By Cheryl Higley
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Many business owners eventually get to a point where they’re comfortable and content with their company. They’ve successfully taken a small, single-man show to a full-scale, booming business, and have achieved all they could’ve ever imagined. Basking in their self-made glory, they enjoy the rest of the smooth ride, with no real desire to push things to the next level.
Rich Johnston is not one of those people. As owner of Johnston Landscape Maintenance in Westville, IN, Johnston’s passion for his work and drive to succeed helped turn his part-time, one-man operation into a flourishing and growing landscape, hardscape and snow and ice management contracting company.
“I started my business back in 2000,” Johnston said. “I always wanted to own my own company and one day I decided it was time to go for it.”
Johnston had been working more than 10 years in human resources when he decided it was time to pursue his true passion. He started out with a few residential landscaping customers and quickly began building clientele. By 2006, he was offering full landscape and hardscape services, and was finally able to leave his full-time job and focus on his company.
Johnston was ready to take the next step. He had been hoping to add snowplowing services and was ready to dive in.
“It just felt like the right time,” he said. “And customers had begun requesting it, so that was a major factor too.”
Johnston already had a few pickup trucks he used for landscaping, so he added standard pickup-mounted snowplows and was ready to go. Like the landscaping side, he started out with residential clients and slowly began growing, adding commercial accounts, mostly banks and small parking lots.
The company was enjoying the success of adding snow removal, but Johnston felt his plows weren’t quite up to par, especially since he was trying to land larger commercial accounts. As a landscaper, he already owned a skid steer, so he began searching for equipment-mounted plows. While researching online, he became intrigued with Arctic Snow and Ice Control Products’ Sectional Sno-Plow and purchased a 10-ft. LD10 Sectional Sno-Plow for his skid steer.
Time savings
The first time he and his crew took out the plow, Johnston estimates they saved almost three hours on their route. “Snow and ice management is among the most competitive businesses out there these days,” he said. “Everyone recognizes the potential, so it’s important for us to cut time and costs whenever possible.”
Johnston said the plow left little snow behind, saving the crew time from re-plowing. The difference, he said, was in the plow’s design. Rather than a one-piece moldboard, the plow is comprised of multiple 32-inch sections. The sections move independently of each other, which allows the plow to essentially contour to pavement.
“The number one thing I’d say most guys overlook when they get into this business is liability issues,” Johnston said. “The plows we were using wouldn’t get all the snow and ice on the first pass, so we’d have to re-plow and put down salt. But that isn’t efficient, especially during business hours when customers are coming and going. You can salt and salt, but a lot of factors, from the amount of existing snow to the current temperature, can reduce salt’s effectiveness. Bottom line, if there’s any ice in that parking lot and someone slips, falls and sues you, that could be the end of it for your business.”
Material savings
Johnston says the plow helped the crew cut down on salt, saving both time and money. “I would say we’ve reduced salt usage by at least 10 to 15 percent. Add to the fact that we don’t have to spend as much extra time salting and it’s just been great,” he said.
After seeing the success he and his crew were enjoying with the LD10 plow, Johnston was eager to add another, larger Sectional Sno-Plow. But, first, he had to purchase an appropriate piece of equipment – a front-end loader.
“That was an investment in itself,” he said, “but I knew it would pay off.” Johnston then added a HD12 plow (heavy-duty 12-ft. model) to his fleet. Shortly after, he purchased another front-end loader and 12-ft. LD plow.
Safety features
Johnston says many of the plow’s features have been designed for safety, and to ease impact on the operator, equipment and plow. Beyond enhancing safety, Johnston points out how much time these features save as well.
“Each section has a spring-loaded trip edge, and I remember one job in particular where they saved us,” Johnston recalled. “It was a new subdivision, and the roads didn’t yet have the final, top layer of asphalt, so manholes were protruding higher than normal. With our pickups, we would have had to slow down and carefully go around the manholes, then come back to re-plow and clean up any excess snow. Thanks to the trip edges, we were able to go right over them with our new plows, no re-plowing necessary.”
Like the sectional moldboards, Sectional Sno-Plow’s trip edges operate independently of one another. Only one trip edge moves to clear an obstacle on a Sectional Sno-Plow, and the rest of the plow stays on the ground to push the snow. “It seems so simple, but it’s such a huge feature and saves us time, every time we plow,” Johnston said.
New business
His company was able to secure a new account because of the plow’s mechanical side panels. Unlike typical plows with fixed side panels, Sectional Sno-Plow’s mechanical side panels lift the plow up and over objects upon impact, virtually eliminating potential damage from hitting them head-on.
“We put in a bid to provide service for a large church in the area,” Johnston said. Although the company’s bid came in higher than others, the church’s administrator was intrigued by Johnston’s promises of better clearing. Johnston also mentioned that his plow was different, and would virtually eliminate potential damage to pavement and curbs.
“He had experienced some issues with the previous plowing company,” Johnston said. “That company’s equipment-mounted box plows didn’t have mechanical side panels, so they’d hit the curbs and ended up causing some pretty significant damage.”
Additional savings
Johnston said he noticed another significant increase in his company after adding the Sectional Sno-Plows. “Our profit has increased about 30 percent,” he said. Johnston attributes that to several factors, including less salt usage, less manpower and less hours spent plowing.
“There’s also the little things that add up like less fuel usage,” he continued. “Because we’re just running a few pieces of equipment and no longer running so many trucks, our fuel costs have been cut significantly. We’ve cut our job times by up to three hours and that’s even more fuel were saving.” With fuel costs projected to increase to $5 or more, he’s especially pleased with the fuel cutback.
Johnston also points our how much his maintenance and repair costs have been reduced. The first Sectional Sno-Plow he ever bought is on its fourth season and approaching 700 hours, and he just now had to change his first steel cutting edge.
“That was so minimal, both in time and cost,” he said. Rather than replace a cutting edge on an entire 8-ft. plow, which can be very expensive, he just replaced a 32-in. section. Johnston is hoping to add another skid steer and plow, and continue to position the business for further growth.
“We really want to take the snowplowing side even further and get into mall parking lots,” Johnston said. “It’s very competitive so we know we’ll have to be prepared to take on accounts that large.”
But still, Johnston is very pleased with his company’s progress. Since adding plowing services, he estimates his company has grown almost 50 percent. “We’re still primarily a landscape company,” he said. “But we’re at the point where we’re fast-approaching 50/50, landscape to snowplowing.”
