Newbies and start-ups

[Yorkshireman]

good operators dont always make good business people in exactly the same way as good business minded people can be usless in or around a tree site

 

those who can will , those who cant fail ..

 

theres more to sucess than hard work, & skill in or around the tree

 

the most important part in business is ,, LUCK & the sheer will to fight on

 

I applaude anyone who wants to work or trys to get work

 

whether its Macci d or not.. much better than sat doing nowt..

 

as for is arb struggling Yes its a recession & has been for 3 years , is it tough out there Yes ,will all businesses survive NO.

 

Arb has recently had a cudos attached to it ,, WHy ? God knows

 

but this has attracted perhaps more to it than demand would need but hey we are where we are,

should we stop or deter people joining NO all we can do is offer a clarity obtained through age & experience.

 

just my tu' pence

[Tom10]

Agree totally with you Rupe,

 

There's just a way of saying things, and an expert shunting a newbie of of the door before any evidence he or she is capable of making a living from this game is wrong. A newbie now could be a far better arb than the person shunting...

 

Anyway - should said person leave arbtalk feeling disgruntled that the replies they got were not much help, and they do step up a gear and make a success of their business, it would be a shame for them to have a chip on their shoulder regarding their experience with this useful site.

 

Tom

[Rupe]

I do hear what your saying Tom, but arb is not that great anyway, so anybody leaving here thinking "why should i bother" will just as likely make more of a success at something else anyway, and even if they would have made a good arb then it doesnt matter, theres too many so its no loss.

 

Many failing arbs go on to make very good plumbers, sparkies, lawyers even, no worries, its not all about arb or dole, and if arb is the last step before the dole or maccie D's then that just about sums up where this industry is at the moment.

[Tom10]

True,

 

Just worth remembering many of these guys are in their teething stages of coming into the industry and would be a shame to deter potentially good guys before they start.

 

Also, Im not an expert on other industries, however I wouldnt be surprised if theres just as fewer job opportunites in other sectors too!

 

The easiest and most simple thing for any school leaver to do is sit on their backsides and let the government pay them, thats unfortunate.

 

Tom

[Rupe]

Yep, I agree, but I dont believe Arb is the industry for anyone who would take the dole as the next best thing. So getting people into this industry instead of the dole is setting the standard way too low IMO.

 

Dole/maccie D's/poundland/tesco/ etc etc etc and further up the list for the more inteligent/articulate/motivated and fit people would be tree work.

 

Your actually devaluing the industry by suggesting we should be encouraging school leavers who would otherwise be on the dole, those people need help with work for sure, but arb does not have the support facilities for people who need a helping hand, thats just how it is, and arbtalk cannot make up for that.

 

I admire your enthusiasm to help though.

[matt528]

i work for a grounds maintenance company however we do tree work as well and its the aspect i enjoy most to be honest. i was lucky to be taken on after two weeks work experience after showing i was willing to put in a hard days work. i currently hold my cs30 and 31 tickets and would in the long run aim to get more but to me i accept its a LONG learning process and i do not for one minute want to achieve them and think im the bees knees thats when things start getting dangerous etc. i would rather someone tell me the ins and out saying its a hard game because thats what give me drive to pursue my ultimate career goals. i am in my forth year working and to be honest its amazing how many companys i have seen appear overnight and dissapear just as quick so im sure for the people with years and years of experience you have seen hundreds. if people think this is a easy career option then think again. i work six days a week and yer i get enough money according to my experience but know full well this job is never going to make me millions. i take my hats off to everyone that runs a successful firm or are successful freelancing and they are the ones that need to be saying how it is. reality is harsh and if you cant take the truth your not going to be strong enough to strive.

sorry for the essay btw

[Rupe]

Well put. I guess being on the dole is miles down on your list of things to do?

[Pedroski]

Rupe, herein lies the problem - when people come here asking questions about starting out, nobody knows whether that person is choosing between arb and dole. To assume that they are choosing arb as it's one step away from dole is a bad mistake.

 

Tom, it is the same in lots of other trades at the moment, including plumbing, electrical, landscaping, hairdressing, farming.... in fact just about everything. Kids who are the type that years ago would have left school and gone straight into work on building sites, in factories, etc have instead been forced into college to get qualifications in all the trades because there aren't enough jobs. And all this is doing is delaying by one or two years the influx of youngsters to the job market. Those who would have gone straight into farming or landscaping etc, are perhaps seeing an arb course at agri college as perhaps the best step to an outdoors job. I know for sure that if I was leaving school and going to college to get a qualification, and wanting to work outdoors, I would definitely go for an arb course rather than a plumbing course. It's not the fault of the kids, and it's not the fault of the colleges - after all, the colleges will provide the courses that people want. It's just life at the moment and I think all we can do is look forward to better times, plant more trees, etc

[matt528]

Well put. I guess being on the dole is miles down on your list of things to do?

 

no offence intended to the people that need too of course if its your only option then well... but for me its not an option and it would involve a whole lot of pride and dignity swallowing followed by some swearing and life assessing.

[Rupe]

In response to pedroski

 

Agreed, I didnt make the original arb/dole example. I actaully said that its just as likely someone might go and be a success at another trade rather than go on the dole, even though it is just as difficult in other trades.

 

Arb is weird because the money you can potentially spend on training and kit is so huge that we are going to end up with newbies who are funded by the bank of mumanddad (thats already happening) and they could be just as useless!.

 

 

MY advice to newbies has always been "get a job" either landscaping or tree work or similar and get training slowly as yo go along. If you cant get a job in a physical outdoor trade of some kind then no amount of CS30's and PPE is going to help.