Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Seidenstricker.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up doing lawn care and landscaping and went to college for Natural Resources and Law enforcement to become a (DNR officer) but there weren’t many job openings in 2011 so I moved down to Princeton MN. I worked at a Bar restaurant for a year as an assistant manager and bartender. On my days off I worked for a buddy who owned a tree service and just did the grunt work dragging brush.
I left the bar and started buying and selling items and when I was having a sale my neighbor stopped by and asked where I have been so I told him working up north for my buddy a few days a week doing tree work. He asked if I knew how to do that which I said yes. He asked do you have a chainsaw again I said yes. He then asked me to come to give him an estimate on a bunch of work so I went and gave him a price he said yes and I went to do it the following day.
Once I was done his wife and he were so happy they basically told me about how his wife advertises on Craigslist for free and thought I should start my own company because of how good I made their place look. A couple of weeks went by of looking for decent-paying jobs on Craigslist, I couldn’t find anything so eventually I decided what could it hurt to make an ad there. I posted my first ad and started to get a couple of calls so I took the money from the neighbor’s job and bought 2 more chainsaws, off to work I went.
I borrowed a truck and a trailer. I bought a pair of old pole climbing spikes at the local pawn shop for 30$ and I was ready to go. From there I got my LLC, Insurance and slowly started building a business.
We went from nothing, borrowed truck and trailer to now owning 750k in equipment, building a million-dollar shop, and doing more revenue in a month than I did all year for many years when I first started! Now we average around a million dollars per year.
I never paid for advertising really, all my advertising was done through sponsorship of youth, doing sponsorship for veterans, and community events.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road, found myself in trouble with the law which was a huge obstacle but also helped me focus on what was important which was building a business!
Lost my driver’s license for 2 years of DWI. I dealt with much adversity throughout my first 5 years most people would have thrown in the towel but I wasn’t that smart haha I liked the hard work and sore body so I stuck with it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Jake’s Top Notch Tree Service?
We are best suited for larger-scale jobs and high-risk crane removals.
We specialize in Emergency Response Storm Damage/Insurance Billing. We take care of a homeowner to make sure the insurance pays for our work without making the homeowner take on the burden of paying for it upfront.
We are known for being honest, respectful, professional, and highly skilled. What sets us apart is that we continue to educate ourselves so we are on top of the way of insurance coverage so we can best help our customers on their worst days!
I’m proud of my brand because we bring integrity to an industry that has all mixes of people. We offer the highest value when it comes to Storm Damage Tree work by Dealing directly with the insurance company and walking a homeowner through the process of the claim.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
My happiness is working hard to provide for my family, my other half, and 2 kids with a 3rd on the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: Jakestopnotch.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JakesTopNotchTreeService?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/milwaukee-veteran-in-need-gets-free-tree-removal-following-severe-storms?fbclid=IwAR3bDFjucxgeVH1thhqwIbGSCaayscHSdKQ9ayqy3RwhYazECJIbMr2Ru3k&mibextid=Zxz2cZ
