Growth in the snowplowing business is usually dependent upon how much equipment and manpower you can muster to deal with the increased business. Additional equipment requires substantial capital investment, if you choose to own all the necessary equipment. One proven method of reducing your capital investment in such growth is to utilize subcontractors. These are other contractors that supply both the manpower and equipment necessary to adequately service your customer bas

Attitude towards professionalism in the snow business, and attitude towards having total control of the growth of our business are intertwined. One introspective question often asked at this time of year (after the season is essentially over) is “how can we make a profit at this type work”? Other observations made by some often include: “Snow work is blood money”, “it’s a pain in the butt to do this work”, or “it’s hard work for the money we generate”, and “my guys want to

Progressive snow contractors are making plans now. Those plans include getting educated about the issues important to their businesses. They include planning for cash flow during the summer months, planning on how much new business they want to take on next winter and planning on what to buy to be able to service these new contracts next year. End of season customer reviews happen now. Reviewing how Service Providers performed last winter happens now too. Good snow contra

What does it take to make someone a great entrepreneur? If everyone knew the answer to that then the whole country would be full of self-made millionaires working for themselves in thriving businesses. We all dream of being successful but it is hard to say exactly what sets natural business people apart from everyone else. People say that the key to being a successful business person is that you have to have passion and drive and above all a real appetite for risk. No one

Having a “System” is a must to be successful. Running a large snow operation during a storm can prove daunting to anyone who cannot envision how it is to be done. If you are utilizing more than 15 units to service your customers, you need to have some sort of system in place to make it all happen smoothly and efficiently. Across the country there are a good number of contractors in the business of snow and ice management that have, in place, a viable system to allow for an

The entrepreneurial spirit within demands that we (as small business owners) continue growing our business’s in order fulfill the goals we set for ourselves when we started out. These growth goals demand that we plan in some form in order to assist in achieving these goals. When making the jump from operating a small ‘mom and pop’ operation to running a full blown business enterprise, projecting cash flows becomes an issue that requires attention. One way to achieve these

One of the major questions that arises when plowing contractors get together is “How do I get new customers, what with all the cutthroat one-truck operators out there giving away their time??”. Maybe this is the wrong attitude. Might it be better if we (as the contractor providing services) were in such a position that we interviewed customers who we wanted to have instead of quoting work ‘hit or miss’? Target marketing is key to success in any business. Why should it be a

When we think of “safety” with regards to snow removal, there are some significant considerations that have to be taken into account. The timing of the work that is required comes into play. The vast majority of work done in winter snow removal operations is done at night. This presents some challenges that don’t normally incur during landscape operations. Additionally, a good portion of the work is done “behind the wheel”, and this too is different than most landscape/tr