North Star Snow and Ice Management

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Executive Summary

North Star Snow and Ice Management is a snow removal and ice management company in Minnesota. We plow parking lots and driveways, shovel and salt walkways and treat ice for businesses, apartment communities and homeowners, and we keep our crews working in summer with lawn and cleanup visits at the same properties. Customers get a clear price, a crew that shows up before the first shift and a record of every visit.

Why this fits. Every winter, property managers worry about slips, falls and lawsuits, and homeowners worry about getting out of the driveway. Many want one company they do not have to chase. A small, reliable company that keeps records, answers the phone at 4 a.m. and fixes a missed spot the same day earns repeat seasonal contracts.

Here is what our numbers show. In Year 1 we plan about 24 seasonal contracts, 1,000 per-visit plowing and driveway jobs, 280 salting and ice treatments and 1,500 summer lawn and cleanup visits. That brings in sales of $349,400, growing to $874,071 by Year 5 as we add contracts and crews. We expect a small profit of about $9,400 in Year 1 even though trucks and equipment are paid before the first storm, then a profit of about $47,500 in Year 2, $28,400 in Year 3 and $82,000 by Year 5. Year 3 profit dips because we add a third truck, a supervisor and more crew before the sales arrive. A mild winter would cut the per-visit work, which is why the plan keeps extra cash.

We need $220,000 in total. Of that, $140,200 is startup costs (two plow trucks, a skid steer, spreaders, safety gear, first salt, insurance and a yard deposit), and the rest is cash to cover a slow season. I am putting in $90,000 of my own savings and asking for a $130,000 equipment loan.

I am Erik Halvorsen, the owner and operations manager, with ten years of working for a landscaping and snow company, including five as a crew supervisor. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this plan, not promises.

Company Description

North Star Snow and Ice Management is a small, independently owned snow and ice management company in Minnesota, planned as a limited liability company (LLC). We serve businesses, apartment communities, churches, small shopping centers and homeowners in our metro area.

Our mission. To keep driveways, lots and walkways clear and safe, and to do it on time, every storm.

What we believe. Safety comes first. We plow, shovel and salt to the schedule in each contract, take a photo and a time stamp at every visit and fix a missed spot the same day. We are honest about what we can and cannot do in a big storm and what a customer should expect. We use only as much salt as is needed, because too much harms concrete, plants and pets.

What we offer:
- Seasonal contracts. A fixed price for the winter for businesses and apartment lots, with a set snow depth for plowing.
- Per-visit plowing. Homes and small lots pay by the push when it snows.
- Salting and ice treatment. Treatment of lots, steps and walkways before and after storms.
- Summer lawn and cleanup. Mowing, trimming and cleanup visits that keep our crews working in the warm months.

Who we serve. Property managers, apartment communities, churches, small businesses and homeowners.

What we do not do. We do not promise bare pavement in a heavy storm, take on lots we cannot reach on time, plow without liability insurance or damage curbs and lawns without telling the customer.

How we are run. I am the owner and operations manager and I plow and supervise. Two crew operators join me in Year 1, and more join as we add contracts. A part-time dispatcher joins in Year 2 and an operations supervisor in Year 3. An accountant keeps the books.

Where things stand today. We have quotes for two used trucks, a skid steer and spreaders, a draft seasonal contract reviewed by an attorney and signed intent letters from two property managers, a church and a small strip mall. (Replace this with where you really are.)

Problem & Opportunity

Snow and ice are an urgent problem for any property with people on it. A slip and fall on an unsalted walkway can lead to an injury claim. Businesses may lose customers if the lot is not cleared by opening. Homeowners may be stuck. Many property managers say they have had plow companies that did not show, left piles in the wrong place or disappeared after the first big storm.

Snow work is also hard for a company to run. It depends on the weather. A mild winter means fewer visits, and a heavy winter can mean working around the clock. Equipment breaks at the worst time. Crews work long nights. Insurance costs are high because of liability.

For a new company, the hard parts are the cost of trucks and equipment before the first contract, winning seasonal contracts that smooth out the income and keeping crews busy in summer. A company with trucks and no contracts loses money.

We want to be clear about what we know and do not know. Snow removal is a real, steady need in our area every winter. We do not know how much it will snow, so our plan assumes only a small profit in Year 1, summer work to even out the year and extra cash for a mild season. We will use current local numbers on snowfall and competing companies in our final plan and will not overstate them.

Products & Services

North Star Snow and Ice Management will give property owners a reliable crew, a clear contract and proof the work was done.

How it works, step by step:
1. Site visit and quote. We walk each property, note where snow can be piled, mark hazards and give a written quote with the snow depth that starts a visit.
2. Contract. The customer signs a clear agreement that says what is included, the response time and how storms and extra services are billed.
3. Storm watch. We follow the forecast, schedule crews and trucks and call customers before a big storm.
4. Plow and shovel. Crews clear lots and walks to the contract standard and pile snow where agreed.
5. Salt and treat. We apply salt or ice melt in the right amount before and after storms.
6. Record. Each visit gets a time-stamped photo and a note in the job-tracking app, which the customer can see.
7. Fix. If a customer calls about a missed spot, we send a truck the same day at no charge.
8. Summer service. The same crews keep lawns trimmed and properties clean from spring to fall, so customers have one company all year.

Why this approach is strong. Property owners keep contractors who answer the phone and prove the work was done. Records protect both the customer and us.

Market Analysis

Who we serve: businesses, apartment communities, churches, small shopping centers and homeowners in our metro area.

Our primary group is property managers and owners of commercial lots and apartment communities, who sign seasonal contracts. Our secondary group is homeowners and small lots that pay per visit. We will use the most recent local numbers on snowfall, commercial properties and competing companies in our final plan.

How we sized our plan. We plan about 24 seasonal contracts, 1,000 per-visit jobs, 280 salting and ice treatments and 1,500 summer visits in Year 1, growing to 52, 2,200, 730 and 3,200 by Year 5. Our Year 1 prices are about $5,400 per seasonal contract, $85 per single-visit job, $160 per salting and $60 per summer visit, rising about 3% a year.

Demand data. Signed intent letters from two property managers, a church and a strip mall cover part of the first contracts. We do not count on any one customer. Snowfall changes each year, so we expect some seasons to be better than others.

We do not take every job. We decline lots we cannot reach in time, contracts that ask us to take on unlimited liability and work with unsafe access.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices for customers, and what makes us different.

- Large snow and landscape companies. They have many trucks and big contracts but may give small properties low priority. We focus on small and mid-sized properties and give them a named crew.
- Other independent plow operators. Some are very good. We compete on records, responsiveness and clear contracts.
- A neighbor with a plow. It is cheap but unreliable and often uninsured. We offer insurance and proof of work.
- Property maintenance staff. They can handle small snowfalls but are not equipped for big storms. We offer backup capacity.
- Doing it yourself. Many homeowners do. We offer a free hour back after a big storm.

What makes us different.
- Photos and time stamps for every visit.
- A same-day fix on a missed spot.
- A crew that answers the phone during storms.
- Summer service from the same company.

What we do not claim. We are new. Larger companies have more trucks. We plan to earn contracts one lot at a time.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach customers.

Property managers and facility directors. We will visit property managers, church administrators and strip mall owners in late summer, walk each site and offer a written quote and a reference list.

Early signup discount. We will offer a small discount to customers who sign seasonal contracts before October, which helps us plan trucks and crews.

Homeowners. We will offer per-visit plowing through a simple website and neighborhood groups, and offer seasonal contracts to neighbors on the same street.

Referrals and reviews. We will ask every contract customer for a review and offer a referral discount.

Pricing. About $5,400 per seasonal contract, $85 per single-visit job, $160 per salting and $60 per summer visit in Year 1, quoted in writing with what is included.

Operations Plan

How the business will run.

Setup (the 4 to 6 months before the first storm). We will form the LLC, get an EIN and open a business bank account, buy and service the trucks and equipment, get liability and workers' compensation insurance, sign the first contracts, set up the job-tracking app, lease salt storage and hire and train operators.

The yard. A rented yard with a small shop and salt storage. The plan counts $12,000 a year in Year 1.

Staffing. In Year 1: I serve as owner and operations manager and plow. Two crew operators, counted as full-time equivalents and paid $34,000 a year each, work with me. Crew grows to 3 in Year 2, 5 in Year 3, 6 in Year 4 and 7 in Year 5. A part-time dispatcher and office person, paid $26,000 a year, joins in Year 2 and an operations supervisor, paid $48,000 a year, joins in Year 3.

Costs. Salt, fuel for each visit and material costs are about $1,400 per seasonal contract, $20 per single-visit job, $62 per salting and $14 per summer visit in Year 1. Truck and equipment fuel, maintenance and repairs are about $32,000 a year, insurance about $20,000, software about $3,600 and marketing and bids about $7,800.

Safety. We train every operator in safe plowing, record every visit and inspect trucks before every storm. We store salt covered and apply it carefully.

Payments. Seasonal contract customers pay in monthly installments or a deposit and then invoices, usually in about 44 days. Per-visit customers pay by card. Our plan holds about $41,928 in unpaid invoices at the end of Year 1.

Insurance. We carry general liability and commercial auto at higher limits for snow work, workers' compensation and equipment coverage.

Management & Organization

The people who will run North Star Snow and Ice Management.

Erik Halvorsen, owner and operations manager. Ten years of working for a landscaping and snow company, including five years as a crew supervisor who planned routes, trained operators and handled customer complaints. He leads operations, sales, safety and finance. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Crew operators (from Year 1). Plow, shovel, salt and keep records. They also do summer work.

Dispatcher and office person (part-time, from Year 2). Takes calls, schedules crews and sends invoices.

Operations supervisor (from Year 3). Manages crews and routes in storms.

Outside advisors. A property manager who also serves as a customer, an attorney, an accountant, an insurance broker and a free mentor from SCORE or the Small Business Development Center.

Staff pay in this plan is a full year per person: owner and operations manager $50,000, crew operator $34,000, dispatcher and office (part-time) $26,000 and operations supervisor $48,000. Replace them with the pay you can offer where you live.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals and when we plan to reach them.
- Before the first storm (4 to 6 months ahead): sign at least 15 seasonal contracts or letters of intent, buy and service the trucks and equipment, get insurance, set up the tracking app and hire and train operators.
- Year 1: two trucks and a skid steer, about 24 seasonal contracts and summer lawn visits; $349,400 in sales and a profit of about $9,400.
- Year 2: about 34 seasonal contracts, a third crew operator and a part-time dispatcher; $507,790 in sales and a profit of about $47,500.
- Year 3: a third truck, an operations supervisor and about 42 seasonal contracts; $654,304 in sales and a profit of about $28,400.
- Year 4: about 48 seasonal contracts and a sixth crew member; $774,513 in sales and a profit of about $63,700.
- Year 5: about 52 seasonal contracts and a replacement truck; $874,071 in sales and a profit of about $82,000.
Growth depends on winning and keeping customers, so treat the later years as goals, not promises.

What we check every week: storms and visits completed, response times, missed-spot complaints, salt used, equipment down, unpaid invoices and cash in the bank.

Funding Request

How much we need and how we will use it. Total we are raising: $220,000.

How we got that number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds up three things:
- Startup costs of $140,200, listed item by item in the Startup Costs section: $62,000 for two used three-quarter-ton pickup trucks with plows; $34,000 for used skid steer loader with a snow pusher; $7,500 for two tailgate salt spreaders and a walk-behind spreader; $4,500 for sidewalk snow blowers, shovels and safety gear; $2,000 for GPS tracking and job-route software setup; $9,000 for first stock of rock salt and ice melt; $3,000 for salt storage and yard deposit and first month; $700 for business license and snow-contractor registration; $3,400 for attorney: seasonal contract, liability release and LLC setup; $4,600 for truck lettering, website and bid proposal templates; $9,500 for insurance down payment.
- The cash the business uses before it breaks even, about $2,300. Snow work pays by the visit and the season, so there is a small gap before the first contracts pay and trucks and salt must be bought before income arrives.
- A cash cushion of about $52,400: three months of Year 1 operating costs.
- Together, the cash used before break even and the cushion come to about $54,700, and the three pieces add up to about $194,900, rounded up to the nearest $500: $195,000.
We are raising $25,000 more than that, $220,000 in all, to cover a mild winter that cuts per-visit work and the cost of adding a third truck and crew before the sales arrive. With this funding, the lowest year-end cash balance is about $87,900, at the end of Year 1.

Where the money comes from:
- My own money: $90,000.
- Equipment loan for the trucks and skid steer: $130,000.

Kind of funding we are looking for. An equipment loan from a lender that finances trucks and construction equipment, with the trucks and skid steer as collateral, backed by my own savings.

How we will pay it back. We expect a profit of about $9,400 in Year 1, a profit of about $47,500 in Year 2, a profit of about $28,400 in Year 3, a profit of about $63,700 in Year 4 and a profit of about $82,000 in Year 5. With this funding, the business has money in the bank at the end of every year of the plan. Our loan is the equipment loan for the trucks and skid steer at 10.75% over 7 years, about $2,209 a month. That payment is already included in our cash flow. We chose these as cautious planning rates; ask the lender for the real rates, which may be lower or higher.

What we are offering the lender: the trucks and skid steer as collateral and my personal guarantee.

A smaller first step, if needed. If we cannot raise the full amount right away, we can start smaller and grow into this plan:
- Phase 1: start with one plow truck, one skid steer and a smaller set of customers, with the owner plowing, which lowers startup costs and insurance.
- Phase 2: once contracts are steady, add the second truck, more crew and the dispatcher and follow this plan.
To plan the smaller start, make a copy of this plan (use Duplicate) and lower the numbers to match.

All numbers in this plan are estimates. We will update them as real results come in.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this plan:

- Your resume, commercial driver's license if needed and driving record.
- A personal financial statement (a list of what you own and what you owe; lenders usually provide a form).
- Business registration papers and your EIN (your business tax number from the IRS, free at irs.gov).
- Quotes for the trucks, skid steer, spreaders and software.
- Your seasonal contract, per-visit agreement and insurance quotes.
- A map of your first 15 properties and a plan for plow routes.
- Letters of intent from property managers, churches and businesses.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Seasonal Contracts for Businesses and Apartment Lots (per contract): about $5,400 in Year 1, rising to $6,078; about $1,400 in direct costs, rising to $1,607; about 24 in Year 1, growing to 52.
- Per-Visit Plowing and Driveways (per visit): about $85 in Year 1, rising to $95.67; about $20 in direct costs, rising to $22.95; about 1,000 in Year 1, growing to 2,200.
- Salting and Ice Treatment (per application): about $160 in Year 1, rising to $180; about $62 in direct costs, rising to $71.15; about 280 in Year 1, growing to 730.
- Summer Lawn and Cleanup Visits (per visit): about $60 in Year 1, rising to $67.53; about $14 in direct costs, rising to $16.07; about 1,500 in Year 1, growing to 3,200.
- Seasonal contracts average about $5,400 in Year 1 with about $1,400 in direct costs; per-visit jobs about $85 with about $20; salting about $160 with about $62; and summer lawn visits about $60 with about $14. Prices rise about 3% a year.
- We add a third truck in Year 3 ($45,000) and replace equipment in Year 5 ($40,000), and the plan includes smaller spending each year for plows, spreaders and repairs.
- Pay (a full year, per person): owner and operations manager $50,000; plow, salt and crew operators (full-time equivalents) $34,000; dispatcher and office (part-time) $26,000; operations supervisor $48,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: truck and equipment fuel, maintenance and repairs $32,000, insurance (liability, vehicles, workers compensation) $20,000, yard rent and salt storage $12,000, dispatch and job-tracking software $3,600, marketing and bids $7,800, accounting and legal $4,200, payroll taxes and benefits $12,000. These grow between 4% and 12% a year.
- Startup equipment and later purchases ($110,000 in Year 1, then $8,000, $45,000, $12,000 and $40,000) are spread evenly over five years in the plan's books.
- Customers and payers pay about 44 days after service, so at the end of Year 1 about $41,928 is still owed to us. Income tax at 21%.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and research.

Startup Costs