One thing you wish you didn't do (when starting up

I know we always talk about what to do when launching or considering starting up. Thought it might be useful and
even entertaining to hear what you wouldn't do again if you had a "do over" or "mulligan."

Mine would be buying an arsenal of traps and supplies instead of gearing up as I had the need or incoming work.
I bought to establish and all around ability, but ended up going down certain trails that made much of my purchasing
obsolete and therefore collecting dust in my "warehouse."

Justin

My biggest mistake resulted in me pushing harder. No regrets...

I still make plenty of mistakes, but we learn from it.

Dave,

Good point I should have put in the thread topic that learning as you go is how most get to be the best.
I don't relish making mistakes but I know they benefit me if I indeed learn from them and it makes me
better.

Lately pigeons are teaching me a few lessons that I'm paying close attention to!

It might sound funny but I think my biggest mistake was expanding my territory to quickly. My general area is saturated with companies so I branched out to areas with almost no competition and now I regret that move. Nothing worse than driving hour and a half for a $50 squirrel.

As soon as I find an operator in those areas I trust I am going to load him up with work.

Biggest mistake..... priced per animal like a fur trapper (which I was/still am) instead of a business.

What Ron said. I charged $5 for my first animal (a red squirrel in 1982.) Another mistake early on was trusting people too much. Get a credit card #.

Buying supplies before I understood what I really needed, buy as you develop the need. I also bought cheap traps that I am slowly replacing with quality gear. I now buy Comstock, Advanced and AES as I can. Buying things twice costs way more than getting quality the first time. Lastly, if you don't know how to handle a job, it's ok to pass on it until you are more experienced. Having an upset customer is gut-wrenching enough if you know that your doing things right!

I regret not letting my wife quit her Job as a cna the
First year I started! She now works for herself so I can
Plan big jobs according to her availability! If I would have
Saved up more money before I started this business
Letting her quit would have been possible the first
Year, so what it comes down to it saving money before
I opened shop!

All great responses folks, thanks for sharing, hope to see more, I see many things that I completely agree with.

The one about being willing to pass is something I think folks learn over time. I was just saying this to a colleague
yesterday about some bat work where the house is swiss cheese.

Learning to say no is important in this industry!

Keep it goin!

my biggest mistake was not getting a divorce sooner.. Then she got half...

Justin, you just mentioned our biggest mistake. And it seems to ongoing.

I am wanting to get away from this myself but the backlash from customers is not encouraging. I think what is hurting me is when I tell them $350 for a squirrel and then I try to sell them all the add ons they balk. At least when I had the "set up fee" they had the small up front fee so they felt better about the add ons. Maybe a half up front/half at completion will help with this...just not sure it will work in this area.

2012 was the worst year I ever had with having to chase money and I DO NOT want to go through this again this year.

Paul, I assume you referred to not saying "no."

For me I've had only a couple as I'm only 2 years into it now but they were obvious to me but I was compelled
by the need / desire to make money. I had a set of condos that are badly in need of serious siding, chimney and
other upper level exterior repair/replacement. Most of the issues I resolved even with the shoddy conditions but
a couple are causing me chronic warranty repairs. My only silver lining is that the same folks have other units and
see that I'm reliable and therefore have offered me more work on buildings that are far better structures.

Ironically I say no to lots of other typical nwco trapping requests, but exclusion jobs I have a hard time not wanting
to move on them!

Saying no is always hard and inflating the price to force a no almost always seems to end in a yes.

True Nate!

Too much Advertising... Spent too much on DEX and...

Also Reaching out too far for jobs.

When I started out I did all the advertising I could and spent a LOT of money on it. I never looked at that as a mistake because I learned so much from it.

While radio ads were worthless for ADC and cost a lot of money I am already putting my radio spots together for the store.

Have been thinking about a billboard in the area for the wildlife and pest control and the cost is kinda large but I drive by it every day and think it would look nice with my sign up there.

I would "NOT" reccommend spending a lot of money on advertising outside of website, business cards, or flyers. But would never fault anyone who took a chance on something big. I'm all about go big or go home. lol

We were careful to avoid over-capitalizing; bought a 13-year old truck, used traps (many from the company that fired me!). This allowed us to price our work to make $$ and not to pay off big loans. It also helped to have a sharp accountant for a wife!(Plus, I'm a tightwad German!)
Biggest regret was not getting serious about net advertising. That's 75% of our new business now.

One of mine would be that I waited too long to hire technicians to help expand the company and spread out the work load.

Dave, how come we brag about the fact that we're German tightwads but hate it when we get one as a customer. ( On the other hand, I don't recall any German tightwads that we had to turn over for collection either )

Okay so far we have (summarized):

- buying too much or the wrong gear for startup

- expanding territory further instead of focusing close to home (driving too far)

- pricing structure (per animal vs. per job)

- trusting people to be honest and pay (versus getting cc# up front)

- learning to say "no" when the job is beyond fixable or something isn't right

- not adding help soon enough, technicians, spouse etc... to allow more growth

- too much or the wrong type of advertising dollars spent

Thats what we have so far, good points and all good to learn from.

I will tell you what hurt the most. Lack of business experience and business education.

My best friend and I started in this business at the same time. ( And neither knew the other one was starting )

He was a retired executive and knew business inside and out. ( And he was a really good trapper )

I knew a lot about spray painting and drinking beer. ( And I was a fairly decent trapper myself )

He would just about double what I made in a year. ( It was his business experience right from the get-go )


P.S. My son graduated college, joined the company as supreme overseer, and now we do a lot better. ( And I quit drinking beer )

buying use traps

I bought about two dozen Wickenkamp for $15 apiece. I still have about 17 left and they're still being used 25 years later. I wish the other seven hadn't walked off like that. You don't suppose someone stole them, do you?

Ok I have a question, for the ones that bought unnecessary equipment. What would you do now, buy it as the jobs called for it? If so, what do you do about the people not wanting to wait till the equipment comes in? Or emergency's that come up?

Is there a list of things that any new business should get ahead of time?

I am not sure you can avoid that mistake. A couple dozen traps is not a BIG mistake. Figure that it is a cost of doing business.

Again, it's ok to pass on a job if your not geared for it. My point is that you shouldn't go buy a bunch of special bird traps, snake gear, mole traps or whatever until you get a call or two for them. If I had purchased a single bird trap it would have been money wasted to date. I haven't received a single call yet that required trapping birds, I've netted birds, but not trapped any. Not to say that you won't do plenty of that but I haven't yet. I don't see how you could go wrong buying core equipment for the problem animals in your area so long as you buy quality and not quantity to start. I haven't taken on any debt building my business but it is slow going. I was told in the beginning by others to buy a trap or tool with each job and have taken that approach to heart. If I did a raccoon job I bought more raccoon gear(traps, baits, lures), same with skunk or whatever. In this approach I geared towards the calls that I get the most of. Just don't buy junk that will sit not making you money or have to be replaced when it fails you at the worst possible time(that's when it happens!)

Exactly what he said, while you can't avoid some things being bought that you might not end up needing, if you start getting to where you
can always use an extra or two or three, you can buy them and get them shipped, or if you are lucky just go and pick them up (not my situation).

I geared up for all things and wish I hadn't, exactly as mchitwood says, don't buy things that you don't know you'll need up front unless you've got
a real good sense for needing them.

You will still have some misfires, but a few is okay, too many and you've got a warehouse like I do!

There are so many specialty traps that you might need one a year. You might kick yourself for buying them....but then again they will come in handy. This sets you apart from a regular homeowner...that does not have any tricks up their sleeve.

You make a very good point Dave, but again, until I get a call or two requiring the oddball trap I try not to buy it. Believe me, I've bought stuff that I didn't need. I have the burning desire to have all the toys and gadgets. I'll eventually get there but, for now, not having them hasn't really cost me any money!

Justin, ( And this applies to all of you ) if you have equipment that you've never used, sell it, give it away, donate it, it doesn't matter. Two days after it is gone, you will need it. That is, as they say, life.

I've been following this thread and wondering what it is I wish I didn't do and haven't really come up with anything. I've made a few mistakes but they were good lessons.

My very first paying job ended up stiffing me. It hasn't happened again in over three years but I am still a little more wary.

I was relieved of the burden of ownership on two traps. I learned to cable or stake them.

I've had to deal with hostile anti-trappers but I learned stealth and avoiding conflict.

It's a lot easier to point out the things I'm glad I did/didn't do.

Like mchitwood, I'm glad I've incurred zero debt.

I'm glad I spent a few years trapping for free. It's the only time I've ever offered a money back guarantee.

I'm glad I took it slow. By that I mean it has never been my one and only source of income so there has never been much pressure financially.

I'm very glad I've spent every day learning about wildlife.

Mostly, I'm glad I marched to my own drum. Advice can be a double edged sword.

Good post, sqs. There may be more of you than there are of us, but for the most part, your answers are those of a full timer.

The only real thing I'd change was that I priced my first few jobs too cheaply. But, in the grand scheme of things I'm still happy as they've been with me ever since and I'm just tweaking the prices up each year. I learnt one thing fast...and that's good advertising is the best investment you will ever make. Just one sign at the side oif a busy junction brought me over £2000 of work, and I'm on a contract from that sign too....

Growing too fast can be a train wreck! Slow and steady is the way to go.

roe, I hope you read this. My sister-in-law has visited your country on a couple of occasions. She made a few friends there and they reciprocated by coming to America.

She called her sister and asked what there was to do here that would keep them as entertained as she had been in England. At that time we had a shooting range in our backyard. So we said, "bring them over to our house for an afternoon."

I tried to explain why we Americans love shooting but I told them they wouldn't understand until they did it themselves. We had a nice selection of .22's in almost every shape and style you could think of.

Though both of these Brits never missed the target, one of them was a natural. We hung balloons, among other things and watching their expression every time a balloon popped, was priceless.

I told them that the guns they were firing could take a life even though they were one of our smallest calibers. And also that we provided a safe target with a safe backdrop so accidents were out of the question.

I really do not know who was happier; your countrymen for being able to fire their first guns, or the Winkelmann family for proving the opportunity.

Well, over here we can have guns, but they are only given out on a strict licence system. I have a pistol, a .243 and a .30.06....The gun laws are crazy and it has done zip against gun crime. there's more of that than ever! But, yes, it sure is a good way to while a way a few hours with a spot of plinking.....

Guys I been following this and learning. I have one question though about not buying gear you wont need, sorta of working into things. So have any of you only worked on certain types of animals. As in only being set up in the handleing the most common complaints for your area ? For me here there would be very few bat complaints, or complaints about moles, or pigions. My thought was to gear up for the most common, and the rest say no on and pass along ? Does that work for anyone ?

I pass on jobs daily. Focus on your area of competience.

Many people make a post (I have been guilty) asking for information but never follow up. You have followed up and compiled the answers. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You make this place worthwhile.

great great post, was in for 8 years and now out for 2, this year will be returning back into it but in a different location, no longer in sw missouri. Some of those mentioned i had to learn the hard way, going back into it helps me know what equipment i used alot of and what equipment i never used, so initial equipment expenses won't be near as bad. My spouse has to be all in with me in order for business to be successful, she can still work but she also has a say in what is happening.

probably biggest mistake i made was to buy BIG things right away and put the business in debt to start off with.

Starting too fast was another without being ready for the workload.

Another big mistake i made was thinking all the work i was doing was good enough for a workout and not taking the time to have an actual work out scheduled in. now i go hard in the a.m. playing bball for an hour with friends, lifting weights, etc. so my body is used to the physical labor in cold and heat

I have been learning not to make mistakes through this forum.My wife did point out one mistake that I do make often ,thats not saying no to certian jobs.I just can't say no.

rockin, I know where you wife is coming from. When you get a job that sucks, and she told you so; she's the one that has to hear about it. I've been there and I've certainly done that. ( To my wife )