September 26, 2025 • 23 mins
What does it take to transform specialized skills into a thriving business while maintaining your sanity and creating a workplace people actually want to join? Spencer from Coastland Tree Works reveals exactly that in this candid conversation about his entrepreneurial journey.
After honing his craft through a comprehensive apprenticeship in Germany, Spencer returned to America with technical expertise and a vision for a different kind of tree care company. Three years into business ownership, he shares the unexpected challenges that technical proficiency couldn't prepare him for: "Just because you're good at one thing—being a good arborist or a good salesperson—does not mean you will be good at running a business."
Spencer's approach to growth focuses on customer relationships rather than aggressive marketing. "Once you have a customer, that customer can easily turn into 10 customers if you do things right," he explains, highlighting how word-of-mouth has become his primary growth driver. But what truly sets Coastland Tree Works apart is its deliberately cultivated company culture. Drawing from his international experience, Spencer has created an environment that contrasts sharply with industry norms—prioritizing open communication, respect, and inclusivity in a field often characterized by rough attitudes and high-pressure environments.
Perhaps most refreshing is Spencer's commitment to work-life boundaries in an entrepreneurial landscape that often glorifies burnout. "For me to be functional at work, I need to have personal life and space," he shares, describing specific practices like not answering calls after certain hours or on weekends. This balanced approach, combined with his philosophy that "the more knowledgeable and educated you are, the more passionate you're going to be," offers valuable wisdom for anyone building a business in a specialized field. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or already in the trenches, this conversation delivers honest insights about creating sustainable growth without sacrificing your vision or wellbeing.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, welcome to this episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I'm Bill Gilliland, your host.
I am the principal at ActionCoach, Business Growth Partners
and one of the founders of theAsheville Business Summit.
But today I've got a veryspecial guest.
I am happy to have a chat herewith Spencer.
Can't wait to hear his story,Spencer from Coastland Tree
(00:24):
Works.
So, Spencer, tell us a littlebit about you and your business
and uh, yeah, and we'll take itfrom there.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, so, um, I'm a certified arborist, um, I've
been working in tree care, whichis, you know, big part of
arboriculture.
Um, I've been working in treecare now for 12 years.
I started my career over inGermany actually.
I started actually inlandscaping but quickly had the
(00:55):
intentions of moving towards thetree care and I did an
apprenticeship with a prettylarge company there in Berlin,
germany, and got severalcertifications which are
required in Germany in order todo tree work.
So I got a pretty good basis ofknowledge right away and skills
(01:20):
too.
So I really, you know,immediately my passion grew for
the industry and I continuedworking there in Germany,
gaining knowledge and experience, and then I always kind of had
the vision of, you know, one daystarting my own company.
So that was like in my goalsfrom the beginning.
(01:42):
And in Germany, since I'm not aGerman citizen, I was, you know,
living there under a visa andit's it's pretty complicated to
start your own business in aforeign country.
So I figured I'd have a betterchance at succeeding with a
business in my own country.
So I moved back to America andI wanted to first feel out the
(02:07):
market here, feel out theindustry, get a sense of how
things go here.
So I worked for a couple ofdifferent companies as a
full-time production arboristwhen I first moved here and then
, as soon as I felt ready totake the dive, I started my own
(02:28):
company.
I just went for it and Istarted off very small, with
just myself and minimal amountof equipment, but quickly
realized that tree work is aequipment intensive and labor
intensive business.
(02:49):
In order to grow and and kindof get to a point where I want
to be, you know, I had to make alot of of quick growth and
purchases and add some workersto the business in order to kind
(03:11):
of just keep things rolling andyeah.
So basically now, three yearslater, I've had my own business
and we've had quite a bit ofgrowth and things know things
are pretty exciting, yeah, yeahthat is exciting.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Well, congratulations on making making the leap.
It's not, I mean, it's not foreverybody, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Oh yeah, yeah, I mean we're it's way harder than I
could have ever imagined yeah,yeah, yeah, no, no, it's
different too.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
I've had several clients who started as a general
manager and then became anowner, left or started a
business, or maybe even tookover the business they were in,
and sometimes it just doesn'twork because they were used to
the job.
Well, let me ask you this Ifyou had to start it over again I
mean you've been in three yearswhat would you do differently?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I think from the beginning I probably would have
looked for some other forms ofhelp as far as maybe investors
or a partner or silent partnertype of situation, because doing
(04:32):
it all alone is rewarding, butyou know it's extremely
challenging and it's, you know,I've gotten to the point now
where it wouldn't make muchsense for me to look for another
partner or investors, you knowlike of that type, like
high-interest investors orsomething, because I've invested
(04:56):
already so much myself.
I kind of don't want to sharethis point, right.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, no, it makes sense.
I mean it's, it's.
Yeah, a lot of people don'tunderstand.
Like I remember the first timeI went in business one of the
one of the first in the firstbusiness I had I remember
thinking, you know, this islonely.
You know, in fact, whathappened to me was my dad became
my best friend because he hadjust retired and he didn't
(05:28):
really come.
He didn't want to come to workin the business.
He didn't want to.
I'm sure he would have if I'dasked him, but he uh, you know,
but he was always there, hewould.
But you know, everybody elsewas you know you couldn't.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
That's kind of exact same situation on yeah, yeah,
yeah I mean they're just retiredtoo, and yeah, and he's kind of
there, but, um, I didn't reallywant any help from the
beginning, but you know I would.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
I mean, if he's got experience in business, I would,
I would lean on him a littleharder.
I would, I would have leaned onmy dad a little harder than I,
than I did in the beginning,because he had a lot of
knowledge and I could have usedit and I was too stupid to know
that at the time.
So, yeah, I just that was justme, I was proud and you know,
wanted to do it myself and youknow it would.
(06:14):
It would have been helpful.
I mean, we got through,everything was fine, we're all
good, but you know, it couldhave been easier if I just
leaned on him for some advice oranybody really.
Yeah.
So what have been some of yourbiggest learnings as an owner
and an employer?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
owner and employer, that owning a company and you
know employing people andmanaging a company or working in
that business are twocompletely separate entities.
And just because you're good atone thing you know being a good
arborist or a good salespersonor you know a good maintenance
man does not mean that you willbe good at running a business,
(07:02):
and they're two.
You know completely differentthings and those two things are
kind of very hard tosimultaneously.
You know achieve or or excel atyeah.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
The more I'm getting involved in, the more, uh, I
immerse myself into thisbusiness, the more I realized
that I kind of can't wear allthe hats, and I'm trying to, at
this point, separate myself fromthe labor side of the business
to just running the business.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, working on the business, not always in it.
Yeah, exactly, so what do youthink some of the common
misconceptions about running abusiness are?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I'd say number one is that it's easy.
You know, a lot of.
I spent a long time working asan employee and I, you know, see
, on that side a lot of theemployees think the business
owner, you know, has it easy andthat you know, basically
they're just we're.
(08:14):
We're the ones, the employeesare the ones who are running the
company, but you know, theowner or managers are just kind
of sitting back and collectinguh money.
But it's, it's an amount,immense amount, of uh stress for
one.
And also the work is veryintensive and it requires a lot
(08:39):
of time.
And when you're an employee youcan kind of go home at the end
of the day and your day is over.
You may think about what you'regoing to do tomorrow, but
ultimately that's not really upto you and that you don't have
to worry about it at least.
And also on your weekends, youknow your weekend is there, but
(09:02):
as a business owner it's kind oflike a 24-7 thing and I have to
think about not just tomorrowor you know what my plan is, but
I have to think about fiveyears down the road and I also
have to think about you knowwhat happened for the past year
or two, because it's you know,what happened in the past is
(09:23):
relevant to what will happen inthe future.
So there's just a whole lotgoing on.
You know behind the scenes thatI think people don't realize.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
A hundred percent.
Yeah, a hundred 100%.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I'd say number one is customer relations.
You know, I'd say the majorityof my business comes from word
of mouth.
We do kind of minimaladvertising.
In the beginning I did a lot ofmaybe more generic type of
advertising and magazines andstuff like that.
(10:01):
But the conversion rates that I, you know, I can't directly see
, but I ask here and there wheremy customers come from, and
most of my customers come from,you know, google.
Uh, not not even paid googleadvertising, just just a google
page and uh, word of mouth likethat's that's where it comes
(10:24):
from.
So, maintaining uh thosecustomer relationships and
nurturing them and, uh, you know, once you have a customer, that
customer can easily turn into10 customers if you, you know,
do things right.
And that's been very, veryimportant to my growth 100%.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Yeah, obviously, referrals are the best kind of
business you can get, so welldone there.
How do you balance yourpersonal life and the business
life?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
It's challenging and the way you know, it's important
for me, because some I feel,like a lot of entrepreneurs out
there don't really balancebusiness and personal life.
Like they just kind of feel likeas a startup entrepreneur, a
new entrepreneur, that you haveto go through this period where
(11:15):
you just work, work, work, work,work and all you think about is
work and you put any free timeyou have, go straight into the
business.
And I'm more of a work lifebalance person and for me to be
functional at work I need tohave personal life and space.
(11:36):
So it's been very important tome from the beginning to kind of
uh, you know, make a point thatI I don't answer phone calls
after a certain time of night,that I I don't answer phone
calls on the weekend unless it'san emergency.
Um, yeah, I tried to reallygive myself some space from the
business and you know it'salways in the back of my mind
(12:00):
and it's kind of hard to turnthat off.
But as far as like beingactively working on the business
, I try to really be like allright, it's, it's six o'clock in
the evening, now it's time tostop till tomorrow, or you know
it's it's saturday, sunday, takea break and we'll start again
(12:21):
on monday, and I think that'sreally been helpful as far as,
like, keeping me motivated.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, no, I like it.
I just.
I don't know about you, but Ithink all the studies show that
the people who think they'rebeing productive, working seven
days a week, it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
No, no.
You get way more done when youwork, when you're fresh and can
work hard.
I mean, you know, work hard forsmaller periods of time.
I think hard for smallerperiods of time, I think.
So.
When you're hiring employees,what do you look for and how do
you foster a positive andproductive work environment.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Well, one of the big things with my business was to
create a different atmosphere,because the atmosphere and
company cultures that I've runinto in the tree industry and
not to put a bad light on thetree industry but they weren't
the atmosphere that I would wantto work in.
(13:27):
And I was lucky to have adifferent experience working
internationally because I workedin germany for this, you know,
almost 10 years and, um, thecompany culture and atmosphere
in the companies I worked for ingermany were way different than
here.
(13:47):
Um, like the, it just was a morefriendly, more open, more um,
let's say, positive likeenvironment.
Uh, where here it's, for me it'sbeen more kind of like a hard,
you know, just work, work, work.
(14:09):
Um, maybe more a rougherenvironment, and so it was
important for me to to create aatmosphere where anybody is
welcome, um, and you knoweverybody should feel
comfortable and it's a friendlyenvironment where the ball,
where me as the boss is notgonna be yelling at people and
(14:31):
grumpy all day and kind of, youknow, like a more open
environment where if someone hadan issue like, we can talk
about it instead of just thisyou know, really rough
environment which I've seen in alot of tree companies with a
lot of yelling and stuff likethat.
So it's been really, reallyimportant for me when screening
(14:52):
employees that they're not justhard workers or capable, but
they fit.
They'll fit into the atmospherethat I'm trying to create and
so that's.
That's been a big thing and Ithink because I'm not just
looking for someone whophysically can fit the job or
mentally fit the job, but thattheir personality fits my
(15:14):
company culture I've had greatersuccess with employee
retainment.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, obviously, if you getsomebody who fits the culture
and fits the mold and fits in,then obviously they're going to
want to be part of that culturefor a long time and so they're
going to stay.
So Be Epic is my tagline andit's an acronym, sort of the
first two letters are oneacronym.
(15:43):
So when I was writing a book afew years ago, I wanted to, so I
came up with this idea of epicand it needed to spell something
.
First.
I couldn't spell anything, butI came up with the buckets of
success.
So let me get your thoughtsJust one or two sentences or
(16:04):
words about these as they applyto you and your business.
So the B in Be Epic is bringthe energy.
So what are your thoughts onbringing energy?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah, I mean the having employees and and culture
that is, like you know,energetic and exciting and I
think fresh, like when.
I think energetic, I think afresh and and just different,
like a different appearance, um,even like as far as a company
(16:39):
logo, you know, like anythinglike that to me is energetic and
exciting.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, no, I love it.
Okay, the E stands foreducation, and obviously you
were well-educated in the treeindustry, but there's other
kinds of education too.
What are your thoughts aroundeducation?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, I mean education, you know, is so
important.
Knowledge is power, and what Itell my employees all the time
is that the more knowledgeableand educated you are, the more
passionate you're going to beabout what you do, and I think
that says everything.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I love that.
The more knowledgeable you are,the more passionate.
Wow, I never thought aboutknowledge leading to passion.
That's cool.
I actually thought about beingpassionate about something and
then wanting to learn, but Ithink it works both ways.
I think that's a great point.
All right, the P is forplanning.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Planning, I mean, is without a plan, everything's
kind of up in the air.
And I mean with tree work it'sso important because if I don't
have a game plan and you know,have an idea of how long jobs
are going to take me or what Ineed, it's just not going to
happen.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Not only that, but it's going to be dangerous,
right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
The start of every job is, you know, a plan, right
yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
No, I love that.
I love that.
Yeah, the I stands forinspiration.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah, inspiration like that's.
You know, when I look at mycompany and what I want it to be
, where I want to grow in thefuture, I look at you know my
competitors, my, you know thecompanies that I want to be like
, and that's where I get myinspirations and maybe not just
(18:33):
be like them, but maybe inspiredto be better than them.
Yeah, that's a big thing for me.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
No, I love it.
I love it.
There's nothing wrong with alittle good competition.
It's going to make you better.
It's going to make you better.
I love that.
And the C stands for commitment.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Yeah, commitment, I mean.
I think that a business is isreally hard, um, and it's up and
down and you know.
You just have to tell yourselfthat you wanted this for a
reason and you can't give up.
Like you, you just can't giveup, no matter what.
If you've had a bad day, a badmonth, that you just have to
(19:14):
stay committed and keep going.
And if it's not working whatyou're doing, then you need to
change, not just give up, andthat's really important.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, I love that.
So what's the next big thingfor Coastland Tree Works?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
next big thing for coastland tree works?
Um, at this point like, uh,we're, you know, we're running
one crew and we definitely wantto get to the point where we can
start another crew.
Um, but that's, you know, goingto take more equipment and you
know that's probably the thepoint we're at, that we need to
look into some more equipment.
Then we can start adding inanother crew and, you know,
(19:57):
trying to take on more jobs.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Yeah, no, I love it.
Yeah Well, there's ways to easeinto it, but it's kind of you
do kind of have to get a wholecrew, it's just hard to kind of
figure out what comes first atthis point.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
The more crew or the more equipment.
You know it's.
It's yeah, I've found in thechallenge.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, I've found in most businesses that have a
pretty high equipment or capitalcosts it's kind of a the stair
step thing.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
You, you, you, you get the crew, you get, you know,
you, you can get the crew, youcan rent equipment for a while,
but then you got to buy iteventually and then you know,
and then yeah, so then you getmore equipment and you got to
get the crew, you got to get thebusiness.
It kind of it works.
It works though.
I've seen it.
I've worked with a lot ofpeople in the in the sort of
what I'd call the tradesbusinesses or uh, uh, play
(20:45):
people with crews and trucks andvans and that sort of thing.
That's exciting.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Keep growing, get another crew I love it and also
the more equipment we have.
It definitely speeds up ourefficiency.
So the more efficient we are,the more jobs we can do and the
more money we can make.
Yeah, 100%, Definitely we're ata point where we need more
equipment.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Yeah, the more people you can serve.
The more people you can serve,the more yeah.
I mean you just got to getthere little by little, yeah.
So what's the best way forsomeone to get in touch with you
?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
The phone is the easiest way.
You know, my phone number is302-390-1780.
Or email is also veryconvenient.
It's just coastlandtree atgmailcom Got it coastlandtree at
gmailcom.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Got it, that's cool.
Well look, this has been great,thank you for being part of
this.
Yeah, for being part of ourcommunity and all you're doing,
and we know you're going tocontinue to grow and continue to
be successful.
So thanks for that.
Thank you, yeah, and until nexttime.
(22:03):
All the best.
Hey there, welcome to this episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I'm Bill Gilliland, your host.
I am the principal at ActionCoach, Business Growth Partners
and one of the founders of theAsheville Business Summit.
But today I've got a veryspecial guest.
I am happy to have a chat herewith Spencer.
Can't wait to hear his story,Spencer from Coastland Tree
(00:24):
Works.
So, Spencer, tell us a littlebit about you and your business
and uh, yeah, and we'll take itfrom there.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, so, um, I'm a certified arborist, um, I've
been working in tree care, whichis, you know, big part of
arboriculture.
Um, I've been working in treecare now for 12 years.
I started my career over inGermany actually.
I started actually inlandscaping but quickly had the
(00:55):
intentions of moving towards thetree care and I did an
apprenticeship with a prettylarge company there in Berlin,
germany, and got severalcertifications which are
required in Germany in order todo tree work.
So I got a pretty good basis ofknowledge right away and skills
(01:20):
too.
So I really, you know,immediately my passion grew for
the industry and I continuedworking there in Germany,
gaining knowledge and experience, and then I always kind of had
the vision of, you know, one daystarting my own company.
So that was like in my goalsfrom the beginning.
(01:42):
And in Germany, since I'm not aGerman citizen, I was, you know,
living there under a visa andit's it's pretty complicated to
start your own business in aforeign country.
So I figured I'd have a betterchance at succeeding with a
business in my own country.
So I moved back to America andI wanted to first feel out the
(02:07):
market here, feel out theindustry, get a sense of how
things go here.
So I worked for a couple ofdifferent companies as a
full-time production arboristwhen I first moved here and then
, as soon as I felt ready totake the dive, I started my own
(02:28):
company.
I just went for it and Istarted off very small, with
just myself and minimal amountof equipment, but quickly
realized that tree work is aequipment intensive and labor
intensive business.
(02:49):
In order to grow and and kindof get to a point where I want
to be, you know, I had to make alot of of quick growth and
purchases and add some workersto the business in order to kind
(03:11):
of just keep things rolling andyeah.
So basically now, three yearslater, I've had my own business
and we've had quite a bit ofgrowth and things know things
are pretty exciting, yeah, yeahthat is exciting.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Well, congratulations on making making the leap.
It's not, I mean, it's not foreverybody, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Oh yeah, yeah, I mean we're it's way harder than I
could have ever imagined yeah,yeah, yeah, no, no, it's
different too.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
I've had several clients who started as a general
manager and then became anowner, left or started a
business, or maybe even tookover the business they were in,
and sometimes it just doesn'twork because they were used to
the job.
Well, let me ask you this Ifyou had to start it over again I
mean you've been in three yearswhat would you do differently?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I think from the beginning I probably would have
looked for some other forms ofhelp as far as maybe investors
or a partner or silent partnertype of situation, because doing
(04:32):
it all alone is rewarding, butyou know it's extremely
challenging and it's, you know,I've gotten to the point now
where it wouldn't make muchsense for me to look for another
partner or investors, you knowlike of that type, like
high-interest investors orsomething, because I've invested
(04:56):
already so much myself.
I kind of don't want to sharethis point, right.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, no, it makes sense.
I mean it's, it's.
Yeah, a lot of people don'tunderstand.
Like I remember the first timeI went in business one of the
one of the first in the firstbusiness I had I remember
thinking, you know, this islonely.
You know, in fact, whathappened to me was my dad became
my best friend because he hadjust retired and he didn't
(05:28):
really come.
He didn't want to come to workin the business.
He didn't want to.
I'm sure he would have if I'dasked him, but he uh, you know,
but he was always there, hewould.
But you know, everybody elsewas you know you couldn't.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
That's kind of exact same situation on yeah, yeah,
yeah I mean they're just retiredtoo, and yeah, and he's kind of
there, but, um, I didn't reallywant any help from the
beginning, but you know I would.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
I mean, if he's got experience in business, I would,
I would lean on him a littleharder.
I would, I would have leaned onmy dad a little harder than I,
than I did in the beginning,because he had a lot of
knowledge and I could have usedit and I was too stupid to know
that at the time.
So, yeah, I just that was justme, I was proud and you know,
wanted to do it myself and youknow it would.
(06:14):
It would have been helpful.
I mean, we got through,everything was fine, we're all
good, but you know, it couldhave been easier if I just
leaned on him for some advice oranybody really.
Yeah.
So what have been some of yourbiggest learnings as an owner
and an employer?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
owner and employer, that owning a company and you
know employing people andmanaging a company or working in
that business are twocompletely separate entities.
And just because you're good atone thing you know being a good
arborist or a good salespersonor you know a good maintenance
man does not mean that you willbe good at running a business,
(07:02):
and they're two.
You know completely differentthings and those two things are
kind of very hard tosimultaneously.
You know achieve or or excel atyeah.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
The more I'm getting involved in, the more, uh, I
immerse myself into thisbusiness, the more I realized
that I kind of can't wear allthe hats, and I'm trying to, at
this point, separate myself fromthe labor side of the business
to just running the business.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, working on the business, not always in it.
Yeah, exactly, so what do youthink some of the common
misconceptions about running abusiness are?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I'd say number one is that it's easy.
You know, a lot of.
I spent a long time working asan employee and I, you know, see
, on that side a lot of theemployees think the business
owner, you know, has it easy andthat you know, basically
they're just we're.
(08:14):
We're the ones, the employeesare the ones who are running the
company, but you know, theowner or managers are just kind
of sitting back and collectinguh money.
But it's, it's an amount,immense amount, of uh stress for
one.
And also the work is veryintensive and it requires a lot
(08:39):
of time.
And when you're an employee youcan kind of go home at the end
of the day and your day is over.
You may think about what you'regoing to do tomorrow, but
ultimately that's not really upto you and that you don't have
to worry about it at least.
And also on your weekends, youknow your weekend is there, but
(09:02):
as a business owner it's kind oflike a 24-7 thing and I have to
think about not just tomorrowor you know what my plan is, but
I have to think about fiveyears down the road and I also
have to think about you knowwhat happened for the past year
or two, because it's you know,what happened in the past is
(09:23):
relevant to what will happen inthe future.
So there's just a whole lotgoing on.
You know behind the scenes thatI think people don't realize.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
A hundred percent.
Yeah, a hundred 100%.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I'd say number one is customer relations.
You know, I'd say the majorityof my business comes from word
of mouth.
We do kind of minimaladvertising.
In the beginning I did a lot ofmaybe more generic type of
advertising and magazines andstuff like that.
(10:01):
But the conversion rates that I, you know, I can't directly see
, but I ask here and there wheremy customers come from, and
most of my customers come from,you know, google.
Uh, not not even paid googleadvertising, just just a google
page and uh, word of mouth likethat's that's where it comes
(10:24):
from.
So, maintaining uh thosecustomer relationships and
nurturing them and, uh, you know, once you have a customer, that
customer can easily turn into10 customers if you, you know,
do things right.
And that's been very, veryimportant to my growth 100%.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Yeah, obviously, referrals are the best kind of
business you can get, so welldone there.
How do you balance yourpersonal life and the business
life?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
It's challenging and the way you know, it's important
for me, because some I feel,like a lot of entrepreneurs out
there don't really balancebusiness and personal life.
Like they just kind of feel likeas a startup entrepreneur, a
new entrepreneur, that you haveto go through this period where
(11:15):
you just work, work, work, work,work and all you think about is
work and you put any free timeyou have, go straight into the
business.
And I'm more of a work lifebalance person and for me to be
functional at work I need tohave personal life and space.
(11:36):
So it's been very important tome from the beginning to kind of
uh, you know, make a point thatI I don't answer phone calls
after a certain time of night,that I I don't answer phone
calls on the weekend unless it'san emergency.
Um, yeah, I tried to reallygive myself some space from the
business and you know it'salways in the back of my mind
(12:00):
and it's kind of hard to turnthat off.
But as far as like beingactively working on the business
, I try to really be like allright, it's, it's six o'clock in
the evening, now it's time tostop till tomorrow, or you know
it's it's saturday, sunday, takea break and we'll start again
(12:21):
on monday, and I think that'sreally been helpful as far as,
like, keeping me motivated.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, no, I like it.
I just.
I don't know about you, but Ithink all the studies show that
the people who think they'rebeing productive, working seven
days a week, it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
No, no.
You get way more done when youwork, when you're fresh and can
work hard.
I mean, you know, work hard forsmaller periods of time.
I think hard for smallerperiods of time, I think.
So.
When you're hiring employees,what do you look for and how do
you foster a positive andproductive work environment.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Well, one of the big things with my business was to
create a different atmosphere,because the atmosphere and
company cultures that I've runinto in the tree industry and
not to put a bad light on thetree industry but they weren't
the atmosphere that I would wantto work in.
(13:27):
And I was lucky to have adifferent experience working
internationally because I workedin germany for this, you know,
almost 10 years and, um, thecompany culture and atmosphere
in the companies I worked for ingermany were way different than
here.
(13:47):
Um, like the, it just was a morefriendly, more open, more um,
let's say, positive likeenvironment.
Uh, where here it's, for me it'sbeen more kind of like a hard,
you know, just work, work, work.
(14:09):
Um, maybe more a rougherenvironment, and so it was
important for me to to create aatmosphere where anybody is
welcome, um, and you knoweverybody should feel
comfortable and it's a friendlyenvironment where the ball,
where me as the boss is notgonna be yelling at people and
(14:31):
grumpy all day and kind of, youknow, like a more open
environment where if someone hadan issue like, we can talk
about it instead of just thisyou know, really rough
environment which I've seen in alot of tree companies with a
lot of yelling and stuff likethat.
So it's been really, reallyimportant for me when screening
(14:52):
employees that they're not justhard workers or capable, but
they fit.
They'll fit into the atmospherethat I'm trying to create and
so that's.
That's been a big thing and Ithink because I'm not just
looking for someone whophysically can fit the job or
mentally fit the job, but thattheir personality fits my
(15:14):
company culture I've had greatersuccess with employee
retainment.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, obviously, if you getsomebody who fits the culture
and fits the mold and fits in,then obviously they're going to
want to be part of that culturefor a long time and so they're
going to stay.
So Be Epic is my tagline andit's an acronym, sort of the
first two letters are oneacronym.
(15:43):
So when I was writing a book afew years ago, I wanted to, so I
came up with this idea of epicand it needed to spell something
.
First.
I couldn't spell anything, butI came up with the buckets of
success.
So let me get your thoughtsJust one or two sentences or
(16:04):
words about these as they applyto you and your business.
So the B in Be Epic is bringthe energy.
So what are your thoughts onbringing energy?
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah, I mean the having employees and and culture
that is, like you know,energetic and exciting and I
think fresh, like when.
I think energetic, I think afresh and and just different,
like a different appearance, um,even like as far as a company
(16:39):
logo, you know, like anythinglike that to me is energetic and
exciting.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, no, I love it.
Okay, the E stands foreducation, and obviously you
were well-educated in the treeindustry, but there's other
kinds of education too.
What are your thoughts aroundeducation?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, I mean education, you know, is so
important.
Knowledge is power, and what Itell my employees all the time
is that the more knowledgeableand educated you are, the more
passionate you're going to beabout what you do, and I think
that says everything.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I love that.
The more knowledgeable you are,the more passionate.
Wow, I never thought aboutknowledge leading to passion.
That's cool.
I actually thought about beingpassionate about something and
then wanting to learn, but Ithink it works both ways.
I think that's a great point.
All right, the P is forplanning.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Planning, I mean, is without a plan, everything's
kind of up in the air.
And I mean with tree work it'sso important because if I don't
have a game plan and you know,have an idea of how long jobs
are going to take me or what Ineed, it's just not going to
happen.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Not only that, but it's going to be dangerous,
right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
The start of every job is, you know, a plan, right
yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
No, I love that.
I love that.
Yeah, the I stands forinspiration.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah, inspiration like that's.
You know, when I look at mycompany and what I want it to be
, where I want to grow in thefuture, I look at you know my
competitors, my, you know thecompanies that I want to be like
, and that's where I get myinspirations and maybe not just
(18:33):
be like them, but maybe inspiredto be better than them.
Yeah, that's a big thing for me.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
No, I love it.
I love it.
There's nothing wrong with alittle good competition.
It's going to make you better.
It's going to make you better.
I love that.
And the C stands for commitment.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Yeah, commitment, I mean.
I think that a business is isreally hard, um, and it's up and
down and you know.
You just have to tell yourselfthat you wanted this for a
reason and you can't give up.
Like you, you just can't giveup, no matter what.
If you've had a bad day, a badmonth, that you just have to
(19:14):
stay committed and keep going.
And if it's not working whatyou're doing, then you need to
change, not just give up, andthat's really important.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, I love that.
So what's the next big thingfor Coastland Tree Works?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
next big thing for coastland tree works?
Um, at this point like, uh,we're, you know, we're running
one crew and we definitely wantto get to the point where we can
start another crew.
Um, but that's, you know, goingto take more equipment and you
know that's probably the thepoint we're at, that we need to
look into some more equipment.
Then we can start adding inanother crew and, you know,
(19:57):
trying to take on more jobs.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Yeah, no, I love it.
Yeah Well, there's ways to easeinto it, but it's kind of you
do kind of have to get a wholecrew, it's just hard to kind of
figure out what comes first atthis point.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
The more crew or the more equipment.
You know it's.
It's yeah, I've found in thechallenge.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, I've found in most businesses that have a
pretty high equipment or capitalcosts it's kind of a the stair
step thing.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
You, you, you, you get the crew, you get, you know,
you, you can get the crew, youcan rent equipment for a while,
but then you got to buy iteventually and then you know,
and then yeah, so then you getmore equipment and you got to
get the crew, you got to get thebusiness.
It kind of it works.
It works though.
I've seen it.
I've worked with a lot ofpeople in the in the sort of
what I'd call the tradesbusinesses or uh, uh, play
(20:45):
people with crews and trucks andvans and that sort of thing.
That's exciting.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Keep growing, get another crew I love it and also
the more equipment we have.
It definitely speeds up ourefficiency.
So the more efficient we are,the more jobs we can do and the
more money we can make.
Yeah, 100%, Definitely we're ata point where we need more
equipment.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Yeah, the more people you can serve.
The more people you can serve,the more yeah.
I mean you just got to getthere little by little, yeah.
So what's the best way forsomeone to get in touch with you
?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
The phone is the easiest way.
You know, my phone number is302-390-1780.
Or email is also veryconvenient.
It's just coastlandtree atgmailcom Got it coastlandtree at
gmailcom.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Got it, that's cool.
Well look, this has been great,thank you for being part of
this.
Yeah, for being part of ourcommunity and all you're doing,
and we know you're going tocontinue to grow and continue to
be successful.
So thanks for that.
Thank you, yeah, and until nexttime.
(22:03):
All the best.
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