Start A Tree Maintenance Business - Business Ideas

Updated: September 16th, 2022
Start A Tree Maintenance Business

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

The tree service business is a great venture because homeowners and commercial property owners will always have trees that need attention.

A tree service business offers services such as pruning branches, cutting away dead branches or pruning, transplanting, tree removal, and stump grinding, among others. Tree service companies use climbing and rigging techniques to help in the maintenance and appearance of trees.

Starting a tree trimming & tree maintenance service can be a great business opportunity, however, you will need specific skills to perform the tasks.

Starting a tree maintenance business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell tree cutting, trimming and maintenance service, or selling tree cutting, trimming and maintenance service online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

market size
$26B
starting costs
$18K
gross margin
90%
time to build
270 days
growth
SEO
business model
Brick & Mortar
time investment
Full time

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$252

Website Costs

$223

$7,015

Business Formation Fees

$600

$4,700

Vehicle Expenses

$0

$10,000

Retail Business Expenses

$1,250

$6,650

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$75

$3,986

Software Expenses

$162

$2,720

Office Space Expenses

$0

$100

Specific Industry Expenses

$0

$500

Total Startup Costs

$2,461

$35,923

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

Mr. Tree, Inc.

mrtreeservices.com

772,740

Monster Tree Service

monstertreeservice.com

1,174,330

Prince's Landscape Pte. Ltd.

princelandscape.com

1,200,252

Pacific Outdoor Living

pacificoutdoorliving.com

1,272,488

Tree Care Services & Arborist Training by Tree Care Industry Association

tcia.org

1,344,386

Texas Tree Surgeons

texastreesurgeons.com

1,403,183

Rainbow Treecare

rainbowtreecare.com

1,480,205

Monkeyman's Tree Service

monkeymans.com

1,549,418

Jim's Trees

jimstrees.com.au

1,784,612

Eric's Tree Service

ericstreeservicellc.com

1,931,026

Pro-Cut Tree Service

pctreeremovalmelbourne.com.au

2,137,560

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Little startup costs required

The cost to start a tree maintenance business costs significantly less money than most businesses, ranging anywhere from 62 to 35,923.

Rewarding work

Starting a tree maintenance business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Pick & choose the clients you work with

Tree Maintenance Businesses have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients!

Control of workload

With starting a tree maintenance business, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you.

Gain exposure and experience

This career allows you to gain experience working for multiple different businesses - which will benefit your resume and also keep things interesting for you!

Cons Description

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Longer Sales Process

A tree maintenance business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

Work can be inconsistent

As a tree maintenance business, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have.

Lack of benefits

With a tree maintenance business, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.

Taxes

As a tree maintenance business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

No safety net

Typically, as a tree maintenance business, you do not receive a consistent pay-check and instead earn money based on your transactions each month. During the slow periods, you typically take away less since the job is based on commission. It's important to budget accordingly for the slow times.