Snow Mower

In 1968/'69 when I was about twelve years old, I got some index cards, drew a little snowman on them and wrote 'To shovel your snow just let me know call 797-1850'. I canvassed houses within a three - four block radius of my house. I left my calling card in the mailboxes and storm doors of houses which I knew were occupied by older people living alone. I also targeted young couples and singles who were out working all day, had money, and did not have time to shovel. I passed by the families who had children because I knew that they could not afford to pay someone to shovel or their kids were old enough to be put to the task themselves. My phone started ringing the first day the snow hit.

All of the houses were pretty much the same. The only difference was that some had double driveways instead of single driveways and the walkways from either the driveway or the sidewalk were different according the individual homeowners design. The width of the lots were all the same except for the cash cow corner lot. I charged $2.50 to shovel the sidewalk and a path to the house ($5.00 for the corner lot), $5.00 for a single driveway, and $7.50 for a double. I averaged about $10 a house. It took me about 2 hours depending on how deep the snow was and how well I coordinated shoveling the driveway with the plow going by. Sometimes I would do everyone's sidewalk and walkway and return after the plow went by to do the driveway. The driveways were always a bear because of the plow. Some old folks didn't use their driveway so I did not have to shovel.

I set out early on my first day stopping at the houses where I had left my card. I wasn't really thinking of it then but I landed 2-3% of the houses I had canvassed which is pretty good for selling door to door. The first day was always the busiest. I had four or five houses on my first day. I shoveled from sun up to sun down with a break for food. I went home for lunch and returned messages from more customers. Some wanted me the following day and some booked me for the next snow storm. Some people gave me tips on top of our agreed wage to ensure that I would return. I came home soaked and exhausted with around forty some dollars. It used to take me weeks to see that kind of money from my paper route. The first season was a big success! By pitching my services for lawn mowing, yard cleaning, and raking, I had lined up a few accounts for the spring and fall.  

I liked lawn mowing better than shoveling. The weather was way better and there was no time constraints on getting it done. I would arrange a mutually agreeable time with my customers and that was that. It only took a little more than an hour to mow the lawn. Some people only wanted their front yard mowed. I would schedule additional work like weeding or edging between my regular appointments.
I charged $10 for the front and back or $5 for the front alone. It brought a higher fee than shoveling but there was overhead operating the mower.  

I had just finished up mowing my own lawn and started pushing the mower down the block when my neighbor Jeff came over and asked where I was going. I told him I was off to Mrs. so and so's house to cut her lawn. He asked how much she was paying and if he could help. I didn't really need the help but he was my best friend so I said sure. He got his mower and we began a great partnership. We ripped through that lawn in a half an hour. The customer wanted to have her sidewalk edged and weeded. Jeff had an edger and we agreed to the terms. I began weeding while Jeff went and got his edger. We left her with a well manicured yard and went home planning our business strategy. Since I had already established contact with the potential customers, I went door to door pitching our expanded services around the neighborhood. We later streamlined the sales operation. One of us would remain finishing up the current job while the other followed up on leads or cold called to other houses trying to line up the next job.

Since we were putiing alot of hours on our parents equipment, we learned how to perform our own repairs. We used to have the guy at the shop do the oil changes, tune ups, and blade sharpening every year. Now we required more frequent maintenance so we thought it only fair to do it ourselves. Not only that but if/when our equipment broke down on the job we had to be able to get up and running as quickly as possible. Everything we learned repairing those small engines paved the way for our future mini bike and car repair ventures.

Jeff's house was the corner lot next to my house. He had a lot of sidewalk to shovel so his dad decided to get a snow blower. What a boon for the coming winter business! We pretty much cornered the market on shovelling. Since there were two of us we could knock the job out in half the time which meant that we could even beat the price of anyone else. Jeff would clear the driveway and I would shovel the sidewalk and walkway. Whomever finished first would go down the block to houses that had not yet been shoveled. We ran circles around the few other kids from the neighborhood who were trying their hand at entrpreneurship. Actually, turns out there weren't that many kids around as ambitious as us. Good thing because if there was we probably would have concocted any scheme or scandal necessary to dissuade them from competing. Ain't that America!

We did this for a couple of years with much success. Jeff and I had more money than any of the other kids around. I'm not sure why we stopped doing it. Maybe most of the old folks who were our best customers moved away. At one point Jeff had suggested that we take our profits and buy a Willy's with a plow. He and I were very much alike. Knowing both of us, I would guess that we got bored and wanted to move on.

Jeff had gotten a job as a gas jockey and mechanics helper at a local gas station. My dad had gotten me a summer job a couple of years in a row working for Genovese Drugs. This was not an end to our partnership. We continued earning extra money by buying, fixing, and selling mini bikes and cars. Those couple of years proved that working for yourself was far more rewarding than working for someone else. The only advantage to working for someone else, depending of course on whom that someone is, is that you know where the next check is coming from even if it is way smaller than you expected.