# Snow Shoveling - Didn't pan out



## A Perfect Shine (Jan 22, 2005)

I went out today around 4:00 after a small snowstorm dropping about 4 inches in the area. My business partner and I were going to try out driveway shoveling for $40 a driveway. We were going to do their driveway and walk for that price.

As it turned out, most driveways were already cleared, it seemed as if everyone had snow blowers and went out themselves to do it, however we did see a landscaper with 2 snow blowers trying to solicite business in the area as well, but it didn't look like they were having any luck either.

We expected getting business for this to be a breeze and the plan was to bring about 5 guys out tomorrow and have a whole crew clearing driveways. Obviously that isn't going to work now.

Anybody have any ideas as to why this didn't pan out?

-Chris


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## jbrow1 (Mar 9, 2004)

$40 a drive sounds a high. Unless they are all looong driveways. Why didn't it pan out? You answered that in your post. Most were already done. Got to start early if you are trying to get any drives after the snow is done falling.


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## cet (Oct 2, 2004)

You may of had better luck if it was a weekday. There would have been people at work all day and they would not of had them clean. I guess your problem then would have been no one home to ask.


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## Mdirrigation (Dec 12, 2003)

jbrow1 said:


> $40 a drive sounds a high. Unless they are all looong driveways. Why didn't it pan out? You answered that in your post. Most were already done. Got to start early if you are trying to get any drives after the snow is done falling.


Thats cheap in Maryland , especially Montgomery county. i was done plowing last night , today I was just driving around and did 10 drives just because people waved me down , the cheapest was $ 75.00 for a 4 car drive and the most expensive was $ 200 for an in and out pass on a 600 foot long drive . The worst part was that six of the people wanted me to do them the rest of the year , I had to tell them that I sometimes take a day or two to get to drives since I focus on commercial.


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## Ian (Jan 8, 2005)

In and out pass on a 600 ft drive for $200 clams?

My one and only regular location is a fancy subdivision. Makes a large loop and exits the same spot. It is wide and takes 4 passes, 2 each way. It is over a mile and I ask 100 per visit.

By your rate it would be 2000.00. I need to renegotiate.

Although by just being in the area alot of people stop and ask for their drives to be done as well. 35.00 per.


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## jbrow1 (Mar 9, 2004)

$75 a drive? I need to move to Maryland. hehe. Forty dollars a drive to shovel a drive just sounded like alot to me. No overhead other than a ten dollar shovel, and some time. But I thought about it more along the lines of a kid coming up to me and saying he'd shovel my drive for 40 bux. Anyhow, you're pulling in gold where you're at.  Or is did you just charge them extra b/c they were not regular customers? Nothing wrong with that. I never liked call-ins after a day/night of plowing.


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## Kramer (Nov 13, 2004)

if you're getting 200 smackers for a 600 ft straight thru, you win!

For example, we got a guy that charges our company 2 hrs @ $50/hr for a 1 ton pickup to clear the place up to about 6" deep.

The facility sits in a depression with a circular drive all the way around--2 separate loading docks, and 2 parking areas out front which are about 150 ft long x 75 ft wide.

The entry to the site alone is at least 500 ft. Of course the entry drive and circular drive around the place are wide enough to accept tracktor trailers so its at least 20-25 ft wide all the way. 

This storm was at least 15" so I expect a bill in the $300-400 range.


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## Mdirrigation (Dec 12, 2003)

jbrow1 said:


> $75 a drive? I need to move to Maryland. hehe. Forty dollars a drive to shovel a drive just sounded like alot to me. No overhead other than a ten dollar shovel, and some time. But I thought about it more along the lines of a kid coming up to me and saying he'd shovel my drive for 40 bux. Anyhow, you're pulling in gold where you're at.  Or is did you just charge them extra b/c they were not regular customers? Nothing wrong with that. I never liked call-ins after a day/night of plowing.


Maryland is expensive , think of it like this , a 2 bedroom house built in 1950 , needing work , 1 story rancher on a slab , with a 50 by 100 foot lot will cost you almost $ 200,000 . And thats not a nice neighborhood . A 3/4 acre lot , ( no house ) across from me , the guy paid $ 120,000 and then had to pay a "reforestation fee" of 7 grand to the county to clear it , and then 4 grand to the escavator to do the clearing . Come to Maryland


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## jbrow1 (Mar 9, 2004)

The only reason I'd come to Maryland is for the RC racing! That's some expensive housing there.


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## PAPLOWER (Jan 22, 2005)

*Wow*

THE most I was offered was 40. Even then I only took 20 He was a nice old guy.


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## salopez (Apr 11, 2004)

the prices are alittle higher here because of two reasons, one people are not prepared like they are elseware, and two we only get 6-7 plowable events ayear. i would much rather make half the profit per visit but have 21 events or more every year.


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## jbrow1 (Mar 9, 2004)

I wondered how often you guys would get plowable snow. So why are the houses so much there? Is it mostly b/c the land is so expensive? So what kind of prices does say a new ranch on a slab go for, with say one acre. Just a normal sized house 1200-1400 square feet. I'm just curious. Are most the houses on slabs, crawls, or basements? Interesting to hear how stuff is done in other places.


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## crashz (Jan 12, 2004)

To us, thats cheap. Land around the Boston area (if you could find it) will be in excess of $200,000 for a 1/4 acre. Its ridiculous here. A cape that needed plenty of work, but in a prime location got $664,000 in my town. My girlfriend and I were looking at it as a starter home until we saw the price. Right now we would be lucky to find a townhouse condo for under $300K.


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## lawnboy11 (Aug 22, 2000)

Here on Long Island I get $45 up to 4" for drive and walks/steps (use snowblowers/shovels) for a small lot house say 60*80 total property size. If you are lucky you can find a craphole that is currently on fire for about $500,000.

For averages and round numbers lets say $50 for snow for a $500,000 house.
That is 0.0001% of the home's value.

If the average home is $250,000 in your area and you get $25 for snow, it's the same 0.0001% of the home's value.

Now of course all the other costs we have are closer together like equipment and gas, etc. So maybe the areas with more snow and cheap houses would be OK w/ $30 per? It's all cost of living and snow frequency related.


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## jbrow1 (Mar 9, 2004)

That's just crazy. So what do people do that have the minimum wage or lower paying jobs do? Turn into street people? Or do they live far away and commute?

** I wrote this in responce to the post above yours. Must've typed at the same time, and you beat me.


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## lawnboy11 (Aug 22, 2000)

jbrow1 said:


> That's just crazy. So what do people do that have the minimum wage or lower paying jobs do? Turn into street people? Or do they live far away and commute?


They have several jobs and live with lots of other people in packed houses. They ususally then go home for the winter. And I don't mean that in a negative way at all, it sucks for them. I honestly don't think one can live alone on minimum wage here. A 1 bed apartment is somewhere around $1000 miminum for anything not in a crack house. It's ricockulous.


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## jbrow1 (Mar 9, 2004)

Your previous post beat mine. I was responding to the one above yours. But you make sense. Yep, I couldn't afford any 1000 dollar apartment!


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## lawnboy11 (Aug 22, 2000)

Ah, I see said the blindman. Same subject though!

Most minimum wage jobs are probably held by students or anyone else living in a household with others that have better jobs. I belive a family around here needs to make about $80,000/yr MINIMUM to scrape by. One person would need about 50,000-60,000 I think.


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## Mdirrigation (Dec 12, 2003)

I dont think anybody will work for minimum wage around here , McDonalds pays $ 7.50 an hour . I have 1 rental house , 2 bedroom , 1 story , no basement working class neighborhood , it rents for $ 1300.00 per month .


Things are expensive around here because of the government and the jobs tied to the government .


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