May 15, 2017

Meet Benjamin Ellis of Southern Tree Professionals in Smyrna

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Ellis.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In the fall of 2011 I visited an arborist on my uncle’s timberland. We rode around for 2 days on properties talking about trees, equipment, and the industry. The trip suddenly sparked an interest in trees and working in the urban tree forest. Over the next few months I would continue my goal of starting my own tree service. January of 2012, I started Southern Tree Professionals. The first year I hired a climber and grounds men as my first two employees. We had a F350, trailer, and a bobcat. Work was sporadic. We very slowly got our name around. It was definitely the hardest part of the business. There were so many other tree services around it was hard to compete with all their equipment and experience. We slowly got referral after referral for doing such a good job. In 2013, I purchased my first chip truck and chipper. I also hired a new climber Roman who has been with me ever since. I hired another employee from another tree service to help me run the company and do estimates while I learned how to run the crew and learn the ins and outs of the business. The second year, we tripled in sales and were getting new clients every day. Over the course of the next 4 years, our clients, employees, and equipment kept growing. Our name was spreading all over Atlanta for our experience and are immaculate job of cleaning up and take care of people’s properties. I owe all our growth to my salesman Troy, very experienced crew that works so hard, and all are loyal clients referring us.

Has it been a smooth road?
We had many struggles along the way. The first year getting are name out was one of the hardest things to deal with. There are so many reputable tree services in the area it was hard to show people that we could compete for their business and do a better job. We kept on doing a good job and our name has slowly gotten around Atlanta. Good employees are hard to come by. To find experienced, hardworking, safe, reliable employees was far and in between. We have finally gotten a good group of guys that I can rely on.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Southern Tree Professionals – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
At Southern Tree Pros we offer many services. We offer tree removal, tree pruning, land clearing, demolition, grading, and colored mulch. We have the experience and equipment to remove any size tree. Whether it’s in a tight spot near the house and has to be carefully hand removed or so big it has to be removed with a crane we can handle it all. Our pruning service consists of crown reduction, raising of canopy, dead wooding, and removal of designated branches for property clearance. A lot of home builders and general contractors use us on their sites for removal of all their trees and stumps. The equipment and experience also allows us to demolish houses. These contractors like to use us over other tree services because we can remove the house, trees, and stumps to get their site ready for new construction. Our experience has led us to do small grading jobs for builders and clients looking to improve their yard. We specialize in large and technical tree removal. No job is too dangerous for our crews. We take our time and come up with the safest solution to removing your tree from your property with as little damage as possible. We are best known for protecting your property and landscape. A lot of companies can remove trees from properties. At Southern Tree, we take the time to protect your landscape, carefully remove the tree, and clean up your property better than we found it. I am most proud of our growth over the past 5 years. Our name has grown all over metro Atlanta for removing and pruning trees safely and affordably. What sets us apart is are customer service, experience, and care for people’s property.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love that we are surrounded by a forest. My favorite part about living in Atlanta is the endless growth of trees and nature. The history of them goes back to the Civil War. A lot of these trees being a century old are a part of this city’s history. I feel very grateful for the organizations that help protect and preserve Atlanta’s tree canopy. My least favorite thing about the city is the traffic. I drive in it every day all day to all our client’s properties.

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