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Good morning. My first post on the forum, although I have spent a lot of time over past months reading info from knowledgeable people on here. The long & short of it is I’m looking at setting up my own business this year and any advice/guidance from people who have been there and done it would be greatly appreciated. Currently working at a garden in the in the South West. It’s a nice job but but only paying 17k a year and can’t see that going up a great deal in the near future. I’m 30 next week and with kids likely to appear in the not too distant future I think now is the time to pull my finger out and get something of my own set up. I’ve been in estate management for the past 4 years and before that I spent about 6 years in horticulture. Tree/chainsaw work probably makes up 50% of my current job role. Over the past 2/3 years I’ve found that it’s tree work were my true interest and passion lies. I have a varied skill set and am not shy of hard work. I’ve held my cs 30/31 for about 3 years and have just recently got my 38/39. I have lost of chainsaw/chipper/groundwork experience and am looking to improve as a climber throughout this year. So basically (if you’re still listening after all that waffle) towards the end of this year I’m looking at getting a 3.5T tipper and chipper and starting up my own thing. Hoping to do a mix of climbing for myself/other people as well as subbing my self as someone with a chipper and tipper. I’ve got vehicle storage and also room to store logs/chip. Im going to reduce myself down to 3 days a week at my current job and just start with this 2/3 days a week and then hopefully transition fully over a 12/24 month period. I have lads at work who can be grounds men until it’s worth taking someone on and also the more experienced climber I work with is keen to give me a hand when needed. Im hoping to get set up with about 12k (could push this a bit more if needed) and going to slowly buy equipment over the year when things come up at the right price. I’m going to increase my arb knowledge as much as possible by working alongside the more experienced climber at work as well as reading up on principles/practices in my own time. So, am I being realistic here? I know Arboriculture isn’t a get rich quick scheme and it’s hard work. But I enjoy the work and from my research so far I’m confident that once established I should be able to bring home more than my current salary at the end of the month. If anyone has any input that would be great. Is any time of year better/worse to start ab arb business? And if anyone could tell me their 3/4 most valued books on Arboriculture that would be great (esp to do with rigging and tree pruning/reduction). Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I hope over the coming years I can become a valued member of the community. Cheers, Rob

Just wanting to get some business name ideas?

Hi I am looking at a career change and tree surgery is my ultimate aim. I would love to shadow/volunteer/experience a few days with a tree surgeon. I am based in London and am available any weekends really. Anyone help would be hugely appreciated - I'm incredibly eager to learn and pick things up as quickly as possible. Cheers Will

I have been a tree surgeon for 11 years and am getting a business plan together to go it alone. One thing that I'm struggling with is how or where to dispose of chippings?! Does anyone have any info that may be useful in finding somewhere? Also any advice on getting started in general would be much apreciated. Many thanks.

hi! im finishing off my diploma in forestery and arb this year and next year im doing my foundation degree which is 1 day a week. all i want to do on the other days is have a small tree surgery buissnes and i will be fully ticketed by then etc. could any of you guys tell me roughly how much it would be and if you could reccomend me any good insurers. cheers show off summer

Hi one and all, Been looking through a few threads and as usual things are quite conflicting and confusing. I am soon to be 20 and after a year working for a lawn care company have decided I want to get into this sector. Now I'm not entirely sure where to start. I have contacted my local company and they told me several options available out there. I'm interested in the climbing but also in the very fine details. Apprenticeship, National Diploma, Advanced course, foundation degree, BSc???? what routes open what doors? I've looked through several courses, at different places and Myerscough stood out as a great place. Anyone experienced it? I read the BSc module description and I found it really interesting and got me wanting to learn. However I fear doing something like that wont allow me to climb? As you can tell I'm pretty confused at the moment with the route to go down. I do realise around all of the courses experience will play a big part in gaining employment