Business Idea

[picframer]

I left the house early this morning to deliver frames to various clients I had completed, when I left it was cloudy however even though I live maybe 15 to 20 min outside the city, the city was a wonderland, snowing like no tomorrow and it appeared they received snow overnight. As I made my way to what we call the South End of Halifax I had to pass through Robi Street, lined with car dealerships, as I drove by sales guys were out with push brooms cleaning cars, I drove on not giving it much thought. Then it struck me, Leaf Blower as I bet they end up with a few scratches, I remember reading somewhere or a client saying they use their blower to clean their car so I thought I would test the waters on the way home. I stopped at the Honda dealership, never been in there before asked to speak with the sales manager, was told he was on the phone, I said fine, it's important and I can wait. I was greeted within 10 min by a fellow my age, I simply said look, I own a Lawn Care/Landscaping business and we have a device that is worn on your back that blows air at a very high CFM, as I was driving down Robi and saw sales people sweeping new cars, my first thought was scratches, is that an issue for you guys? He replied yes at times it is, I said you know these blowers I have could do the job scratch free and your sales people could stay warm and dry to focus on sales, just curious what would you be willing to pay per car per storm, he thought for a moment and said probably 2 or 3 bucks, o.k. how many cars on the lot would need to be cleared per snowfall, he said well it depends min of 70 max 200. He asked if I would be interested, I said it's just something that struck me, let me take your card, I will give you mine and we will talk the first of the week as I am on my way to work. We shook hands and I headed to John Deere with a treat for the staff. Anyhow I am personally not all that interested, I think it works out to be around $40.00 to $50.00 hr not including travel and my backpack blowers seem to sip fuel, BR600's.....anyhow big craft show tomorrow then I am having a small Christmas Party at a sports bar for the staff that worked with me this summer, I am going to run it by them and see what they think. If we got a really big storm say 12" there is no way I would do it for $3.00 a car, I think one would need at least $4.00. Also had a guy stop me today and ask if we would keep their apartment building cleared as the current fellow is always late and doesn't do a good job, I told him we sub all plowing however if the snow builds up too much we have loaders that can pile it very high, I gave him the name of the fellow I sub to, my card, we shook hands and I carried on.

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Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Lawn care business tips

I think blowing snow off cars is a great idea! I would suggest though, if he "offered" to pay you $2-$3 per car, don't you think he would pay more like $3-$5 if you told him you would not do it for less? Like you said, if there is 8"-12" of snow you would need a bit more. Have you tried this on your own car to see how long it would take blow the snow off? Andy, I really like that idea! And I like how you keep coming up with ideas for making money! LOVE IT! Eli

[CHEESE2009]

GENIOUS!!!

I live right beside 4 car dealerships.

10 mins away is a street called AUTO PLAZA, ironicaly the street has ANOTHER 4 car dealerships!!!

I'm gonna test the blower on the truck now, i'll let you know the results.

[CHEESE2009]

RESULTS

Takes forever to start the blower in the cold. I almost cracked the primer LOL.

You'd only be able to blow snow that has recently fallen. Compacted snow doesn't budge.
It would take a LONG time to clear the snow from one vehicle. {the slush around the tires & the front windshield, my wipers almost flew off without budging the snow.

[fieroboi]

I really depends on the kind of snow. If the snow is heavier and sticky, it can take a while to remove. If it is light and fluffy then it removes very fast and easy. We have used blowers to remove snow from cars here for years. I used to be a new car sales manager at a large lot in Edmonton, Alberta about five years ago.

Lloyd
Blue's YardFX
Camrose, AB

[Steve]

Great idea. I was wondering, say all these cars are parked next to each other and you blow the snow off between them, would the dealership be concerned about getting that snow between the cars removed? Could you also offer to do that or would that be left to the plowing company that services the property?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Great idea. I was wondering, say all these cars are parked next to each other and you blow the snow off between them, would the dealership be concerned about getting that snow between the cars removed? Could you also offer to do that or would that be left to the plowing company that services the property?

After the car is cleaned pretty much every dealership I have seen will start the cars up and back them out and clear the area with a plow or bucket, personally I would not be interested due to liability, mirrors in the cold brake easy, prove you didn't cause that dent with one of your shovels etc. These cars can and generally are parked pretty close to each other.

[Steve]

That is really a genius idea. You are always thinking and being creative! It's fantastic!

If this idea could be sold to a car lot and then sometimes because of the snow type, you couldn't use the blower, maybe you could use something soft besides a broom and still be there making money.

Winter times can be very tough on everyone. Any idea that can help a business owner get through the winter, is fantastic.

Then you have to keep in mind you are making contacts at that car lot. In the spring you could sell them on landscaping services. Adding flowers all around could really make the area visually pop and attract customers in.

To take this further, every car dealership has their big windows painted up during the different holidays. What if you picked up an overhead projector and used it on a window to trace out the design? You could maybe do this at night and use paper behind the window initially to allow for the image projection to show.

I be it would make tracing a holiday design and painting it so simple!

This could be another way of making more money.