Attitude Is Everything

Attitude towards professionalism in the snow business, and attitude towards having total control of the growth of our business are intertwined. One introspective question often asked at this time of year (before the season starts) is “how can we make a profit at this type work”? Other observations made by some often include: “Snow work is blood money”, “it’s a pain in the butt to do this work”, or “it’s hard work for the money we generate”, and “my guys want to just stay home in winter anyway, so why bother”, or even – “can customers ever be made happy?”.

Often it’s just a matter of attitude.

Think about it a minute. Isn’t attitude just a matter of how we think about anything we do or say? If you address your marriage with the right attitude, things often go well. If you approach your employees with the proper internal motivation (and a positive attitude) they will generally work harder and be more productive. If you approach the landscape maintenance, tree care, or chemical lawn care portion of your business in the right manner, it becomes your ‘core business’.

Can you imagine approaching the winter as if your site can never, ever be safe, and was just something that “had to be done” instead of what is needed to make your site safe for vehicular or pedestrian traffic? The same thing occurs in the snow business. I would submit that attitude has everything to do with success. It’s the underlying foundation of every successful marriage, work environment, entrepreneur or snow and ice management contractor. Contractors who view their endeavor as “providing risk management service” to their customers have customers who are generally more content and satisfied – than those who consider snow and ice management as a pain that they need to do during the winter.

These contractors are convinced that they can make a site safe, and a customer happy – generally do. Those that are convinced that they cannot, usually do not.