Owner Mindset

Pieces that challenge how you think about “busy vs profitable,” what you say yes/no to, and how you make decisions as an owner.

Lead Generation

Sep 26, 2026

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3 min read

Your Referrals Are Steering Your Company

Why referral-only work can drift, and a 20-job check to catch it | The Backcut Issue #86

Jacob Hastings

Owner Mindset

Sep 12, 2026

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2 min read

The Two-Minute Stick Pickup

What one Indiana operator knows about the end of every job | The Backcut Issue #84

Jacob Hastings

Marketing

Aug 29, 2026

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2 min read

The Day Your Rival Sells

Two dozen platforms are buying tree companies and leaving the name on the door | The Backcut Issue #82

Jacob Hastings

Google/Maps

World-Class for Five Years and Nobody Came

Aug 8, 2026

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4 min read

World-Class for Five Years and Nobody Came

What a Saturday-only smokehouse teaches about getting found | The Backcut Issue #79

Jacob Hastings

Operations & Systems

How to Build a Hiring Pipeline That Actually Works

Apr 4, 2026

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8 min read

How to Build a Hiring Pipeline That Actually Works

The hiring pipeline that keeps 3 crews staffed year-round | The Backcut Issue #61

Jacob Hastings

Operations & Systems

Mar 28, 2026

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6 min read

Is Your Equipment Making You Money?

The Equipment ROI Math Most Owners Skip | The Backcut Issue #60

Jacob Hastings

Operations & Systems

How to Develop Crew Leads Into Real Managers

Mar 21, 2026

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8 min read

How to Develop Crew Leads Into Real Managers

The 90-Day Crew Lead Development Framework | The Backcut Issue #59

Jacob Hastings

Operations & Systems

What Happens To Your Tree Company If You Disappear For 30 Days?

Feb 21, 2026

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8 min read

What Happens To Your Tree Company If You Disappear For 30 Days?

Your business can't outgrow the person running it. Here's the math. | The Backcut Issue #55

Jacob Hastings

Google/Maps

The 10-minute test that predicts what city to expand into next

Feb 14, 2026

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8 min read

The 10-minute test that predicts what city to expand into next

One free Google search tells you if a city is wide open, a fair fight, or a dogfight to avoid. | The Backcut Issue #54

Jacob Hastings

Pricing & Profit

The Overhead Math Most Tree Services Get Wrong

Feb 7, 2026

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6 min read

The Overhead Math Most Tree Services Get Wrong

You're busy. But are you actually profitable? (Here's how to know) | The Backcut Issue #53

Jacob Hastings

Pricing & Profit

Jan 4, 2026

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4 min read

The $500 Guy Beat You on Paper

How to win hazardous removals without cutting your price | The Backcut Issue #48

Jacob Hastings

Lead Generation

Dec 28, 2025

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4 min read

The Good Neighbor Protocol

How to build local trust that ads can’t buy | The Backcut Issue #45

Jacob Hastings

Pricing & Profit

Dec 27, 2025

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5 min read

Stop Quoting Trees. Start Diagnosing.

The 6-step framework to close bigger jobs | The Backcut Issue #44

Jacob Hastings

Operations & Systems

Are you accidentally paying customers to use your equipment?

Dec 18, 2025

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6 min read

Are you accidentally paying customers to use your equipment?

The math behind overhead, equipment rates, and profitable minimums | The Backcut Issue #40

Jacob Hastings

Google/Maps

Nov 28, 2025

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3 min read

The Best-Kept Secret in Town

Why the guy with worse skills is booked out while you're staring at an empty Thursday | The Backcut Issue #31

Jacob Hastings

Owner Mindset

You Can't Market Better Than You Lead Yourself

Nov 22, 2025

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3 min read

You Can't Market Better Than You Lead Yourself

How straight-line leadership turns reactive marketing into reliable revenue | The Backcut Issue #29

Jacob Hastings

Marketing

Three Agencies, Two Years, Forty Thousand Dollars

Nov 9, 2025

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4 min read

Three Agencies, Two Years, Forty Thousand Dollars

Why most agencies run on you not knowing | The Backcut Issue #24

Jacob Hastings

Owner Mindset

Twenty Issues In. What Do You Want Next?

Nov 1, 2025

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2 min read

Twenty Issues In. What Do You Want Next?

A look back, and a question for you | The Backcut Issue #20

Jacob Hastings

Marketing

Oct 18, 2025

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3 min read

Traffic, Conversion, Economics

Perry Marshall's triangle, run backwards | The Backcut Issue #14

Jacob Hastings

Pricing & Profit

Oct 16, 2025

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3 min read

There Are Only Three Ways to Grow

Ten percent on each one compounds to thirty-three | The Backcut Issue #13

Jacob Hastings

Operations & Systems

If It's Not Repeatable, It's Not a Business

Sep 27, 2025

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2 min read

If It's Not Repeatable, It's Not a Business

Your systems are your safety ropes | The Backcut Issue #5

Jacob Hastings

Marketing

You're Not Failing. You're Just Spread Too Thin.

Sep 25, 2025

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2 min read

You're Not Failing. You're Just Spread Too Thin.

Taleb's barbell, applied to a tree service business | The Backcut Issue #4

Jacob Hastings

Marketing

Sep 21, 2025

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2 min read

The Hog-Scratching Sales Secret

What someone selling books door-to-door knew about growth | The Backcut Issue #3

Jacob Hastings