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Repair Warranties

Consumers love warranties. Warranties give us a sense of security, that the contractor or manufacturer is going to stand behind their work or product. Increasingly, more WCOs (wildlife control operators) are offering warranties for their work. One of the more common warranties are repair warranties. I think this is a good development. It shows a maturation in the wildlife control industry. But how do you know the repair warranties being offered by WCOs are real versus a warranty scam?

Signing a contract
Understand the contract before you sign. Image by Pixabay

There is a joke in the WCO industry called the Tail Light Warranty. The Tail Light Warranty is, “Maam, my work is warranted as long as you can see the tail lights of my truck.” Funny but only in a sad sort of way. The purpose of this blog post is to help you avoid this kind of warranty and its siblings.

Repair Warranties

One industry practice is to warranty a repair against animal reinvasion. Sounds good right? But did you really understand the warranty? Often it will say that the warranty is only for the actual spot. If the squirrel chews a hole 2 inches to the left of the repair, it’s a new charge because the warranty didn’t cover that area. Now, I don’t think this kind of repair warranty is a scam. After all, the warranty is not for the entire soffit but for the spot that was repaired. But I do understand why a customer would feel misled or perhaps even deceived with a false sense of security.

Key Question to Ask

So before you have the WCO make the repair, ask him how secure the material is on both sides of the repair. In other words, how likely is it that an animal will simply move over two inches and gnaw a new hole (that isn’t warrantied) there? Ask if there are ways to harden the house to make it harder for an animal to access the structure to gnaw in the first place. Often, trimming tree branches, removing food sources etc. can help reduce the attractiveness of your structure to animals. Why are these questions important? Because if one animal entered your home, it is more likely that others will.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Expert Witness Part 1

An expert witness is an individual that is retained by a lawyer to provide technical testimony on behalf of a client. An expert witness may be used in a criminal or civil trial. Sometimes expert witnesses are used during mediation as I was about 10 years ago.

Man in a business suit
Wildlife control operators are needed as expert witnesses. Photo: Pexel.

Becoming an Expert Witness

The process of becoming an expert witness is part chance and part work. The work part is pretty simple to grasp but difficult to accomplish. Study and learn your field better than most. This can include academic degrees, but academic work isn’t necessary for all fields. Experience matters as well as being recognized as a leader in your field by peers. Publications can help raise your profile but again, publications are not a requirement. The chance part is that there needs to be a lawsuit involving your area of expertise and an attorney must find and select you. Several websites are dedicated to listing expert witnesses. Getting listed on them, can’t hurt your chances of being found.

Being Selected as an Expert Witness

Once an attorney thinks you can help his/her client, you will be contacted. The attorney or her aide will briefly describe the case, inquire about your credentials and experience, and gauge your point of view. Ultimately, the attorney has to determine if you can speak confidently concerning the situation from a point of view that will help his client win the case. If your bias is in favor of low or non-toxic pesticides, it is unlikely that a lawyer defending a chemical company will hire you. Keep in mind, that the attorney’s opinion is just the first step. The final decision as to whether you meet expert standards will be determined by the judge or mediator.

Even if you are an expert in your field, being an expert witness is not for everyone. But more on that in the next blog.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Scalability

What is Scalability?

Scalability is term that refers to the ability of a business to make more revenue without working more hours. For example, a bar tender is not a scalable job because in order to make more money the bar tender must work more hours. In contrast, a book author is a scalable job because selling more books does not require the author to work more. He simply needs to expand sales through wholesalers or through direct online sales.

Image showing growth through a line drawing
Scalability describes how easy it is to grow your business.

The Challenge of Scalability

The challenge for most service businesses, like wildlife control operators (WCO), is how do you make more money? You can’t make more time, so you either have to charge more money for your services or become more efficient in your business by reducing service times and costs or both. The typical way to expand in a service business is to hire more workers. But hiring workers brings its own challenges and headaches. You may think, at this point, that WCO businesses lack scalability.

Ideas for Scalability

But is that true? Is there a way to scale your WCO business? I am not sure WCO work is scalable in the way that product sales would be scalable. But I do think that WCOs can scale their companies in other ways. Let me provide a few ideas.

  • Offer additional services. Consider renting and/or selling traps. Here you have the clients do the work for you. This can be done with jobs that are low expertise and low profit such as ground trapping animals. Just be sure that your insurance and contracts are designed to handle the added risk.
  • Collaborate with other WCOs. Through collaboration, your business can work with competitors to handle jobs neither of you could resolve on your own.
  • Franchise. Sure establishing a franchise for your business is not easy. But it is a way to expand your business by multiplying yourself through the work of others.
  • Can you think of other options?
Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Why WCOs Should Be Regulated

WCO regulations?

Wildlife control operators (WCOs) are individuals that charge a fee to resolve problems customers have with vertebrate (i.e. a spine or backbone) animals. In this regard, WCOs are very much like pest control operators (PCOs), who help clients with insects (animals that lack a backbone) such as cockroaches and bedbugs. You may know that PCOs are regulated but are their any WCO regulations?

Stephen M. Vantassel at the 25th Wildlife Society Conference in Cleveland, OH explaining how wildlife agency neglect of wildlife control operators harms wildlife and consumers.
Stephen M. Vantassel at the 25th Wildlife Society Conference in Cleveland, OH explaining how wildlife agency neglect of wildlife control operators harms wildlife and consumers.

What most people don’t realize is that in many states, WCOs have few regulations and in some instances virtually none. In other words, the WCO you hire may not have any official training in wildlife control and may not even  have a business license. This is one reason why I believe, WCOs should be regulated. But there are also other reasons.

I recently gave a talk at the 25th Annual Conference of the Wildlife Society in Cleveland, OH (Oct 11, 2018). There I explained that state wildlife agencies that ignore regulating WCOs are not fulfilling their responsibilities to follow the North American Model of Wildlife Management. Wildlife control operators handle thousands if not tens of thousands of animals every year. Where are all those animals going? Are they being translocated, relocated, dispatched? If moved, what are the environmental impacts of moving those animals to new locations? If the animals are being dispatched, are there guidelines for dispatching and disposal of carcasses?  I recognize that the animals typically being controlled are not in danger of becoming extinct. But there should be some oversight given the volume of wildlife being handled on an annual basis.

Unfortunately, many WCOs oppose regulation. They mistakenly think that regulation is automatically bad. In fact, regulation means the government has an interest in protecting your work. The solution to bad regulation is not no regulation but good regulation. But that is a topic for another blog.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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WCO Job Requirements

WCO employee on the phone.
WCO employee on the phone.

So your business is expanding and you are thinking of adding a new WCO (wildlife control operator) to your staff. Congratulations. To truly make money in a service industry you need to either raise prices, add labor, or both. But what makes a good WCO? In other words, what are the WCO job requirements or skills needed to make an outstanding WCO?

You have to be careful. Hiring the wrong person can cost you dearly. But, hiring the right person can make you a lot of money, help someone else, and bring peace of mind to yourself, your employee and your customers. So what should you look for? Here are some key WCO Job Requirements that I think you should have.

  • Physically fit. This is a big one. WCO work is grueling when it is done right. Your worker needs to be strong, healthy, and able to handle uncomfortable environmental conditions.
  • Personable. WCO work is a service business. Employees need to be able to converse with customers in a professional manner.
  • Handy. WCO work requires hands-on skills. Anyone can learn trapping. The hard part is finding someone with ability to do handy-man type repairs.
  • Reliable. WCO is a loner job. You simply can’t be there with your employee all the time. If you can’t trust him/her. Then don’t hire that person.

If you need advice on how to screen workers, why not give us a call?

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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