How This 24 YR Old Tree Service OWNR Grew $400k to $850k

Episode notes

Colby McArthur bought Clifton Tree Service at 22 years old and ran it as a solo owner operator for the first year - climbing trees, answering calls with a headset at 100 feet, estimating on weekends. He finished that year at $400K. One year later: $850K. In this episode, Colby breaks down the three things that drove that growth and what he's focused on as he targets $1.3M in 2026. What you'll learn: Why undercharging is the most common and most costly mistake owner operators make - and how to fix it fast The first hire Colby made that changed everything (hint: it wasn't a climber) How to build an opener/closer sales model even when you're still in the field How Colby uses Claude and ChatGPT to build a pricing tool, estimate from photos, and build SOPs What Colby would tell himself at $100K if he could go back To contact Colby McArthur: colby@cliftontreeservice.com Services We Use We use Jobber to handle our estimates, scheduling, & invoicing ️ Get 20% off Jobber here: Bookkeeping: Get 50% off bookkeeping for 3 months with the Home Service Bookkeeping Pros: Get ranked #1 On Google With Stryker SEO: Want to learn more about starting and scaling your own service-based business?

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