Things are busy here at S & D Snowblowing as we prepare for the oncoming winter months. There is much preparation needed to equipment, staff, and clients to make sure that we can offer our service with as few glitches as possible. We just took delivery of our second tractor and our new blowers arrive either Friday or Monday. We are currently out hanging door hangers and engaging with our target neighborhoods to educate our clientele about our one-of-a-kind residential snow removal services that is contract based with no hidden fees. During our discussions we have encountered a few skeptics—let’s look at our case studies below.
1.) I own a snowblower and I am capable of doing my driveway myself: I would like to first ask you what your time is worth—if you own an average driveway you are looking at a commitment of about one hour per storm for clearing. This doesn’t include the time required to clean up the banks that the city plow leaves across the driveway on the clean-up pass. On average we receive 17 to 20 snow events over 2” which adds up to a time commitment of at least 15 hours. If you earn $25 per hour this represents a lost opportunity cost of $375 not to mention the lost family time or the hassle of getting up early to get things cleared before work and school. Don’t over value a snowblower asset and undervalue your far more valuable time.
2.) I’m skeptical of the seasonal contract: The seasonal contract can be a bit of a scary concept as it is money up front—where does it go? We have invested in ag tractors, inverted snowblowers, which while they can do an impressive amount of work also command a fairly aggressive price tag. We also pay our operators a salary whether it snows or doesn’t so that we can keep them off of unemployment and create a company that provides sustainable jobs. In essence we have discovered a technology that can reduce the time to clear your drive to a window so small we can offer a ridiculously low price. In an average snowfall season our fee averages out to about $5 to $7 every time we clear the drive. To get it this low we ask you to share some of the risk up front. In return we give you prompt, predictable, and affordable service.
3.) I don’t currently pay for a service: We believe that our service is priced in such a way that it is affordable for almost all homeowners and as illustrated above the time saved not having to clear the driveway can provide opportunity to more than cover the cost of the service. The benefits compared to a plowing service are astounding (no sight blocking piles, no lawn and landscape damage) This is a tried and true service in Canada, and several cities across the US. We are excited to be the first to bring it to Vermont and offer it to homeowners. If you don’t currently use a snow removal service I would ask you to consider the value of your time and the cost benefit we can offer for this often tedious task.
S & D Snowblowing is Essex, Vermont’s premier residential driveway snow removal solution.