Surviving Winter $$$$$

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.

My answer to the above is I have 2 jobs but.......I still look for ways to make extra Money thru the colder Months. ALong with me doing some Gutter cleaning and adding gutter filters I keep my eyes and ears open for other opportunities that may arise. 2 yrs ago me and a bunch of guys did a security gig at a Jewish center that paid pretty well. That lasted about a month. I also wached estates over the years.(These type jobs come about because of my other job).

I'm also intrigued about many other type businesses that I always keep my door open for an opportunity there. This is my entrepreneur mind thinking.

As for powerwashing goes I had my best year yet but I lost the few commercial accounts that I had along the way so my powerwashers are winterized as we speak but ready to go whenever the phone rings.

we arent as busy in winter as usual and we use the months from thanksgiving till mid feb. to regroup (mentally and physically) for the upcoming year,we havent put any moneyback,but since we have zero debt we can live on very little those few months.

i only got 1 vacation this year so i use this time to enjoy myself,going to cancun next wednesday for a week.

We do the same services year round. The only thing I can't do in winter is power wash wood. Ice dam removals also help a lot. Everything else is fair game as long as the temps aren't too cold. If they are, then we just start later in the day. If anyone is looking for ideas or suggestions, let me know. I would be happy to train some of you to do the work we do and make winters a bit easier. Don't get me wrong, it's not easy but I make enough to pay the bills and keep all my guys working.

I am not as busy during the winter time but I still get out and work. But Monday - Friday I own a delivery company that delivers appliances for G.E. and also for Home Depot. We install the new appliances.

my husband is slow in the winter- every year we are gradually shortening his "off" time- we have been doing interior painting for the past 2 years- been picking up-december isnt great because of the holidays so no advertising usually... iw ork full time which helps out a lot..
also- how are you doing all buit decks in maryland? there looks like plenty of work to do, mold etc. but most put hoses away for the winter, shut off outdoor water etc. here in ny....i would advertise with cheaper rates in the winter if it was possible to do those house washes...

HHi Kerri,

I said the only thing we don't do in winter is clean decks... The rest is all fair game and we do a lot of gutter cleaning year round. Were doing two complexes this week with around 170 townhouses in each complex.