How To Run a Successful Snow-Removal Business

Expanding a landscaping business into snow removal can be lucrative, but it can also be expensive, exhausting and require dealing with stressed out people in stressful situations. Learn the ropes at TotalLandscapeCare.com and read an excerpt below.

Snow Removal by Eric Kilby via flickr.com

A successful snow removal business can help a landscaper’s year-round cash flow, but there’s more to it than just pushing the white stuff out of the way.

“If you don’t love it, don’t get into it,” says Harry Turner, founder of TLC Turner Lawn Care, a family-owned landscaping business in Monticello, Wisconsin. “I’ve gone as long as 47 hours without sleep.”

Long hours in negative 20-degree weather, working on holidays, equipment expenses, customers who don’t pay — all of these factors will make running a snow-removal business challenging. So before jumping in, business owners should take time to research the competition, available customers and how to charge.

Research the market Large commercial sites like banks, hospitals or mall parking lots offer one-stop plowing opportunities – but keep in mind the liability pitfalls. Also, since many of these sites are sewn up with a large provider deploying multiple trucks via sophisticated storm-tracking equipment, it may be worthwhile to research the benefits and drawbacks of signing on as a subcontractor.

Read the full article  at Total Landscape Care