As spring launches new hope and a new busy season for the residential tree contractors out there, the competition is sure to get heavy. A long hibernation has everyone itching to go. The competition is on the prowl looking for market share and ramping up the workload. Pricing will be cutthroat and hard to match. Fortunately for us, Shakespeare left us some great advice on bidding work.

In ole’ Billy boy’s classic tragedy Othello, we hear the main character reflecting on himself and his tragic flaw:

Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely, but too well.
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme. Of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe.

Love Wisely.

Now this is a brilliant philosophy when dealing with low-ballers and price-checkers and deal-shoppers. They’re not all tree lovers. Do you think it’s true that we de-value ourselves in the bidding process because we are so passionate for our work? Or so desperate to get work? I have, and I know many others that have too. This is stressful and dangerous all the same.

Othello acted out of desperation, and killed the one he loved.

It’s better to get in front of more potential clients, expose your credentials and sell yourself too. Many times it’s you that the client is interested in; the actual arboriculture is just the icing on the cake. Of course, good work is absolutely irreplaceable too, but you know that. You’ve mastered the skill, but have you mastered yourself, or your client base, or your market research?

We can’t stand Dick and Larry making stub cuts in their sub-par operation we know and hate, and we get dragged over the coals trying to win over new clients. Or maybe burned up by losing some well-established ones. Maybe we love trees too well. And this could be a tragic flaw of a business owner and an arborist.

But I think there is a flip side to this coin as well. Competition keeps us honest and it also constantly forces us to reassess our efficiency and our business model. Why aren’t we busy? How can I get in from of more clients to propose work? It’s great for the consumer, and I personally think it’s great for small businesses as well. As a small organism in a nasty and ever-changing ecosystem, we either adapt and change with our specialties, or fizzle out into the fossil record.

There’s a line drawn in the sand of course, so knowing the bottom line is critical. We need to know the type of expenses we have and what has to be done to cover them in order to create profit for ourselves. Basic stuff really, but like Othello, we sometimes become wrought, and perplexed in the extreme.

Othello loved passionately, and he is one of the most tragic characters I know. So when you get in front of the client, don’t throw that pearl away.