Mike Hughes
Former Board Administrator
Winter has been the biggest challenge my business has faced over the years. It has almost put me under on more then one occasion.
For those of you in colder regions, what strategy do you employ to survive winter and pay your bills?
Currently, we offer gutter cleaning/repair and we also intall gutter guards. This helps mostly with fall, and a limited amount in the winter. When it is below freezing, we can't clean gutters. Also, the deeper we get into late fall/winter the later in the morning we can start............because overnight temps get to be well below freezing. Sometimes we cant start before 11am.......and its dark by 5pm!
I also plow snow. It can be profitable, but its unreliable and has a high price of admission. I got lucky, the plow came with my truck. I bought my truck from a local landscaper when it was only 9 months old. If I had to go out and invest in a plow, I'm not sure it would have been worth it......unless you live in an area that gets frequent snow storms.
What other types of work do you offer in the winter........... remodeloing, interior painting, or do you get a job? Some people are fortunate enough to make extra money to tuck away throughout the year to live comfortably through winter. That is something I have yet to achieve, mostly due to circumstances beyond my control. I hope to pull that off in the near future, hopefully in 2005.
For those of you in colder regions, what strategy do you employ to survive winter and pay your bills?
Currently, we offer gutter cleaning/repair and we also intall gutter guards. This helps mostly with fall, and a limited amount in the winter. When it is below freezing, we can't clean gutters. Also, the deeper we get into late fall/winter the later in the morning we can start............because overnight temps get to be well below freezing. Sometimes we cant start before 11am.......and its dark by 5pm!
I also plow snow. It can be profitable, but its unreliable and has a high price of admission. I got lucky, the plow came with my truck. I bought my truck from a local landscaper when it was only 9 months old. If I had to go out and invest in a plow, I'm not sure it would have been worth it......unless you live in an area that gets frequent snow storms.
What other types of work do you offer in the winter........... remodeloing, interior painting, or do you get a job? Some people are fortunate enough to make extra money to tuck away throughout the year to live comfortably through winter. That is something I have yet to achieve, mostly due to circumstances beyond my control. I hope to pull that off in the near future, hopefully in 2005.