Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Waswick.
Hi Tim, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My business partner AJ had Aspen Tree Service sitting idle back in 2013. His brother Austin who started the business used to run it and had passed away tragically, leaving the equipment just sitting around. I was attempting to get another business idea of the ground back then, and was not making much money. I fired up the tree business in the fall of 2013 mainly just to make an extra $500 on the weekends to hold me over until I got my other business interests cash-flowing stronger. Shortly after I started it back up, we had a large ice-storm which created all kinds of emergency removals and debris removal jobs, so even though I didn’t really know what I was doing, the jobs were pretty straightforward. In the years that followed, the people who I had helped in the ice storm called me back for more pruning work, and also referred me to their neighbors and friends. Before I knew it, I was in over my head and had no idea what I was doing. At this point, I got AJ back in the game and he showed me how to properly care for trees and prune them correctly. AJ did not want to put much time into the business back then either as he was pursuing other things. Long story short, the business kept growing without us really trying, until one day we decided to make it our main pursuit; since Aspen grew organically better than other things we were pursuing. For the last 8 years, we have run the business together full-time. We both became ISA certified Arborists in 2020. Today, in addition to pruning and removal services, our main focus is on plant health care, long-term sustainability, and tree consulting services for pre-construction management and tree mitigation services.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Of course it has not been a smooth road. Managing a tight calendar is very hard for us as jobs often take longer than expected, and customers want the work done ASAP. Communication between customer, crew leaders, and estimators has also been a challenge. We of course have different solutions to all of these issues, but nothing is ever perfect. Learning how to properly care for all different species of trees is itself challenging. There really isn’t a good curriculum or class to prepare you for everything you may encounter in the field. Most of what we have learned over the years is from running into issues and getting help from other arborists and professionals in our network that we trust to help us figure things out along the way. Real-world experience is the only way to learn the arborist business.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a tree business that specializes in educating our customers on proper tree care and pride ourselves in providing excellent service. Our focus is long-term sustainability for trees. I think the main things that sets us apart from other companies is that we don’t just take orders from the customer and execute them no-questions asked. Our goal is to first understand what the customer desires, and then to coach them into the best route to get to that desired goal. For example: a common request we get is: “Please thin out my Oak tree so I can get more sun to my grass”. Most tree companies will say “OK” and then proceed to over-thin the tree by lion-tailing it, often during the worst time of the year to perform such an atrocity, and think nothing of it. Our approach is to come up with a long-term solution that doesn’t hurt the tree. Maybe we lift the canopy in a few areas during the spring so we get more light into strategic places, with less wounds on the tree during a vulnerable time. Often then, we will need to come back during the fall to do a more complete canopy reduction or thinning for the next season. We will also educate the homeowner on different types of grass that do better in shade. Our solution will almost always cost more the first year, and involve more steps, but will be less expensive in the long run, and will not damage the tree like another company may do by heavily pruning during a poor season to do so. I want homeowners to view us as a source of information and service for the long-run.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Well it depends on how you define “Success”. By the metrics of the business growth gurus who guarantee 10x growth year over year if you follow their advice, we are complete failures. Success to me is found by finding enjoyment in my work, and making enough money to take care of my family and fuel investments for the future. With that working definition, I would define the majority of our years in business (but certainly not ALL) as successful. And of course I have had MANY people in my life that have helped in many ways. I have had business mentors that helped me learn how to relate to people and communicate well, and I have had people that I trust educate me on how to be financially responsible, both in business and personal life. There is no such thing as a self-made man, and anyone who sees himself as such clearly has a distorted view of reality.
Pricing:
- $350 job minimum
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aspen-tree-service.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texasarborist/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aspentreeservice
