How To Start a Snow Removal Business in 2024? [9 Steps Guide]

As per a recent survey, it has been found that the snow plowing industry collected an average of $20.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR rate of 2.1% in the upcoming five years.

With such a high growth rate, you must have set your mind to become the boss of your own snow plow business. Right? 

Starting a snow plow business may be the right choice for you if you live in a snowy area. But there are many barriers that you need to undertake, like equipment maintenance, startup costs, performing legal procedures, and even building marketing strategies.

Compared to other field service industries, the snow industry is entirely different as it is seasonal work. However, being an entrepreneur, if you have a business plan and want to invest your money, but don’t know how to start a snow removal business, then you are at the right place.

9 Steps Guide to Starting a Snow Plowing Business

Below is the list of steps to make it easy for you to start your own snow plow business from scratch.

Step 1- Plan your snow plowing business

The first step in starting a snow removal business is to create a business plan for it. As a snow removal business owner, it is essential to have a clear plan about what you want and expect from your snow business.  

Planning your snow plowing business will help you to map out the business services you want to provide. Also, it is important to know what types of snow removal services you are going to offer to customers.

Because there are different services such as residential or commercial business. For both residential and commercial removal businesses, you will require numerous different types of equipment. 

If you are unaware of the services, you can do market research to identify the top benefits the competitors run in your local area.

You need to find out the approximate amount of snowfall and ice you get every year and about your area distance. With such a status check, it becomes easy for you to include the services that can remove snow or ice in that specific area. 

Moreover, you need to decide on whether you are going to provide residential clients or office complexes and their parking lots. Do not make the mistake to cover both of them in the initial stage; instead, select only one that suits you the best. 

Once everything goes okay, enhance the services and expand your business.

Step 2 – Form a legal entity

Generally, you will come across multiple business types to choose from. However, every snow plow business has one thing in common and that is to form a legal entity. Following are the list of a legal entity, you can use for your snow removal businesses. 

• Sole Proprietorship: There is only one business operator in this business type, and that is you. You have complete responsibility to make small and large decisions on your business assets, liabilities, and other snow management operations.
• Limited Liability Company (LLC): You can quickly grab the benefit of limited liability. It means that you get some tax benefits and exemptions in your snow plow business areas.
• Corporation:  This type is specifically for someone who has large-scale and more established industries. Even this business system involves taxable employees.

Nowadays, many organizations are adopting either LLC or a Corporation business structure. However, the most exciting part is that you can even navigate LLC to a Corporation if you are willing to do that.

Step 3 – Name your business 

The next essential step is to give a business name. Unfortunately, searching for the domain name is one of the most tedious tasks as it affects your business performance.

When you are planning to give a name to your business, keep in mind the following points:

• Longevity
• Your audience and target market
• Buyers’ appeal
• Innovative qualities
• SEO and branding awareness
• The permanence of the name
• Clear representation

In short, whatever name you select, it must be such that every time the customer thinks of snow removal, they should contact you on priority.

Once your name is ready and available to use, it is time to register your business and complete the legal formality. 

Step 4 – Register your business 

To complete your legal formalities, you need to select services that you will offer to the customer. Now, it’s time to register your business with the government or secretary of state. It is also essential as you need to file for taxes and the legal process.

• Filing a “Doing Business As” (DBA) name is the first and foremost metric you need to perform. Once everything is fine, it’s okay; otherwise, you need to do the paperwork again if your business’s name is different from your legal name. 
• The next thing is to do the filing for business structure so that the government can verify that your business name is legal and unique and that no one else can use it.

Finally, you can also apply for trademarking your businesses from the government’s business agency to grab complete protection. It is time to open a bank account, issue a credit card, and get insurance.

Step 5 – Create a bank account and credit card 

No matter whether you own a small or large snow plow business, you will require to have a business bank account. Having a business bank account will not only make you look professional but save you from multiple risks.

If you are mixing business and personal accounts, then you are risking your personal assets such as your home and car.  In such a situation, you will end up with a big legal problem. Therefore, to avoid such a risky situation, don’t keep bank and personal bank accounts the same.

It will also allow your clients to make payments directly through credit cards. Moreover, by having credit card accounts, you will be able to have the credit history of your business, which will help you to make large purchase transactions.

Hence, you can make accounting and tax filing faster and easier. By having bank and business credit cards, it becomes simpler to manage and keep accounts accurate and detailed.

Step 6 – Use snow removal contracts to protect your snow business 

As a part of legal formalities, contracts are an essential factor for the business. Before approaching new clients, you should issue a snow removal contract. It will help to maintain transparency between you and your clients. 

Also, there will not be misunderstandings and both owner and clients will be on the same page. For instance, clients cannot claim that you didn’t say or mention their service and would not pay you for the same.

If some unexpected situation arises, a contract will help you to resolve it and count as legal proof.

There are seasonal and hourly contractors, choose what is ideal for your snow plowing business. 

Also, you will need to obtain the necessary license requirements based on your state or country. In addition, you need to check and verify with the local government about the business law related to commencing a snow plow business and driver’s license.

For taking the permits from legal authorities, you need to consider the following aspects:

• First, you need to do market research to identify the work location and type of vehicle, whether a three-wheeler or a four-wheel drive will be required for plowing or shoveling.
• You can even search for the local neighborhood to check whether no one is disturbed by plowing or shoveling. If such constraints are taken care of, then it’s the right place for you to start.

By considering the metrics mentioned above, small business owners, large enterprises, and snow removal experts can easily opt for applying for business permits.

Step 7- Choose the right snow and ice removal equipment and tools 

Another essential factor you should not ignore in your snow and ice removal business is choosing the right equipment and tools. You cannot work or operate your business without equipment and tools.

For instance, if you don’t have a tool, how will you be able to remove snow from the backyard? Hence, there’s no point in running a snow removal work business without owning the proper equipment for it. 

Confused, which snow removal equipment you will require for your business? Well, no worries we have got you covered; here’s the list of essential snow removal tools and equipment you will require:

• Snow blowers
• Snow shovels
• Generators
• Ice Melt
• Rock Salt
• Plow trucks (transport medium)
• Plow machine

Step 8 – Market and launch your snow removal company 

Now, you are ready to showcase your business and services to the world. One of the most incredible places where you can advertise your snow removal business is getting online. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps you get more customers by using the unique website of your business. In addition, by having social media presence on Facebook and Instagram as well as Google my business profile, you can do marketing on your website.

Word-of-mouth is another great way of marketing to enhance your brand awareness among the customers in the local businesses. You can talk with your friends, and neighbors, and even perform door-to-door advertisements for your services.

You can even make professional business cards, flyers, signs, or newspaper advertisements by including your service areas, business location, and even contact information.

Using such advertisement and marketing strategies such as Google my business, you can quickly catch the eye of residents. The critical thing to note is that your information should be more concise and easy to read for any customers.

Finally, you can now introduce your business to your customers by sending an open invitation. During your business’s inauguration, you can offer some discount coupons on snow plowing services during the winter season and even off-season.

Step 9 – Use snow removal software to schedule and dispatch jobs 

Last but not least is to use snow removal software. To make your business effective and easier, use snow removal software as it helps you to create and manage schedule and dispatch jobs.  

Moreover, snow removal software like FieldCamp will help you to:

• Create estimates and invoices
• Team tracking 
• Schedule and dispatch
• Pending, active, and complete visit
• Job Description note
• Smooth payment system 
• Multiple- calendar views at one time 

In short, you can handle and manage your entire snow and ice removal business within a few clicks. 

These are the leading steps that can help you to start your snow plowing business from scratch.

However, many questions will still arise in your mind, so we have introduced frequently asked questions in the next section.

Ready to Start Your Snow Removal Business?

Starting a snow plow business is a tedious and time-consuming task, but no one can stop you from making it with ease if applied with proper management.

Take your valuable time to view all steps and snow removal tips mentioned in the blog. However, the most important thing that you need to make sure of is maintaining your business productivity and efficiency. So, the best option is to adopt FieldCamp, a field service management software in your business, and automate your entire business operations with ease.

Start a 7-day Free Trial and experience the best service offer today!