First let me say this: I'm outlining what I did. It's worked so far very well for me. You are welcome to take, steal, edit or completely ignore everything here. I'm sharing what I did and if it helps you in any way, excellent. My story in a nutshell. A couple decades in corporate America, IT manager (I was a nerd, now I manage nerds) plus I've run some side gigs that employed people. IT right now is pretty scary, everything will look different in the next few years and most of the jobs I'm qualified for will be taken by automation and AI so after a few months of research, I selected Forestry Mulching for the 2nd phase of my life. My plan is to own/manage and to hire out the operator positions. I'll learn how to operate for fun so it makes sense to me and I can 'talk operator talk' but I won't ever be more qualified than who I hired to do the job. Eventually I want to be at scale with several teams but for now I need to hire my first operator, which is the most important hire. They can make or break your start, which could make or break your business. For me they are going to do everything operational - help me walk jobs while I learn how to quote them, they will mobolize, handle all mulching activies, light maintenance, etc. They'll need a Class A CDL. They'll shoot video at the job site, take before/after photos of every job, read from scrips for ad content (I don't want to be on camera yet as I still have the corporate job). Intially I was requiring skid steer experience and forestry mulching / land management was a bonus. Now that I'm done this process and hired my 1st operator, next time I'm going to require land management and/or foresty mulching experience. I next had to figure out my requirements. Who we are looking for: Self starter, able to work alone Reliable and high integrity Complete daily paperwork Documentation for each job Willing to be on video - capture before and after photos daily, take video of operations, talk through scripts Safety minded

Where would you all suggest i look to find a good reliable operator to work for me. Im in the DFW area, would appreciate if you know of someone or point me in the right direction.

Who creates all your websites that can help?

Hi everyone, new here. Thank you for letting me be part of the group. My Q is. Do you ask your customers for a deposit upfront to secure the booking, or do you go and do the work on the agreed date and ask for payment afterwards. If you ask for a deposit, is it 1. As set amount you ask for. Or 2. A % of the value of the job. Do you have any issues in getting deposits paid? Or take payment afterwards. Have you had any problems getting the customer to pay, how did you recoup your money when there were payment issues after the work is done.