Idea to Break into snow removal or increase market share.

[Setting up shop]

Just thought of this after we got dumped with freezing rain!

No snow removal company in my area offers driveway salting after a freezing rain storm.

This is a great way for an existing company to increase revenue/market share or for someone new to break into the market.
You could offer it as a bundled service with regular snow removal, or for an extra $30.

You might also want to look into salting the stairs as well to squash the competition from 1 upping you.

 

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[Ecom man]

Just thought of this after we got dumped with freezing rain!

No snow removal company in my area offers driveway salting after a freezing rain storm.

This is a great way for an existing company to increase revenue/market share or for someone new to break into the market.
You could offer it as a bundled service with regular snow removal, or for an extra $30.

You might also want to look into salting the stairs as well to squash the competition from 1 upping you.

I have a VERY hard time believing that no snow removal company in your area salts. I lived in the Midwest all my life. Every single snow removal company also offers to salt after they shovel the snow or salt if there is an ice storm. Not every customer chooses to pay for salting because it literally is a simple as buying a bag of salt and sprinkling it on the concrete.

 

[Setting up shop]

I have a VERY hard time believing that no snow removal company in your area salts. I lived in the Midwest all my life. Every single snow removal company also offers to salt after they shovel the snow or salt if there is an ice storm. Not every customer chooses to pay for salting because it literally is a simple as buying a bag of salt and sprinkling it on the concrete.

I have a VERY hard time believing that no snow removal company in your area salts. I lived in the Midwest all my life. Every single snow removal company also offers to salt after they shovel the snow or salt if there is an ice storm. Not every customer chooses to pay for salting because it literally is a simple as buying a bag of salt and sprinkling it on the concrete.

They don't offer it in my area, otherwise I would use the service.I guess there isn't enough competition.

BTW, Remarkable work on your business!!
I'm about half way reading your thread and I have to say its very inspiring.
Even though it takes a lot of work to find products to sell, you literally walk through the process and have inspired a lot of people to do the same.

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to get to the end and start finding my own products.

 

[Choate]

My dad snowplows a mix of commercial and residential and I used to do it with my grandfather as well.

The thing is, during a heavy snowstorm or blizzard you have to plow every account few times (usually once every 3-5 inches) otherwise your truck will incur a lot of wear and tear as well as potential problems. This adds up fast for customers, because you usually charge for each time you plow. So if you choose to salt and sand, your customer now has to pay an extra $30 for the service and they also have to pay for the salt and sand.

Salt and sand is mostly for businesses, the government, or the wealthy elderly who may have trouble. Your average family isn't going to be concerned about it unless you already plow them and can upsell them, which isn't all that difficult. Anyone with a business account is salting if there is any heavy freezing and ice.

No snow removal company in my area offers driveway salting after a freezing rain storm

Its just not something that is overtly advertised, but more or less small conversation that happened at one point between the plow guy and the customer regarding the customer's preferences for salt + sand.

 

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[Setting up shop]

This adds up fast for customers, because you usually charge for each time you plow. So if you choose to salt and sand, your customer now has to pay an extra $30 for the service and they also have to pay for the salt and sand.

Interesting.
We pay a flat fee for the whole season......no matter how much it snows or how many times they pass. I pay about $250 CAD

They do an excellent job and my drive way is plowed before I leave in the morning, and before I come home at night.

 

[Choate]

Interesting.
We pay a flat fee for the whole season......no matter how much it snows or how many times they pass. I pay about $250 CAD

They do an excellent job and my drive way is plowed before I leave in the morning, and before I come home at night.

I'm not sure if location is a factor here or if you just have a steal, but that sounds great. There was a heavy week of snow here in February and I know some customers got charged over $1k for that week alone.

I've never even heard of by the season flat fees around here, which seems like it'd be great for a customer, but the plowman can start losing out depending how many customers he has and how heavy the season is.

 

[Setting up shop]

I'm not sure if location is a factor here or if you just have a steal, but that sounds great. There was a heavy week of snow here in February and I know some customers got charged over $1k for that week alone.

I've never even heard of by the season flat fees around here, which seems like it'd be great for a customer, but the plowman can start losing out depending how many customers he has and how heavy the season is.

I'm not sure how, but they have their calculation down pat. Maybe there's a ton of competition out here(North East)
Seems there is an opening in your area for someone to charge a flat fee then.

BTW, were supposed to get another 6 inches or so.

 

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[Michael Burgess]

I've had a landscaping business for the last few years and decided to tackle snow this winter.

In my neck of the woods, residential customers (we only did residential driveways - no commercial work) very rarely want salt or sand. Sand is significantly less expensive than salt (1/4 - 1/5th the price per cubic yard) so sometimes a mix is used. It seems like salt and sand are used on commercial sites just for the liability aspect really.

Almost all of my company's plowing was done on a seasonal contract basis - a flat rate from December 1st to April 1st, regardless of how many times it snows. This works out to be a bet for both the company and the customer, but seems to be the simplest and most common option around here.

Pricing is probably very market-dependant: both the price in Boston @ $1,000 / week and $250 / season seem to be on the extremes to me. Most of my 4-car driveways are around $500 for the whole season. A lot of trades slow down in winter here so tons of people put a plow on their truck, and lowball the market. It seems really difficult to be profitable within my markets prices. People don't care much about quality of work, it's just a race to the bottom for price.

I definitely won't be plowing again next winter. Way too much stress, customer management, sleep disruption, expensive mechanical issues, and other BS to deal with for a small amount of money. Certainly some people and companies can make it work, but most of the big players in my area seem to be dropping out of the snow game... and with good reason.

 

[corius]

I don't know how much this will help in the bigger cities. Here is what the plow guy does in my small town (he has about 80% of the residential contracts).

With all his elderly customers (50+) he offers to salt the sidewalk and steps up to the front door for free. From what he has told me that is the only thing he does differently.

His customer service SUCS, the result is that grandma tells her kids and grandkids how great he is.