http://www.veteranfranchiseopportunity.com/

Please keep in mind that I have little knowledge of ADC, but am extremely interested. I am looking for an after the military career and came across this while searching for employment...

I guess my question is, how did you guys get started in ADC. Probably at the top of my list for job preference, however I have little knowledge to know the ins and outs...

Anyone want to shoot the breeze with a guy about your career?

If you have no experience at all it will be a long steady learning curve. Without any training at all you will need to go as you grow and learn on the run which isnt an easy ladder to climb. But it can be done.

It will take time and expense to get all the tools together that you will need and then learn the ropes for various work areas.Working for an experienced individual who does this type of service who can mentor you would be a possible start. Realistically speaking it will take a minimum of several years to get a profitable business up and running which will also be determined a great deal by your demographics of your service area.

There are so many areas and things to learn I cant imagine looking back now how long it took me to learn what I have over the years collectively. If you can pay the bills while you learn and make mistakes along the way that would be good. Or if you have a wife that can support you until you get on your feet that would be good also.

I put the experience of a good ADC operator up there with a good ER doctor. You have to be skilled in so many areas from inspection/ identification skills,determing the problem thru experience and having the equipment and knowledge to resolve the problem.

From 0 to 80 speed in proficiency of this work can cost anywhere initially from 5-7 years time and more for some, and upwards of $45,000-$100,000 or more for your investment of time,equipment, vested on the job training time and advertising.And that is based on having enough work to get exposure time to all the areas of this business based on how fast you learn and all the needed equipment plus your vehicle and all applicable insurances.

If you dont have a reasonably good business sense,some basic accounting and people skills you will find that you likely wont do very well in this field.

Start up costs will make you dig pretty deep into your pockets to have even the basics. Then you will need to be buying and finding things you dont have all the time until you hit a plateau of where you find you have what you need to get by for a while. Just until the next circumstance that shows you what else you need etc.

This topic has been discussed many times on this forum. I suggest you get to reading the comments in the archives to get some insight to the field and if it is for you.

Hey Bob, very much thanks to you... I was searching for someone in my area that does this kind of work and it is pretty limited... I would certainly decide to work for someone who is willing to hire a guy that can learn the ropes for a couple years... I am currently deployed and have a little time on my hands, so i will continue to research on here... If in the meantime you know of someone in Indiana looking for full or part time help, I'd be the guy to take the job...

Bob
That is an excellent post with good facts. I don't think I have seen it all written out like this before. I think this is something anyone interested in joining our industry should see. Many of us went to the school of hard knocks and even with a business back ground it was a big learning curve. Thank you for this I plan to keep a copy for everyone that calls me looking for information about getting into this business.
Good Post
Don LaFountain CWCP

I recently figured startup costs of over 50k to get started right. Excluding labor.

Oh, and it included very used trucks.

I may have missed a few areas involved in our business as I kind of put the reply together between jobs.

I have many individuals call me, email or ask me on the road about getting into my line of work. I usually just say you probably are too old to start out in this line of work. Or you probably dont have enough $$$ to get going, and the experience is priceless and costly. The total training and residency time is more than any PHD Degree would cost someone to obtain the skill and knowledge someone would need to excell in this business.

I am sure many think I am just blowing smoke when they get that kind of reply.You fellas with 20 - 30 years on the road can appreciate my comments. Some just have to walk the walk for a while to get a good wake up call.

Cash, ambition, and a good eye for putting the right people together. It is easy to underestimate how expensive growth is...

that seems a little steep to me, but maybe not IDK

Go back to the thread about tools you can not live without. Someone posted all their tools. Add it up...add truck, ladders, ladder rack, truck tool box, insurance, marketing cost.....

Hey guys, thanks for posting, even had some PM's that helped a lot... I would say for me, it is best to start small and then build. Part time at first, website and accept calls and try to schedule around school maybe... would it work...

Worked for me.

Nothing better than showing up for class with the scent of skunk juice on your shoes. Classmates LOVE that.

The hardest part for me was the phone ringing. I hated getting up out of class to run to the hall to answer my phone. I did let all my instructors know on the first day that I had a business to run and would be needing to excuse myself for phone calls. They appreciated the warning and never made a stink about it. Actually had a couple professors become clients and one still refers me jobs regularly.

Sure it would. I'm in my forth year doing this work part-time. It's a great part-time business.

Start small and work your way up to whatever sized business you want.

Go as you grow is probably one of the best ways to learn the ropes on your own time. It certainly will take more time but the rewards and lessons learned will last you a lifetime. Sort of like a snowball effect. The more you roll the more knowledge and skill set you will acquire.

The positive side of the "Go as you Grow" approach is the wealth of satisfaction and the sturdy foundation that will grow for you forgeing the way for all the other things to come.

The mind set now a days for todays generation is that they want the fast track to success with not having to pay their dues. The problem with that approach is the lack of depth in the learned skills and experience foundation that gives you the knowledge needed for things that will confront you down the road.

The same with young aspiring fur trappers with all the teaching videos out these days.They are shown so much of what and how to do things but lack the field application time to make sense of it all.

You cant beat time served skill too many times in this game by taking short cuts. As is true with most successful professions.

Quick update on what I've done so far I suppose will help you guys help me... Like I said, I recieved a few PM's and I have attempted to find all the info they suggested and follow the links they gave me... So so far I know that I will need a permit in the state of indiana, and read the regulation based on ADC and animal removal/relocation. I also managed to follow a link to the ADC guide, which i'm sure most of you are very familiar with. It includes everything from characteristics of the target animal all the way to capture and relocation methods... i read on this for some time last night... Today, I picked another fellows brain, whom is a buisness major, and helps ppl set up new buisness. He seems to have his ducks in a row, and I believe I could have most of the legalities set up by the time I get home (LLC, Ins., etc.)... I also searched the site for pricing and tool requirements. Found some interesting stuff there and jotted a few notes.

All of these things have been a great help, and i'm only one day into this research (which means, I have much more to do), but here is a question that no one other than experienced guys can answer straight out... And please, humor me, because i have searched for this answer, here and google...lol...

1. Can a guy start out part time and attend school and ever expect to grow? (I know of one that says yes, and has done it)
2. What are the major failure points of new guys in this business? (spend to much, not good with ppl, etc.) I guess i'm asking, If you have seen ppl fail in this industry, what was the leading factor?

The longer winded you are the better for this guy...lol... I'm a picture guy, so paint me one that is easy to understand...

Thanks again everybody,
Jered

Nate great thanks to you buddy...

Growth will be relative to time available and time vested. Is going to and pursuing a school completed curriculum your primary goal of your career profession? Or is it a fail safe decision on your part in the event your wildlife control field falls short?

You can do all the research you can in theory to explore a business venture but you must still walk the walk at some point and get dirty as they say.

Success and failure can be a fine line to walk at times. That is all relative to who you are as a person and how determined you are to reach a goal.

Goals can be reached by anyone but you cant make a diamond from a potato if the potential and sincere effort isnt there.Your goals may or may not be reached as quickly as your monetary lifestyle needs may require. Or your income may not support the expenditures required to build a business. All these factors will impact your growth potential and ultimate continuing success or interest in the field.

Looking too hard into such a demanding and skill dependent field can be overwhelming and yet to some seem like anyone can do it just because it sounds like fun or is interesting. But the harsh reality is only a small percentage that jump into the water leave the field to pursue other forms of employment.

As they say dont quit your day job before you have a handle on another good venture.

I'd buy into A All Animal control... Beats the learning curve, easily make all start up money back within a couple months

I guess I'd have to agree with Jordan. While I'm not a big fan of franchises, I'm even less a fan of untrained competitors. Every time that you have to be honest and tell a customer that they hired a moron, you're giving our business a black eye. There are just not very many of us to go around.

When I started out, I was good with people and had trapped for decades. My accounting and billing and collecting skills, not so great. I'm lucky I made it through those first few years. There are a lot of things to consider when going into business for yourself. I, fortunately had friends like Al Krier, Rob Erickson, Eric Arnold, and others that I could talk to when I had a problem.

You new guys have no idea how lucky you are to have people like Bob Jameson, for one, to be very candid with you about getting started. And the list of animal specialists goes on forever. If you guys apply yourselves and are truly interested in this line of work, you can get more great information in a day than I could in a month, when I started.

There is definitely a place for franchises. Mistakes are expensive...