Good evening Ownr Ops Group! I'm prepping myself (cautiously and conservatively) for an early spring launch into Forestry Mulching in WV. I'm at about the 90% mark in regards to securing financing via a SBA backed business loan. Part of the lending obviously required quotes for everything and then some. I was able to call around and get a few conservative insurance quotes. However, being on the final stretch of the lending/launch phase, I'm looking to find serious insurance binders to get going. What companies are you guys going with and would recommend for: Commercial Auto - RAM 4500/25k lbs gooseneck General Liability Inland Marine - CAT 275xe/Shearex HM60 Umbrella Liability (some lenders require) Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm not looking for the cheapest options, just reputable and trustworthy companies that maybe specialize in these fields and understand the business we are in. Thanks All! Frank

I started truly pursuing the business about one month ago. I thought it would be helpful, mainly to myself, to provide little updates each month to show the progress I have made towards landing my first paid job. Here is a quick summary of what I have done in the last month. 1. Registered the business with the State, got EIN - in PA, you can do this online for $125. Takes about 15 minutes. I received an EIN from THE IRS in 3 minutes online as well. 2. Visited local Bobcat dealership to discuss pricing, machine options, and potential CDL issues - I am going with Bobcat because there are three service centers within an hour's drive from my location. 3. Started the process to obtain CDL Class A License - I have arranged with a school to offer an abridged course (40 hours vs. 160 hours) to obtain my Class A. I did find out that most schools only offer the full course so you do have to shop around to find one that will work with your schedule. I can obtain my CDL permit relatively easily on my own, which is an entire week for most schools. 4. Opened Business Checking Account and Business Credit Card (Chase Bank) - I already bank with Chase and this made it the simplest option. Unfortunately, Chase and most credit unions require two years of business history to offer any type of financing. 5. Set Up Online Tools & Presence (Initially) - I created a Jobber account, Google Work Space, business cell phone (Mint Mobile e-SIM), and purchased my domain name from GoDaddy. 6. Logo & Apparel & Business Cards - I used ChatGPT to help create a great logo, and a friend owns a custom apparel company who is going to make me a basic starter kit at cost. The kit I decided on was hoodie, long sleeve, short sleeve, and a hat. I figured that as I start to give on-site estimates for potential clients I want to look professional, uniform. I am ordering my business cards from Vista Print this weekend. 7. Contacted local municipalities - My girlfriend/business partner/cheerleader is a zoning officer and reached out to municipal contacts to understand how they contract out their brush clearing and forestry mulching. It was really informative for us because many of the really small townships in my area don't have the ability to hire full time for the jobs. 8. Business Plan - I wrote out my business plan and operating agreement, including 1-sheet financial estimates. This has helped me talk with banks and lenders effectively because they can quickly see the size, scope, and intention of the business.

So here's my first draft of a new FB video ad. I'm interested in any and all feedback! @Austin Gray

if you haven't checked out @William Swingle YouTube account, time to go check it out! he's killing it as an owner-operator... i enjoyed watching his high performing videos the other day and I believe there is a lot we can all learn from what he is doing 👌 P.S. YouTube algorithm is very much like SEO — if you can create videos that are optimized for your local area + service, you will not only show up on YouTube's algo, but also have a better chance at showing up on Google Search algorithm

How to qualify your Facebook leads so you don’t waste time on tire kickers 👇 this is for you @William Swingle If you’re running FB lead ads for land clearing / mitigation, you want the ideal customers. No need to waste time in your sales process to filter what your form should have filtered online. Here’s a simple lead form setup that pre-qualifies people before they ever hit your phone: Required fields: - Name - Phone - Email Qualifying fields: 1. Acres — Dropdown with 4 options: - 1–5 - 5–10 - 10–20 - 20+ 2. Location — Open text field (so you can instantly see if they’re in your service area) 3. Vegetation type — Dropdown with 3–4 options of the main local vegetation types you actually work in 4. Reason for clearing Options like: - New construction - More usable land - Invasive species removal - Promote / protect <your prized local tree> growth What this does: - Filters out people with tiny, unprofitable jobs - Shows you scope + intent at a glance - Cuts down “just curious” time-wasters like we talked about 👍 Set this up once in your FB lead form and your pipeline quality goes up without your ad spend going up.