How Leon Grew His Arborist Business with Builderscrack

Q: Tell us a bit about your trade and the kind of work you do.

A: “I’ve been an arborist for 12 years and I’ve been climbing for at least six of those years as a contractor for other companies. In the industry we’re called contract climbers. But I decided to take the big leap and become a business owner. It’s been great, especially with the help of Builderscrack.”

Q: How long have you been in business?

A: “I only started six months ago. There’s lots to keep on top of, especially when you compare the two — contracting and owning a company. It definitely keeps me busy.”

Q: How’s work-life balance since you started? Any 9pm quoting?

A: “Yeah, nah pretty good. On a Friday, when I wrap on my last job I make sure that’s it. I designate certain days for quoting, so I’m not burning myself out. My uncle was an arborist as well and he owned his own company too. That’s how I got into the industry, but I watched him burn himself out, and I’d rather do things differently.”

Q: How many do you have on your team?

A: “I have one other guy who helps me out part-time on bigger jobs that need two people. But yeah, just me for now.”

Q: You’ve had a great first month on Builderscrack — how did you approach getting started?

A: “So basically I set my profile up in a way that was thinking of the client, what they would want to see on the other end. I asked myself, what would I like to see on someone’s profile, how do I see what they’re made of. If I was looking for an arborist, the things I would be looking for are contact details, a website, photos and credentials. And I also was in the middle of setting up my website at the time so I was still in that mind frame when setting up my profile. I had a bit of help, and I’m happy with how it turned out.

I knew as well to put a range of different previous work that I’ve done. The big, cool ones that everyone likes to see. But I also had to put in a few normal things that people see with a normal sized tree. The only things I’ve been meaning to put up are some photos of some hedges. Then I’ll let the work speak for itself.”

Q: What do you think helped you win those early jobs on Builderscrack?

A: “When I first jumped on there, I started chasing leads straight away. No one wanted to take me on. Had no reviews and no jobs. Pretty much crossed my fingers and hoped someone would give me a chance. So for the first one, when I got in contact, there were two other guys already in contact. I went up to the job straight away and gave her a price. She had an open home that Saturday, and asked me to do the job on the Friday. Got the first review. Then the second one was down the road from my house, so I was able to quickly do that job as well. From there, once I got the first lot of reviews, and got all 5 hammer ratings, it started just going from there. People could trust that you’ve been reviewed and done a good job.”

Q: Sometimes it can feel like you’re starting from scratch building up an online reputation, even though you’ve got years of experience under your belt. How did you manage that?

A: “Yeah, photos are pretty good, it’s another way of letting people know, ‘I’m not just your average tree lopper’. We do have a profession and we do professional work up there.”

Q: Your photos are epic — something tells me you might be an adrenaline junkie?

“Yeah, I’m into dirt bikes, so I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie. To be honest, I really hate heights now. The deeper I get into the industry, the more I don’t like being up high. 12 years ago, I wanted to go up as high as I could. Now, I would rather have someone else to do those kinds of jobs. That’s what I started this for — to start something up so that I can pass my knowledge down onto someone else, be a little me, and I can be a boss.”

Q: How do you make a good first impression when reaching out to a customer?

A: “I think your PR skills, or the way you hold yourself. Whether that’s in person, on the phone, through writing, text message or email. You’ve got to be professional, and the professionality should come out when you talk to people and quote a job. Always look them in the eyes, shake their hand.

It’s really important to me, like you said, reputation is everything. Things like, ‘Hey, how’s it going, I’m Leon from iClimb, I’m here if you need a quote’ then leave a number if it’s a voice message. If they get in contact, they hear your voice again on the phone.

Q: What’s something you do to keep customers happy throughout a job?

A: “I like to keep communication open, so that there’s no confusion between us. No hidden agendas. I like to keep everything just honest, you know, like if you’re not going to be at your house when I’m doing your job, I want to make sure you can trust me 100%.

I’ll provide that by doing the job to the best of my ability, and make it look like I wasn’t even there, except for the tree, which is how I’ve been working. I think people really appreciate it. It’s how I’ve always worked.

Most of the time I’ll work eight hours on a tree, and then you get to 5:30pm, the client comes home and says “Omg, the place looks beautiful”, and you’re thinking like ‘what about the massive tree we just removed’ haha. People are more worried about the clean up. So it’s about keeping the clients happy, and always leaving the place better than how you found it.

Q: How do you differentiate yourself from landscapers and gardeners?

A: “If the homeowner has put something more specific in their job post, I’ll let them know that we specialise in this type of work. That’s how I do it. I also try to do anything I can to separate myself from the rest. So that’s why it’s important with the communication, those first three points of communication, that’s what it’s all about.”

Q: Are there any other tools that you use to help grow your business?

A: “Yeah I use Xero for my invoicing, I’ve got a website and I do socials. On socials, I’ve started doing before and after the project. The first time I did the voiceover video, I was a bit weirded out by it. You get weirded out by the sound of your own voice. But my friends and partner said nah, it’s good, keep going.

I post every now and then to keep people updated with what I’m doing. There’s all types of climbing jobs on there too, to show that I do smaller jobs as well. I try to put things up on socials because that’s another way of advertising, and getting the name out there.

Q: What advice would you give to another tradie who’s considering going out on their own?

A: “I say do it. I was always worried about that side of it. I always thought it was safe as a contractor. Thinking, oh I’m safe, I don’t have to worry about the nitty gritty, but I can’t keep being a contractor for the rest of my life. There’s got to be more to it. If I’m working for other people and making them rich, why can I take the big leap and do something for myself. Everyone that I was talking to about it, they were telling me to go and do it. So to anyone else that’s thinking about it — go get it.”

Thank you to Leon from iClimb Limited for sharing your story, your time and delivering awesome results for our community.