Many snow businesses begin on the fly - using equipment that’s already owned or purchasing a truck and plow to start servicing whatever accounts can be found. From there, things evolve. Often that means adding different equipment, changing client types and switching pricing models. Nix Snow, based in Stratford, Ontario, has a different backstory. Company founder Nick Bohner had a plan to serve very specific clients (highdensity residential neighborhoods) in a very specific way (flat annual pricing) with very specific equipment (tractors equipped with inverted snowblowers).

Bohner got his start in snow services when he was 11. "Like a lot of kids, I would make some spending money by shoveling neighbors’ driveways. I didn’t really have much intention of staying in the business long term. It was just kind of the obvious opportunity in front of me at the time."

But after a few years of making money (first shoveling, then borrowing his father’s walk-behind snowblower, then using a riding mower setup), he wanted to learn more about how the business really worked. By 14, Bohner was engaging on an industry chat forum and met Paul Vanderzon, ASM, a highly respected veteran of the snow industry and former SIMA board chair.

"Paul introduced me to the Montreal, Quebec, way of doing residential snow. And it was a business model that just didn’t exist in my part of Ontario," Bohner says. "I really had no interest in the basic business of a plow and a truck, running around with your head cut off doing 50 driveways for cash," he recalls. "But I’ve always loved heavy equipment. And I knew I wanted to be a business owner. So, when Paul and others in the Montreal area were showing me companies with 100 tractors servicing 20,000 driveways, I thought, ‘Well, I’m in an area that gets almost as much snow as Montreal does—why the heck is this not happening here?’ "

Equipped for success

To get the process started, Bohner bought a 3-Series open-station John Deere tractor with a loan co-signed by his dad and crafted a homemade plow setup. "That was my first real piece of equipment with a diesel engine—something that could really move some snow. After that year, I was up to about 100 driveways, so I could buy an inverted snowblower," he notes.

Inverted snowblowers mount to the rear of a tractor using a standard three-point-hitch and PTO connections but are designed to be used with the tractor driving forward. The setup offers a number of advantages in residential settings: the snowblower can be backed up to a garage door and pull/blow the snow away from it, minimizing the risk of damage; plus, snow can be blown away instead of having large piles of snow build up around the driveway.

Another key advantage is efficiency. "With a plow, realistically, you’re going to spend at least five minutes, and maybe 10 minutes, clearing a driveway. With a tractor and inverted snowblower, it can be done in no more than a minute—sometimes in just 30 seconds," Bohner notes. "And the finished product is better. Like in any industry, having the right piece of equipment is what makes or breaks the entire model."

Bohner says he’s experimented with different brands and currently uses a fleet of 25 John Deere tractors to clear 3,000 or so driveways in Stratford and London, Ontario.

"In Stratford, there are a lot of tight streets, little alleyways, and things like that; so a big tractor really doesn’t work very well. So, we’ve settled on John Deere 4066 (65 hp) tractors," he says. In London, where many neighborhoods are newer, the streets are wider and there’s more space between accounts, the company runs larger 6 Series (105 hp) units. About one-third of the fleet is owned; onethird is financed for purchase; and onethird is leased to own (the latter two approaches based on tax implications).

Bohner also has experimented with different inverted blowers, but currently most of the fleet is equipped with Normand models: 82-inch on the smaller tractors and 92-inch on the larger tractors. He says this equipment segment continues to see innovation as more contractors switch to inverted blowers.

With 25 tractors in his fleet, Bohner shoots to have 30 solid operators ready to respond in order to cover illnesses and no-shows. A 6-person shoveling team led by Liam Lennon handles special sites like apartment buildings with walkways. With back-office staff and mechanics, the inhouse winter crew totals about 45.

Operating a tractor is a somewhat specialized skill. "We have a lot of farm guys, and my subcontractors are custom-farming guys. They own their own tractors, and they provide service to local farmers in the summer and then come on with us for the winter. It’s been a really good fit."

Standardized service

Bohner says that his business model is really driven by the equipment. "Residential snow is a commodity-based service: you need high volume, and you need to keep your rates down—not dirt cheap, but you’ve got to keep them reasonable." The equipment clears the driveways quickly and efficiently; but the goal isn’t white-glove service. "It’s not a premium, top-tier service where we’re brushing your car off. It’s a cookie-cutter model."

Bohner says the goal is to get in and get out quickly because residential customers will only pay so much for their driveway to be cleared. He says this is why many contractors shy away from that market: "They’re not set up for it. If you have a plow truck, it’s not worth doing residential. But if you have a system and a business optimized for it, I would argue there’s probably more money in it than commercial, profit wise."

What about the other reason contractors often avoid residential snow work: the hassle of having hundreds of potential clients/headaches? "It’s a pain, no question. But honestly, the majority of our customers are amazing. There’s a very loud minority that are extremely picky and there’s always going to be people that just won’t be happy no matter what," he says.

One factor that mitigates complaints is the standardized service model. The service is meant to be homogenized, not customized. There is no option for per-push pricing, or custom triggers for when snow service is provided. "We’re 100% seasonal, and I call it a productized service," says Bohner. "It would add way too much complexity to have special services for some driveways."

Customer interaction is also minimized, which helps to alleviate headaches. Clients sign up on the website and pay based on the driveway’s size—it’s a "self-checkout type of model." In most cases, communication is in the form of emailed confirmations and updates. Bohner points out that more and more people are accustomed to this type of "click and go" arrangement in all aspects of their lives, and many even prefer it.

"Obviously, for unique properties, we still have to quote [these are usually properties like small apartment buildings]. But a good 70% to 80% of our customers, we literally never talk to before they buy our service."

Operating systems

To streamline operations and capture important service data, Nix Snow uses FolloSOFT software, which was developed by a Quebec residential driveway snow service company.

"Each of our tractors have tablets, and each property is geocoded; so when a driveway gets serviced, it automatically gets checked off by the software. And in our database, it shows that the driver was there and at what time, etc." In addition to logging this data, the tablet also shows the operator any unique aspects or obstacles of each driveway in real time.


Routes are optimized behind the scenes, and GPS guides the operator along their route. From there, high-tech combines with good oldfashioned teamwork.

"Once an operator is done, and their tablet says they’re 100% complete on their route, they have a partner that they’re responsible for looking out for. Whoever gets done first goes in the tablet, chooses their partner’s route, and then starts working that in reverse until they meet up. When those two meet up, then they go help another team. Nobody goes home until every driveway is clear," Bohner explains.

The ag tractors are allowed to operate on public roadways (though different states and provinces may have specific rules and regulations). By focusing on customer density, the tractors typically don’t have far to travel between stops. Tractors are not as adept as trucks when covering long distances, so Bohner says it is important to focus service on more tightly contained areas. For example, Stratford is relatively compact and the company services every street in the city; but London is more spread out, so it services only half of the city to limit long-distance treks between neighborhoods.

Internal operations

Until this winter, Nix Snow never capped the number of clients. "We’ve just added equipment and capacity as needed," Bohner explains. But now he’s making a strategic business decision to limit the number of accounts: "What I’m hoping for is there’s more demand than supply. I wanted to create a little bit of scarcity around the service, and we’ve upped our prices a bit." Bohner bought a company that started around the same time in Stratford and was using a similar model; other than that, the competition comes mainly from a small number of plow trucks still servicing residential driveways.

Other changes are taking place inside the company. Most importantly, says Bohner, is that a rising group of leaders are taking over key functions. "Patrick Hannaberry is our chief operating officer—he runs the entire company now. Cam Jariott is our chief administrative officer—he takes care of the payroll and really understands tractor pricing and financials. I’m the marketing guy. I’m the vision guy, but I’m not the run everything guy."

While some company founders have a difficult time relinquishing control, Bohner says he tries not to micromanage and "to just let the guys go." This strategy, he emphasizes, only works with the right people, noting a bad experience last year with one manager who turned out to be untrustworthy. But having a group of top leaders who have been with him for years provides a lot of confidence in the company’s future, Bohner adds.

Change in growth plans

Originally, Bohner wanted to focus on franchising Nix Snow to other regions. Nix Snow franchises are in St. Mary’s, Tavistock and New Hamburg, Ontario. But Bohner says he currently sees more opportunity for franchise growth in his Organix Applied business (see sidebar, page 14). His goal with Nix Snow is to continue building the brand and systemizing the process.

Bohner says that he regularly fields calls from contractors interested in learning more about the equipment and business model. He also operates a YouTube channel to share information as he has grown his business.

"I’ve met so many people, including numerous mentors who are far, far ahead of me in business that have taken a liking to me and wanted to help me," says Bohner. "So, I’m hoping my content is helping others understand this business model."

Expanding services with mega mulch

With a snow-only business, Nix Snow owner Nick Bohner has been exploring summer-related enterprises. Just as he wasn’t interested in operating a traditional residential snow operation, he wasn’t wild about running a standard landscaping company.

"I used to do a little bit of landscaping – some small-scale projects, maintenance, cutting grass. It just seemed like there was a lot of competition, and it was pretty hard to stand out," Bohner says. Three years ago, he stopped, sold his equipment and began investing in blower trucks.

He started a company called Organix Applied and uses three 18-wheeler-size trucks to blow organic material like mulch and soil for landscaping projects. "It’s a very commercial-focused business," Bohner says. In some ways it’s the opposite of his winter business model. Instead of working for thousands of individual homeowners, large landscape companies hire him. For companies that install hundreds of yards of mulch every spring, a blower truck can replace dozens of employees who would be needed to move material with wheelbarrows or other small equipment, Bohner says.

With the emerging leaders at Nix Snow, Bohner feels comfortable leaving for much of this winter season to take the blower trucks to Florida, where the growing season will be starting and demand for mulch services will be high: "There’s an opportunity to yield an extra three or four months of revenue where my trucks used to be parked in Canada…it’s a no-brainer."

How shoveling made me a millionaire by 21

Visit here to more from Nick Bohner on his journey to success in the snow and ice management industry.

Patrick White has covered the landscape and snow and ice management industries for a variety of magazines for over 25 years. He is based in Vermont. Contact him at pwhite@meadowridgemedia.com.