Eleven years after Lumberjacks Tree Service started chopping wood, the business has collapsed.
Tyler Schievelhud, a 34-year-old East Ridge native, says he had $500 in his pocket when he started Lumberjacks in 2012. He anticipates that the company, which won the Chattanooga Times Free Press Best of the Best category in 2022, will generate $3 million in calendar 2023 revenue.
“We are based on the idea of taking care of our customers and employees,” he says. “My father and grandfather had textile factories years ago and they always said that money comes from a job well done – if you take care of your customers and employees, money is the by-product.”
Schievelhud remembers the beginning when he was hired by a construction company to do tree care and roofing work. However, he says he lost that job in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008-09.
“There were just no jobs,” he says. “I looked, I applied, but the choice was really small.”
So Schievelhud had some leaflets printed and took to the streets on his own, knocking on doors and offering handyman services. After a few years he found his way back into tree work.
“I had really enjoyed it before,” he recalls. “Each job is a little different and I’ve enjoyed it a lot more than painting a bedroom or putting on crown molding.”
“Then, in 2012, I said, ‘Let’s just pay attention to the tree work. It’s one thing to be good at many things, but let’s see if we’re the best at something,’ he says.
Schievelhud says he quickly learned that building a business specializing in tree work came with unique, very costly challenges.
“First, we try to employ the best people in Chattanooga, so that’s a pretty good price,” he says, adding that Lumberjacks has about 20 employees and three or four crews on duty every day.
“And equipment,” he says. “Take a walk around our warehouse and you will see well over $2 million worth of equipment. We just changed all the oil and filters and that alone cost $15,000. This year we’ve budgeted over $200,000 just to keep things going and we’re spending $100,000 on training.
“Our overhead is very, very high,” he adds. “We try to balance reasonable costs with the best service money can buy, so efficiency is a big deal.”
Schievelhud says his priorities have naturally shifted as Lumberjacks has grown. He’s still going to jobs, but now it’s more about keeping the momentum going.
“Marketing, developing training, standardizing processes,” he says. “We need a lot more jobs as we grow, but it’s difficult to find workers. I actually have people from other companies calling and saying, ‘I want to work for you.’ That makes things a little easier, but you need someone who not only has the right skills, but also the personality and mindset that fits our culture.
“Lincoln said if he had five hours to chop down a tree, he would spend four hours sharpening the axe,” says Schievelhud. “It would be very easy to allow this to get lax and business could go the other way. It could be shrinking just as fast as it’s been growing.”
“But the work we’ve done makes me wonder what we might be capable of in another ten years.”
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