As the leaves begin to change and fall, snow contractors find themselves at a transition point. The change from the green season to the white seasons is more than just a change in weather; it is a vital window for business owners to shift from reactive, last-minute operations to a mindset of proactive growth. By investing time now in strategic preparation, you can transform the unpredictable nature of snow management into a streamlined, high-performing machine.

The following eleven tips provide essential pillars of a successful snow business, from operational efficiency and financial health to staff management and client retention, all designed to help you have a more profitable, stable, and resilient winter season.

1. Strategic Planning: Begin your season with a comprehensive plan that aligns your budget, equipment readiness, and staffing requirements. Proactive preparation reduces last-minute stress and ensures you optimize resources for the first storm.
2. Salt Management: Mitigate p...

Recent winter seasons in Ontario have seen significant challenges regarding salt supply, resulting in increased costs and operational difficulties for contractors. In this article, we share the primary causes, impacts, and recommended strategies for managing these shortages.

Contributing Factors to Salt Shortages

The recurring shortages in the Ontario market are driven by a combination of environmental and logistical factors:

• Increased Demand: Normal snowfall totals and lower temperatures compared to previous years cause cities, municipalities, road departments and private contractors to deplete local salt supplies
• Production Limitations: Surges in demand often outpace the ability of regional salt mines to keep up with production requirements.
• Supply Prioritization: During periods of scarcity, salt mines and distributors typically prioritize supply for cities, municipalities, and road departments over private contractors.
• Import Logistical Costs: To meet local demand, suppliers
...

Almost every winter, I get the same question: “How did some contractors manage to stay profitable while others struggled?” After the past season — with rising fuel costs, dramatic salt-price spikes and an abnormal number of snow events in many regions — the answer is simple: better contracts and confident client conversations.

Why contracts matter now

Long-term service agreements (1–3 years) are great for customer retention, but they force you to predict costs months or years in advance. You didn’t foresee geopolitical events or supply chain shocks when you locked in prices. Meanwhile, your suppliers already protect themselves with escalation clauses, fuel surcharges and delivery fees buried in their terms. If you, as a contractor, absorb every increase, your margins will disappear.

Key contract provisions to protect your business

1. Escalation clause for fuel and materials

• Add a clear escalation clause tied to objective indices (e.g., national fuel price index, salt market in...

^{The original article by Ramsey Solutions can be found HERE.}

Picture this: Work is under control, you’ve got a plan in place to keep plates spinning without you for the week, and you’re finally on an actual work-free getaway. Heck, you’re feeling so free and clear, and you and your family are building vacation memories Hallmark would kill to capture on film.

Wishful thinking, right?

We get it. No matter how badly you need a vacation, it can feel like an impossible dream at any stage of business. Getting away from work takes work—especially when you’re the business owner (aka the chief everything officer). You might worry the whole time that things are falling apart without you or feel like you barely have time to unplug before it’s time to head back from vacation and play catch-up.

But no matter how tricky it is to disconnect from running your business, you need a vacation . . . even if you start with just a day off or long weekend. You are worth the break, your family is worth the ...

Employee lawsuits can be disastrously expensive without business insurance, especially for small businesses. Organizations can and should take steps to minimize potential losses that might stem from employee lawsuits. One of these steps might include purchasing Employment Practices Liability Insurance.

Employment Practices Liability insurance protects organizations against allegations and lawsuits by employees who claim their legal rights have been violated. EPL exposures have expanded from discrimination or harassment brought by employees to include a wide range of evolving exposures including accessibility, gender issues and disputes over performance reviews and promotion. (Sourced from Travelers Insurance)

“Employment Practices Liability WRONGFUL ACT” means any actual or alleged:

1. Wrongful termination of employment;
2. Discrimination or harassment adversely affecting any employee of or applicant for employment with the ENTITY;
3. Wrongful deprivation of career opportunity or failure t...

Being a landscape/snow business owner is hard. There are a million things vying for your attention, and
it’s usually the most urgent that gets it. Meanwhile, your business keeps going – but is it growing? Has it
increased in value over the last year? The truth is that most landscape business owners have no idea
what their business is worth or how it’s actually doing. They’re usually fantastic technicians, happy to be
working IN the business, but rarely ON the business. But knowing the value of your business, and
understanding the steps needed to take to increase its value are critical for the growth and health of the business. It will increase profitability now and also make your business more attractive to potential buyers – whether you’re looking at selling now or in the future.

Let’s take a look at six pillars of business and identify some best practices and tools you can implement
fairly easily to increase efficiency, productivity and profit.

SAFETY
The health and safety of your staff i...

Our next-door neighbour builds the most amazing ice rink in his backyard every year. It’s complete with curved corners, painted 2’ boards all the way around, lights, and netting to catch stray pucks. The only thing that’s missing is a scoreboard and lines in the ice, though I expect those are coming. It’s a work of art. But this year, it’s been more like a wading pool than an ice rink. It’s been so sad.

The weather this year has been unlike anything I can remember in all my years in landscaping. As I write this, it’s February 7 and 9°C in Toronto. There are no snow piles and no frost in the ground. Many of our clients are concerned about what this means for their business, both this year and in the future if this weather trend continues. While a light winter may have its pros and cons, one thing is certain – we need to adapt and make changes in our practices and snow contracts to survive in the face of low snow seasons.

Let’s talk about some of the pros of a low-snow season:

1. Reduc
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Over the last four articles, we’ve been talking about how we, as business owners can get healthy and stay healthy. We’ve talked about physical, mental and emotional health, as well as decision fatigue. For this article, we’re turning the attention to our staff and how we can promote a healthy work environment for them. Perhaps we can use some of the information we’ve gained over the last few articles to create a work environment and mentality that promotes the well-being of our greatest asset…our staff.

We are heading into darker and colder months, months that are generally harder for people. It is my desire, as I’m sure it’s yours, to provide an environment that acknowledges and actively seeks to provide for the needs of staff in order for them to be healthy and effective, as well as ensure they’re with us for the long haul.

A safe workplace

In my experience, the best thing we can do for our staff is to make sure they know it’s safe to talk to us. To share when they’re stressed, ov...

"Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people." (Steve Jobs)

Open Book Management (OBM) is the philosophy that businesses will experience greater success by sharing relevant financial and operational information with every employee. It’s the practice of communicating with people via the numbers. Employees receive information that not only helps them do their jobs well but gives them an understanding of how the company is doing as a whole. According to John Case, who coined the phrase “open book management”, “a company performs best when its people see themselves as partners in the business rather than as hired hands". The intent is to give employees relevant information about the company so they can make better decisions as workers. This information includes, but is not limited to, revenue, profit, cost of goods sold, cash flow and expenses.

Open Book Management involves four basic practices:

• Train employees so they become business litera
...