Giving Life to Deadwood

Originally posted February 1st 2023.

Just shy of three years in, Deadwood Arborists have set down our roots in the industry and already surpassed the heights we expected to reach at this stage. Many people (or in this case tree surgeons) out there will keenly offer up their "tips" for a successful business based off their own experiences, rather admirably some even speak from their own failures, however this is not that. Read on for merely an insight into how we started off on our climb to the top. 

Akin to figures of legend who were fabled as being predetermined to master specific tools, Thomas was always going to wield a chainsaw. After long-serving as one of the "sons" in Karl D. Williams & Sons from his teenage years, he eventually branched out to subcontracting and in turn became aware of his own potential in the trade. It's fair to say, once you are conscious of your capabilities reaping for someone else's reward you inevitably start to wonder why you aren't doing it for yourself - so Thomas raised the point that maybe he just well could. While my own knowledge of trees at this time was limited to Christmas and conkers, I threw my full support behind him in any which way I could. 

Unfortunately, certified skills and the courage to go it alone are not enough without the right gear to do the actual tree cutting - no matter how sharp your knowledge is. An assortment of secondhand equipment, complimented by a select new purchase or two, was a solid start. As for arb-appropriate transport, a retro Ford Ranger, previously accustomed to only the weight of paddle boards, was professionally converted with a tipping body fitted. To round out the necessary investments and commit the last of those savings, a lengthy journey facilitated the ownership of an affordable, pre-owned, chipper. The pieces were fitting together quite nicely. 

Late July 2020, Thomas was essentially set to get to work. Admittedly the aesthetic was not quite yet what it would come to be; the converted truck certainly appeared somewhat..."off-balance" in retrospect (I believe "if Mr Bean was a tree surgeon" may have been a comment somewhere). All that was missing was an identity. The obvious options were the self-titled standard or namedropping our locale, yet neither felt right. We wanted something unique; something to set this tree care business apart from the increasing amount of others saturating the North West. Some out of the box thinking had us debate over a variety of satirical or pun powered monikers; "Tree's Anatomy" to name just one, before the answer came almost like a vision. Prompted by an affinity for skull imagery, the basic features of the logo and the name "Deadwood Arborists" were birthed through a message as I concluded my day job one afternoon. The actual logo was put together less than 24hrs later and, though we knew it wouldn't necessarily appeal to the masses, we had hit the nail on the head in creating a professional portrayal which felt true to character. 

Now that the tools and the title for the business were established, presenting that to the world was the next important step. As the majority are aware these days, social media has a lot of power and can be a prominent driving force in essentially making people aware that you exist. Therefore, Instagram and Facebook were the first moves made in initiating an online presence. To expand upon enabling customer contact and be clearly informative as to what Deadwood Arborists does, we got to work on a basic website template which has been enhanced over time to what you see today. Rather quickly after the production of the original Deadwood site, the decision was made to pursue a strategic opportunity and increase the likelihood of being sourced for work by expanding with additional domains. Deadwood Arborists Tree Care Specialists was officially out there to be discovered.

As the sun continued to rise on the pandemic scathed summer, the ebbs and flows of lockdown had people consistently opting to invest in the maintenance of their property and thus the pursuit of capable tree surgeons was at a peak. Not to mention outside and with minimal companionship was the current "safest" way to work. The time to really be known was now.

How were we going to achieve this? Word of mouth is reserved for long-standing reputations so even after a dozen completed jobs that wasn't going to be reliable. The choice was clear - advertise. Advertise, advertise, advertise. Thomas poured the highest proportions of income into experimenting with a multitude of advertising avenues with a varied response. Safe to say Google Ads proved the greatest argument for "spend money to make money", especially once we actually got the hang of how to best structure an ad with them. Targeting potential customers within the area directly, through platforms like NextDoor or the local newspaper, had a much softer success rate. As for Instagram, to rather ironically circle back to the acclaimed "power" of social media, we encountered minimal response from the "boosted posts" (suppose they're probably best left to influencers pushing energy drinks) and soon realised we were better off using it simply to display our work with the option for customers and peers to interact.

Surely enough, the requests poured in and Thomas poured his free time into quoting and completing. Almost all of his time. One point that is really just common sense - to start up anything yourself requires more than just the know how and the tools to do it, if you aren't dedicated enough to give everything you've got to making it work then it won't (unless you have an infinite reserve of financial backing). 

Between reaching out to subcontractors Thomas had allied with at previous companies and granting opportunities to others with varied levels of skill, the Deadwood Arborists team was regularly a mixed ensemble (often including myself at ground level in the earliest stages) until the integral formation of our current lineup. As things progressed, we reached a point where my own purpose within the business became more prominent and retaining my day job was no longer viable or necessary.   

In a similar vein, our vehicles and equipment evolved in line with the elevation of our success; cycling through additional (sometimes unlucky) secondhand models until we were in a position to acquire our current fleet from brand new. 

From the conception of the idea to where it stands today; Arb Approved contractors with consistent structure and a flourishing reputation, the development of Deadwood Arborists has been one lesson after another and this will surely continue for a long time to come. If one thing is certain, we are proud of every achievement up to this point and can honestly say our ambition knows no bounds in terms of where we grow from here.