Entrepreneur Makes Money Grow on Trees: Monster Tree Service Branches Out with Franchise Launch: Landscaper turned tree trimmer brings skills, training and professionalism to high-demand fragmented industry
FORT WASHINGTON, Penn.—Josh Skolnick, a career landscaper who started a multi-crew lawn care service while in high school, was often asked by customers to address their tree problems. Having no experience himself, he regularly subcontracted the task of customers’ requests to tree specialists who could handle the job. Ever the entrepreneur, Skolnick quickly realized there was opportunity to capitalize by incorporating tree care into his business.
“I’d never removed a tree in my life, so I got others to manage that area of landscaping—until I saw the money they were making,” said 28-year-old Fort Washington-native Skolnick. “I thought, ‘What’s wrong here?’ If they can do it, so can I. There’s a tremendous amount of money in it and I wanted a piece of that pie.”
Four years ago, Skolnick founded
Monster Tree Service (MTS) to augment his existing landscaping firm. Without ever pruning or removing a tree himself, he hired existing professionals to work under his brand and led the firm to become a highly profitable multimillion dollar business which has grown to multiple crews. With multiple experts in the trade to assist him, Skolnick developed a system he recognized as highly duplicable, so he moved to franchise MTS in April 2012.
“A lot of tree guys are fly-by-night companies that have a pickup truck, some ladders and saws and physically climb trees to do the work,” said Skolnick, adding that
MTS crews use bucket trucks and cranes to take down large trees. He said very few of those companies know how to hire large crews, manage their books or even grow their firms to a size that would support long-term employees seeking security and benefits. Skolnick notes how marketing is an integral part of
MTS, with many independent tree contractors underestimating the importance of grassroots marketing and losing out on profit potential and market ownership.
“I know that most of these guys—even if they’re good at what they do—will never make the money on their own that we could teach them to make from day one. We have it down to a system: how to manage crews, schedule them, buy or rent the right equipment, get customers and take care of them in a timely fashion.” Adds Skolnick, “We even have certified arborists on staff who know what customers’ trees need. Everything we do is completely different from the typical tree guys.”
Monster Tree Service uses state-of-the-art science and equipment to address tree issues ranging from restoration to difficult pruning to complete removal. Customers receive quick responses from fully uniformed staff operating branded trucks and equipment, and they’re charged competitive prices. “We hear all the time from our customers that we make this process easy for them. We give estimates in hours, not days, and that means a lot in the industry we’re in.”
As he seeks to expand his business in the Northeastern U.S., Skolnick said he’s looking for franchisees who know how to manage businesses and the crews that do the work—not be hands-on operators.
“I’ve built a substantial business without ever removing a tree myself,” he said. “I knew how to hire the experts that wanted to belong to an established business they were proud to work for and that they could rely on to keep them busy. That’s what we bring to an industry that lacks a high level of professionalism, and that’s why we know this will be a successful franchise concept.”
In June 2008, a client asked landscape professional Josh Skolnick to take down a 70-foot-tall elm tree. Skolnick, 25 at the time, had never taken down a tree before. But, since he constantly told clients "we're a full-service company," he hired an experienced tree contractor to remove the elm.
