What's your view on

[Steve]

What's your view on being bought out? Would you ever sell out to a larger company?

Would you stay on and continue to manage?

Davey Tree Acquires Enchanted Land & Tree Co. (http://www.lawnandlandscape.com/news/news.asp?ID=4750) - The Davey Tree Expert Company has added a Boulder, Colo., company to its long list of recent acquisitions.

Enchanted Land and Tree Company will be merged with Davey’s current Boulder operations, and the entire operation will be supervised by Boulder District Manager Brian O’Niel. The purchase marks Davey’s second Colorado acquisition in two years, and is in line with the company’s long-term growth strategy, says Richard Foote, Davey’s operations manager in charge of acquisitions and expansion.

http://www.lawnandlandscape.com/news/images/Davey_enchanted.jpg

[tiedeman]

Well, I tried the whole sell out thing about 3 years ago, but backed out of the deal after only three days. At first everything seemed great. Great pay for me, nice vacations, I was basically going to be in the office, and out in the field doing estimates. I was just going to be manager. Their experience with lawn maintenance was lacking, but I didn't think they would be as bad as they wear.

Before any money was exchanged, thank god we tried a temporary switch over. Like I said, it only last 3 days. Promises were not made with the quality of employees, schedules were horrible, and overall management of the company had no clue at how to do things. I was actually out in the field working because I didn't want their employees on my past customer properties alone. I backed out, and they eventually started their own lawn maintenance company.

I will say this about them, they are a great company in regards to landscaping installation, but lawn maintenance, they are bar none the worst. No quality at all.