The Deal on Snow Shoveling

This is a guest post by Josh, my lawn business partner.

Snow shoveling is one of the highest paying and yet most physically intensive jobs your lawn care business can get. Although it can be tricky to advertise for snow shoveling, the rewards are plentiful!

So you want to add snow shoveling to your lawn care arsenal? Shoveling can sound lucrative and inviting; most adults over 40 feel their backs screaming every time a snow storm comes and would be happy to let a nimble young teen do it for them; but it’s not that easy. In order for snow shoveling to be economically viable for your business, there has to be at least two snow storms of more than three inches a year. People aren’t going to be looking for someone to shovel their driveways or sidewalks if there isn’t any snow, a simple but painful truth. Secondly, you need to ask yourself if you will be willing to spend your day shoveling snow as opposed to doing something more fun. You are only going to be able to shovel snow when there is a snow day (a.k.a. miss school because of snow), assuming that you are a teen, so you need to think about how you feel when you realize that school has been canceled when you are lying in your bed at six o’clock that morning. Personally, I look at a snow day as a time to sleep in until noon and then do a little sledding, maybe get some pizza, but not necessarily shovel snow. This was a hard thing for me to overcome when I took the plunge into snow shoveling, so you probably need to decide whether or not you will have the willpower to spend your snow day shoveling, before you start advertising. If you decide that you will want to shovel snow on your snow day, congratulations!

Snow shoveling, as mentioned above, is (in my experience), one of the most profitable lawn care venues next to mulching. For an average sized driveway and sidewalk, about 600 to 1200 square feet, you can expect to make anywhere from 60 to 100 dollars. The trouble with shoveling snow, however, is finding people who want your services. Just going door to door with a shovel will probably get you a couple costumers, but it’s by no means a sure thing. Neighbors and family friends are probably your best bet, since they will be more generous in accepting your service. Old people will usually be very happy to have a youngster shovel their driveway, but they often have very different ideas about how much money they should give you. Always arrange the price before you begin working, so that you won’t be surprised when you are given five dollars for an hour of snow shoveling from your neighborhood WWII vet.

The other tricky part to shoveling snow is advertising; it’s not as easy as the advertising you do for lawn mowing. Advertising in advance for snow shoveling isn’t the best way to get costumers in my experience, as many people will write down your number and put it in a nice little drawer-- and when it finally does snow, they will forget all about you. Depending on how big the driveways are in your neighborhood, you could expect to shovel five or six houses in one day, which could bring in a couple hundred dollars! You need to make sure you have a good snow shovel, or snow blower which makes the job ten times easier but costs a pretty penny, and optional salt. Make sure to ask the costumer if they want salt thrown all over their driveway as many people will strongly object to the labor saving chemical. Most importantly, dress warmly and don’t overwork yourself, even if you don’t feel particularly tired or sore, you will be in the morning!

Have fun making money shoveling snow!

Labels: services, Winter