Given the extra responsibility, why would you want to leave a company and become a subcontracted tree care professional? To be honest, when I first became one in 2006, I wondered the same question.

The idea of being my own boss was very intriguing. I was returning from working overseas and starting anew in the United States. I had just come from traveling for six months and was not looking forward to full-time work again. I knew I enjoyed camping, hiking and traveling, and being tied to only-two-weeks-of-vacation type of employment was not enticing. I loved the idea that I could set my work schedule and decide what kind of work I wanted to do.

Additionally, I would get bored with shrubs and small tree-pruning jobs. I wanted jobs that involved larger trees, larger climbs, removals with complex rigging, etc. You know, exciting work! I knew subcontracting would provide those opportunities. I quickly realized the challenge with subcontracting was that I now was running a business, and that came with its own, unfamiliar responsibilities.

As a business owner, you get to make your own schedule. However, as a business owner, you have to make your own schedule!

You’re the salesperson as well as the operator completing the work. That takes some planning, and I suspect the true weight of those words is initially lost on climbers who are looking to become a subcontracted tree care professional (STCP).

Initially, I started my own business because I had just returned from working away from Wisconsin, and the small company I worked with previously didn’t wish to have more employees. The owner was and is a good friend, and he was happy to give me work. However, he didn’t wish to manage workers’ comp and other responsibilities of having employees. He suggested I start my own business and subcontract to him. He would give me as much work as I wanted, but I would need to give him a lower rate. It was still better pay than when I was his employee, and it made the transition easier.

At the time, to meet the state requirements of being a separate business, I needed to have at least 20% of my income from a different company or companies. So I set to work making connections with friends who were working at other tree care companies, and started networking at the Wisconsin Arborist Association conferences, events and climbing competitions.

I was particular about who I worked with, and the concept of a contract climber was still relatively new at the time. Aside from the challenges of the 2008 recession, I never lacked work, and I used my role as an STCP to travel the state, see and work with friends and work with different companies. At that time in my life, it was a good fit, because it was a lifestyle I enjoyed and it fit my extroverted and free-spirited nature.

I could likely have found enough work locally, but I was striving only to work with Certified Arborists, and my hometown had only one company. If you choose to work with companies that take safety less seriously, I would recommend prefacing the arrangement with stipulations and an understanding of expectations, so there is not any confusion or frustration if something on the job goes poorly.

Regardless of the company and its safety record, I found that being an STCP required that I change my perspective while doing the work. Previously, I didn’t want to cause damage. But let’s be honest, when you’re not paying for it, we as climbers tend to take greater risks. We also tend to be less organized with the equipment, and items may become lost or be left at a job site. Not every climber or employee acts that way, and some of it was my personality and the fact that I’m not an extremely detailed person.

My inept employee activities were certainly not due to a malicious intent toward my employers. I would focus on the job, leave equipment lying around when I was done with it and not do well keeping track of what I took out of the truck. Losses only occurred occasionally, so I didn’t think about it a lot. The same could be said for property damage I caused while an employee, for reasons ranging from bad luck to poor decisions.

However, when working for myself, replacing equipment or replacing windows meant I didn’t get paid that day. Rather quickly, I got the message that, detail oriented or not, I had to figure it out. I started to change my work habits and utilize rigging more often in trees to reduce the risk of a branch bouncing in the wrong direction. Rather than trying to get that large limb to drop just right, I started removing it with more cuts and focused on making the process more efficient overall, so that work was still completed quickly. I changed, improved and refined my work habits to limit the potential for damage, so I could be more profitable and still maintain efficiency.

Gaining respect

Looking back, working for myself dramatically improved who I was as a climber and a tree care professional from a working aspect. If things went wrong, I couldn’t blame it on the sales arborist. If I noticed a job was bid poorly before we started work, I learned quickly to have a conversation with the company owner or sales arborist to ensure we had an understanding of the day’s expectations. As a STCP, your entire job is to complete the work safely and efficiently in a way that makes the company money. If the company isn’t making money, you won’t be making money, because they will stop hiring you.

But that said, you also need to look out for your business. Operating a separate business allowed me to have more frank conversations with sales arborists and business owners, because our discussions were happening from a business-to-business perspective, rather than business to employee. Simply put, you’re treated differently. Likewise, you must act differently, and potentially in a more mature manner than some employees act. Your words and actions can’t be the same as their employees, because you represent the company’s management when operating as an STCP.

Through my continued time working for various companies, I also learned which equipment limited the company’s full productivity. For example, I realized I needed three to four blocks, a GRCS, a large-CC chain saw with at least a 3-foot bar and a lot of rigging lines. I also learned that, regardless of the job description, everything came with me each day. Too often I was burned by leaving something at home to keep my kit to the necessities only, per the job description provided by the company.

Part of that was because sometimes the job would change for the customer, or we’d be sent to a second job if the first went quickly. Often, it was because I saw the jobs differently than the company salespersons or climbers, since I was more experienced at completing large, complex removals and rigging scenarios. Training will never replace experience, only reduce the amount of experience required for proficiency or excellence.

Someone whose work is primarily large pruning jobs and removals will almost always be more efficient at it than someone who is only removing large, complex trees one to two times per month. That’s why an STCP is hired by a company for that type of work. By regularly doing the complex jobs, that person is faster and more efficient at completing the complex jobs. For that reason, an STCP can demand a rate much higher than the traditional employee.

However, as an STCP, remember that not all that wage is straight take-home pay. As a business owner, you have expenses. You also should consider your future, your vacation time, insurance costs, equipment costs and tax responsibilities.

How do you charge for your services as an STCP? Below is an example that you may consider:

Source: Ideas taken from: https://

www.keepertax.com/posts/1099-hourly-rate.

These numbers can be tweaked as desired. Aside from expenses, as a business owner, you should consider the cost of health insurance, provide yourself with retirement benefits, realize you need to pay self-employment tax (FICA), recognize you will have unpaid hours every week for billing and sales needs and decide how much vacation time you want as paid time off.

In the previous example, the STCP has about four weeks of paid time off, the STCP’s business is contributing to a retirement plan for the STCP and the STCP does not work overtime. The last part is probably unrealistic. As a business owner, when the sun is shining and the work is flowing, ride the river and make money while you can, in case the financial river freezes in the wintertime. So, given these details above, what do you need to charge to make the numbers work?

Following this process, an STCP can work the math to develop numbers that fit their lifestyle without pricing the business out of affordability. Remember, at the end of the day, an STCP can demand whatever wage is desired, but if no one pays it, your business will fail. Likewise, you can’t speak to other STCPs to determine a specific rate everyone will charge, because that is illegal (e.g., price fixing). Having math behind your decision is a good way to provide justification for your rate.

Another way to calculate your rate is to consider a flat fee per day. As a contractor, I don’t like working a five-hour day. I’m estimating my annual income as an eight-hour day. Not getting a full-day’s pay will affect my annual net income. Therefore, you can set the stipulation that, regardless of how long the day goes, you will be paid your day rate.

Then, add another stipulation that any time over eight hours will be charged at your hourly rate. Also, include in your contract how you will handle lunch and break times. Personally, I charge for break times, but I do not charge for lunch, unless the crew skips lunch that day.

As an STCP, you’re providing a service to a niche market. As with any business, it’s important to understand your market, your demand and how to increase the demand for your services. The primary ways I’ve identified to build demand are through either personal ability or by owning equipment.

Some subcontractors may own stump grinders and provide service to companies who haven’t yet acquired a stump grinder. Unique equipment might include an air spade or similar device. An operator may own a skid-steer or articulating loader and be very efficient at operating that equipment on a job site. They might possibly even have specific attachments, such as a forestry head for a skid-steer, to bid on mowing brush areas for urban land management/planning or for building trails through a private forest.

Additionally, a tracked/compact-style lift is somewhat unique equipment that may be desirable to companies that utilize only bucket trucks. Aside from equipment, being a talented climber or aerial-lift operator, being knowledgeable in tree-risk assessment or being a capable trainer are unique attributes that may be attractive to larger companies.

In other scenarios, multiple small companies may work together, with each company finding and bidding work and contracting the others to complete the work. For example, one contractor may be a climber, another may have a chipper and the third may have loading equipment. If each company has its preferred day rate, then bidding the work may be more focused on ensuring everyone earns their desired daily income rather than bidding work at an hourly rate.

For example, say Company A wants $800 a day for its services as a climber, Company B wants $1,000 for its truck, chipper and one ground employee and Company C has a skid-steer and dump trailer. Company C bids a removal job at $3,500 and pays each STCP their day rate and makes $1,700 from the work that was bid. Through this process, small companies can work cooperatively and function as a larger company while still retaining their own autonomy.

Overall, the concept of an STCP is to understand the potential business ingenuity that can be applied to tree care operations. This creativity allows individuals to have the freedom of running their own businesses.

It’s important to understand that running a business is not the same as being a good climber. I’ve met several great climbers, many of whom decided to try running their own businesses. Some of them were able to translate their ability into being quality STCPs. Many were not very savvy business owners for one reason or another.

If you’re considering starting a business, my best suggestion is to have some conversations with business owners first and develop the relationships prior to leaving your current employment. Those conversations may even include your current employer, depending on who the employer is and their view on STCP. It may even be an opportunity where you could have a discussion on STCP with your employer before indicating you’re considering transitioning your career.

Growth is the goal in any career. But any business owner will tell you that growth without a plan will equate to failure. Owning a business is an exciting opportunity. If you’re considering this path, get excited about the prospect and start planning! That plan may even include further education to prepare you for owning a business. Start asking questions of others and learn what’s involved. Evaluate the market for an STCP in your area.

It’s possible what I’ve just described is overwhelming, sounds like a lot of work and may give you some anxiety. If so, start working on your mindset before you begin the process. The preparation is exciting if you perceive this as a learning opportunity for something new. Like everything in life, it just depends on how you look at it!

Change is generally daunting, but it’s also exciting and an opportunity to bring some spring into your winter and start new growth!

Aaron Schauer, CTSP, is an instructor and program director with Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Eric Petersen is president of ArboRisk Insurance, an 11-year TCIA corporate member company based in New Berlin, Wis. He also is a member of TCIA’s Board of Directors.

This article was written by Schauer with content contributions from Petersen. It is based on their presentation on the same subject during TCI EXPO ’24 in Baltimore, Maryland.