The best side hustle for snowy states

GM. This is Work "After" Work, the newsletter spice experts say "May need milk after consuming due to extreme heat."

It’s Taco Tuesday, let’s boogie:

• ☃️ How I made $200/day shoveling snow

• 😂 Meme of the day

Before the heat..
Last week, I shared another 7-question quiz to test your “money” knowledge. The first one to get all 7 correct won $10! We had over 70 responses but Jim was the first to get them all correct!

We're going to drop another "money" quiz this Thursday... 👀 So be on the lookout to win that $10 💰️ 

ENTERING THE WAY BACK WHEN MACHINE

Today we’re finally getting our first big snow in Chicago! At 2-5 inches, it’s not much (especially compared to the 6-10 inches Michigan is set to get 😬) but it made me remember one of the first side hustles I ever did.

When I was younger, maybe 11 or 12, I used to go out whenever it snowed going door to door throughout my neighborhood

“Hi, would you like your driveway shoveled for $20?”

They’d almost always ask “Will you do the sidewalks too?” so their kids could get to the bus stop.

“You bet! For $30 total.”... it worked every time 😏

I consistently did this each time it snowed and made around $200 every time I'd go out. Throughout the winter, I easily made $2,000, which back then made me feel like a millionaire.

It was grueling work but when I was younger I was working harder, not smarter. I knew little about business at the time and knowing what I know now, I’d do things a lot differently.

Today, I'd build up a little team and hire out the work so I could do way more houses and scale this business into something that could make me 10 grand.

So with the snow finally arriving let's jump into how I'd scale a snow shoveling business and make around $800 a week!

YOUR GUIDE TO GETTING STARTED

1. Make your neighborhood your customers

Back when I was younger I'd go door to door and simply ask everyone in my neighborhood if they wanted their driveways shoveled. If they said no, ok, on to the next.

This is still the way to go for a simple side hustle like this. So if you have the guts, do it! You'll learn how to sell, get comfortable with failure, and learn how to communicate better - all super valuable skills.

But you can also go the flyer route, it's quicker and easier. The only downside is you'll get fewer leads because it’s easy to throw away a flyer. It's harder to say no to your face - especially if you're a young hustling kid.

When creating your flyer keep it simple:

1. Use door handle flyers - they feel more personal

2. Don’t include the price - if they call you, they’re interested. This is when you talk price

3. Make it personal - let the homeowner know you’re a neighbor and live in the community

4. Include your services - driveway/sidewalk shoveling as well as salting for ice removal

On the call, find out if setting up a cadence for shoveling their driveway is something they'd be interested in.

"In the future, if it snows over 1 inch would you like me to come out and shovel your driveway and sidewalks?"

Who knows. It doesn't hurt to ask and if they say yes, you just got yourself a reoccurring revenue stream! 😎

2. Hire a helper

Once you've got your customers, it's now time to work smarter, not harder.

Post snow shoveling jobs paying $10-$15/hr on your social media, Taskrabbit, Facebook groups, ask family friends, or recruit college students (most are on break for another week)

If you get no hits, try Nextdoor. It’s a neighborhood app that parents are on, and when they remember their kid has been playing the new Call of Duty for the past 18 hours, you're going to get a call.

You can also post your services on Nextdoor. Just don’t make it too salesy. Go with a stat about how much snow the area has gotten (or will get) then mention you’re on standby if people need their driveways shoveled.

Kinda like this:

3. Buy a snow blower and shovels

Once you’ve got your customers and workers, it’s time to get prepared.

You decide what you think is best but consider investing in a snow blower. I used to only use a shovel. Why? Because it was cheap. But when I finally got my snowblower my back no longer hurt (go figure) and I did the job 10x faster.

And since you'll be paying your workers hourly, the faster you complete a home, the cheaper their wages are vs your revenue.

When you're looking at snowblowers, make sure you get a cordless one. It will be more expensive but having a cord is a huge hassle and you don't want one, trust me.. you will cut the cord.

Here's a cordless snow blower that's $360 on Amazon. It's a best seller and has a 4-star review. In general, the more expensive snowblower, the better.

The Math
Okay, now onto the fun part - how much can you make?

I'm going to assume you work full-time and you'll only be able to run this side gig 2 days a week on the weekends. If you're not, then you can double, heck even triple these numbers.

With each house, you'll make $30-$40. It’ll probably take 20 minutes to clear each houses with your snowblower and a helper meaning you can do 12 houses in ~4 hours.

Assuming you can make $40 per home that's ($40 × 12 houses × 2 days) = $960 a week.

Depending on where you live and how much it snows, if you're able to do this for 2 to 3 months, that's $7,680-$11,520 in revenue.

Factor in labor, which shouldn't be more than $500 total and this is a pretty decent side hustle that's also relatively easy to scale!

🔑 PRO TIPS FROM YA BOY

• Offer to salt their driveways and sidewalks for an extra up-charge of $5 - or provide it as a complimentary service so they keep on coming back

• Vary your rates depending on the snow accumulation - if we get a snowstorm and people are snowed in, try $50-$70 to dig them out. You can always go down!

MEME OF THE DAY

😂😂

That's all I got for ya today folks!

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.