Business Name: Walton Tree Services
Support received: Start Up Loan and Start & Grow
Location: Colchester, Essex
Walton Tree Services is a professional tree surgery business based in Colchester, Essex. Having worked with his uncle as a tree surgeon for eight years, 25 year old Alex Walton was given the opportunity to take over the day-to-day running of the business.
Alex told us about his experience of becoming his own boss.
What challenges have you overcome to become self-employed?
I’m a shy person by nature, so my first obstacle was to gain confidence. It was the realisation of the potential to build my own enterprise that gave me the motivation to drive the business forward. Working with people every day has brought me out of my shell and given me the confidence to build on my existing skills in order to make the business succeed.
I deal with people every day. As I have to juggle both sides of the business, my customer service skills have greatly improved, including speaking on the telephone. It’s very true that people buy people!
What have been your highlights to date?
I launched in June 2016. My first job was for a couple who needed an unruly hedge trimmed. It was a relatively small job, but the feeling of getting my first piece of work was marvellous!
I’ve not looked back and Walton Tree Services is going from strength to strength, and, with a new baby to look after, the freedom and flexibility of managing my own time and workload is one of the highlights of becoming self-employed.
I also have the ability to earn more money and I want to build a legacy for my family.