a shipper to deliver. I've done this a lot. Good money, almost no work.
2. At this point in the Hurricane Michael recovery you can also buy dump trailers in the area that the storm chasers bought and used for just a few months. Relocate them to an area that needs them and sell.
3. If you must storm chase, get hooked up with an insurance company. I used to fix fire damaged houses for State Farm. They always have a steady workload.
4. Get set up to be an insurance adjuster if you just want to have your feet on the ground in the area. Good money but comes and goes with storms. Lots of travel.
5. Go to one of the boat/yacht auctions. Do your homework and flip a boat or 2.
6. Play on #5: Lease a boatyard and sublease to marine insurance companies to store their boats until auction. Take a small lease payment with rights to purchase 2 or 3 boats pre-auction.

Hundreds of ideas like this so get that idea-thinker going!

 

[Ernman]

This is rather random, but I noticed on your profile you have bars that you have read Unscripted and The millionaire fastlane , I have also and I was curious as to how to acquire those bars on my profile also?

Go to the threads I read Unscripted or The Millionaire Fastlane and leave a comment. Then magically the bars appear.

 

[MHP368]

This is rather random, but I noticed on your profile you have bars that you have read Unscripted and The millionaire fastlane , I have also and I was curious as to how to acquire those bars on my profile also?

The forum has threads "I've read the millionaire fastlane " and "i've read unsceipted" , post that you've done so in those threads and a forum mod will update your flair to reflect that.

 

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[Dianne Cohen]

Recently in my area, I have taken great notice upon the need for post hurricane storm damage clean up on peoples property and homes. This has led me to seek out and acquire the machines so that I am able to fill that need, I have contacted several different people and have the work lined up for myself which will enable me to break free from my current job and go out on my own. While doing some looking around I have also noticed the major shortages of dump trucks in my area which can be contracted out or used for my own purposes. The only thing i am uncertain of is that this endeavor will be still be tied by my time as far as yard and property clean up is concerned while the dump truck can be slightly more free of my time by hiring a driver for it. I am trying to look into the future about this endeavor and it will improve my current life, but I am unsure on how I could push it into the fastlane. Thoughts?

If you are going to go into this space, you may also want to consider a business putting up the shutters before the storm. That is always an issue for people in my area. I know that does not answer the question that you asked. I hope you are okay with that.