Fastlane Winter Games 2018/19

[MJ DeMarco]

I'm all for rewarding rep points to a winner however there needs to be some entrants!

The problem here is people with established businesses will NOT participate as we simply don't have time to focus on "side hustles".

The games would be more suitable for those who are just getting started in the entrepreneurial game and need capital.

 

[SWSSMSS]

Lmao! I was thinking a hot chocolate stand would be on brand, but I'm not a kid so it'd be a little weird. Here's a 3d rendering of my idea:

 

[Jeff Noel]

OK, 23" is less than 2'....

But hell, my driveway is only 30' long, and I'm not sure I could clear 6" of snow in 15 minutes! Granted, I'm 62, but still...

Fortunately more than 6" is rare here, the sun is intense even in the winter, and my driveway slopes to the southwest -- so usually I don't bother to shovel because it'll melt within 3-4 days anyway!

The fact I've been doing that 6-7 months per year for about 18 years might have something to do with it (it's more than 2/3 of my life!). My parents always told me I could play video games after I was done shoveling the snow. I found a way to shovel it without wasting too much time. The key is to repeat the same movement without wasting too much energy everytime, prioritizing speed and precision over strength.

Here's a profesionnal photoshop 3D model of my technique:


The black lines in the driveway are each shovel push done. The person is the circle and should not walk left or right, only pivot on themself. The red arrow is the patch of the shovel in your hands. The small red dotted line is the position of the person for the next shovel push. The goal is to extend the arms and push the snow as far as possible without having to walk towards where you want to snow to go.

When you're done doing the first push for the whole driveway, you push the remaining half the same way you just did (see the white dotted line). If there's little snow, you can combine with the last push (which is lifting/throwing the snow up onto your neighbor's grass). If there's too much snow, you'll need a third and last move to lift the snow away from the driveway.

I'm not sure if it's clear the way I wrote it.

 

[Get Right]

Figure out how to transport that snow to Florida. Spread it on people's yard for a day. Make a fortune.

 

[sparechange]

Hey all I'd like to invite everyone that wanting to make some side cash to my FWG Challenge.

The very first business I started was walking around the neighborhood in Vancouver knocking on doors pitching snow shoveling services.

For the people that would like to make a great side hustle with the benefits of an amazing workout and motivate / challenge each other we can post in this thread how many jobs we've done and ''compete'' with each other.

Considering the possibility of gambling up rep bank with bets or awards etc, maybe we could get some mods in here to sponsor some rep bank awards? Just an idea to help engagement throughout the forum @MJ DeMarco @Vigilante

So who's in?

 

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[Bekit]

Hm I've been thinking about just snow shoveling but opening it up to other small gigs is a positive effect so its a good addition.

Hey if this is the "Winter Games," Fastlane edition, we should have multiple "sports" represented, right? I would totally compete for gold!

 

[Jeff Noel]

It's already snowing here and won't be over until first half of May, if it's a regular Winter.

A few tips for people that will participate in this challenge:
Sell your ponctuality. Tell people their driveway entrance will be shoveled before they leave for work, and that you'll do the driveway later on.

Are you using a shovel manually (no tractor, no snowblower) ? Find yourself a technique to clear a driveway efficiently. I can clear my 90 feet driveway in ~ 15 minutes when there's less than 2 feet of snow. That's with proper methods and techniques. Make sure you prevent back pain caused by using the wrong methods or postures !

Ask me anything about snow.

(If you have trouble seeing the pictures: Imgur: The magic of the Internet )

 

[IceColdFever]

I plan on executing this idea again this winter! Awesome suggestion. When I was about 18 years old I did this exact same thing, didn't even need a car because of my huge suburb. Went door to door and charged $30 per driveway, done in about 30 minutes. $60/hr, was able to knock out about 7-8 driveways before I tired out. Not only this, but many middle aged moms were so impressed by what I was doing they gave me free hot chocolate, cookies, etc. lol. Not bad. I live in Michigan, which if anyone is familiar with the mitten our weather is bipolar, so here's hoping we have a pile of snow this season. Being in shape has it's upsides to the entrepreneurial hustle, I should be able to knock out around 10 driveways depending on how wet the snow is. Good luck this season!

 

[SWSSMSS]

Hmmm... I definitely need capital... but I just moved to townhouses and I'm not sure who handles shoveling.

Looks like it's time to do some research

 

[Jeff Noel]

See, the thing is that I'm not charging for that, I'm just taking care of my parent's driveway whenever I go see them. My father and I have been talking often about buying a tractor and scale the business.

People here are not charging per day, it's more of a seasonal contract. They charge ~$600 (CAD) per Winter.
I would probably charge more considering it's done by hand: less chances of breaking stuff in the driveway or leaving marks on cement/asphalt (and also the fact that every business already maxed out their capacity at this time of the year).

For one time requests or recurring customers (shoveling by hand) I would also hover around the $20 mark. The problem with that price is that you would need about 20 customers to make a decent amount out of that, taking gas into account (to move from house to house) and the excessive physical work. If you're by yourself, there's only so much time in a day (let's say 17 hours of work max) so you'd need to hire... but you're already not making a lot for the amount of work you're doing. So hiring people at $15/hr for 8 hours shifts, they'd need to be good workers and not lazy ones for you to profit.

I'll have to ask someone to record myself while I shovel that driveway. The time easily goes up (can easily double or quadruple) if the snow gets wet or the grader passed hours ago and the entrance is rock hard... or there an extraordinary snow storm the night before.

FYI: those pictures were from last year. We only have a few inches of snow on the ground right now.

 

[B. Cole]

Hard to validate.


Plus, screw snow lol.

 

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[garyfritz]

I would love to see a recording of your shoveling method, @Jeff Noel , if only for my own driveway.

Yeah!! 90' driveway, 2' of snow, 15 minutes by hand!? That's insane!!!

If I was going to do other people's driveways -- hell even if I had a 90' driveway of my own in snow country -- I would ABSOLUTELY invest in a serious snowblower. Shoveling that amount of snow is just begging for a back injury. Plus it takes a LOT more time, meaning you seriously limit your income potential. You could scale MUCH better with mechanical help.

 

[sparechange]

Could you deliver some hot chocolate to Canada?

 

[Aleph]

I like @SWSSMSS's idea better

Pour out a couple of mugs while being able to get some work done in between customers sure beats shoveling snow.
Also, we don't really get snow most years. Just a nice, bone chilling cold. Temperatures are mild, but with the rain and the natural humidity...

Let's just say I look more forward to signing up for the Summer Games.

 

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[The Abundant Man]

So knock on doors and shovel snow? I'm in if my town gets any snow. Usually arrives around March. lol

 

[sparechange]

Yep! Could also send out flyers and get some jobs pre-sold (have done it with landscaping before)

 

[Bekit]

I'm guessing it can be any side hustle, right? Like just compete with each other for how many jobs we've done on whatever side-gig-for-extra-cash we choose? So I could post about, say, cleaning houses? or copywriting gigs? or painting? or anything that's in the gamut of what I can do?

Or is it just shoveling/snowblowing?

 

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[sparechange]

I'm guessing it can be any side hustle, right? Like just compete with each other for how many jobs we've done on whatever side-gig-for-extra-cash we choose? So I could post about, say, cleaning houses? or copywriting gigs? or painting? or anything that's in the gamut of what I can do?

Or is it just shoveling/snowblowing?

Hm I've been thinking about just snow shoveling but opening it up to other small gigs is a positive effect so its a good addition.

 

[sparechange]

Id charge 20 for that, curious to his price

 

[garyfritz]

OK, 23" is less than 2'....

But hell, my driveway is only 30' long, and I'm not sure I could clear 6" of snow in 15 minutes! Granted, I'm 62, but still...

Fortunately more than 6" is rare here, the sun is intense even in the winter, and my driveway slopes to the southwest -- so usually I don't bother to shovel because it'll melt within 3-4 days anyway!

 

[SWSSMSS]

Do you guys get alot of snow in the winter?

@SWSSMSS

We're forecasted to get more snow than normal, so that'll be pretty decent (we got ~35'' last winter) I'm gonna look this week to see what happens when it snows around this development, and if there's an opportunity, I'll shovel;
if not, I'll look into one of the "other" winter games

Do you guys have any ideas for winter games for mild-medium winters?

 

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[sparechange]

drop shipping snow shovels

 

[Jeff Noel]

We're forecasted to get more snow than normal, so that'll be pretty decent (we got ~35'' last winter) I'm gonna look this week to see what happens when it snows around this development, and if there's an opportunity, I'll shovel;
if not, I'll look into one of the "other" winter games

Do you guys have any ideas for winter games for mild-medium winters?

It might be late, but I know there's quite a huge uproar in beanie sales during Winter (go figure!). Maybe holiday decoration installation service ?

drop shipping snow shovels

Hey wait a minute. We have this big problem here: we keep breaking shovels we buy, right at the "shovel" (bottom part). They are supposedly replaceable tips, but we can't find them anywhere. I looked to make a bulk order of those, but I don't think 3000 people break their shovels in my area every year and don't simply replace them altogether.

 

[SWSSMSS]

Seriously though, I feel like Ice melting/shoveling go hand in hand. When you clean the driveway don't you throw some salt on the ground afterwards

 

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[Jeff Noel]

Seriously though, I feel like Ice melting/shoveling go hand in hand. When you clean the driveway don't you throw some salt on the ground afterwards

Unless it's getting hotter and it's supposed to rain then freeze later that day, no. It would just hurt and destroy the customer's cement or asphalt over time.

Edit: I'd definitely purchase a hot chocolate with that branding.

 

[SWSSMSS]

I'm definitely gonna start some type of side hustle this winter, and if the best idea I have is the grown man hot chocolate stand then so be it.

@sparechange toss some extra winter games points my way and I'll send some hot chocolate

 

[Jeff Noel]

Figure out how to transport that snow to Florida. Spread it on people's yard for a day. Make a fortune.

Fill empty beer vans with snow... profit ?

 

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[sparechange]

Hey if this is the "Winter Games," Fastlane edition, we should have multiple "sports" represented, right? I would totally compete for gold!

LOL, different sports is a good idea actually! Lets see if we can get a big group going

 

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[sparechange]

Do you guys get alot of snow in the winter?

@SWSSMSS

 

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[Bekit]

How much would you charge for shoveling by hand?