Josh's home away from home in the wintertime. Especially this winter.
It occurred to me the other day that Boersma Lawn Care has been getting the shaft on the blog lately. Of course I usually talk about the handsome CEO I'm sleeping with in many of my posts, but BLC has been through a whirlwind this winter (Josh has pushed snow ELEVEN TIMES!), and I thought I'd bring everyone up to speed on what that looks like for us.
Some of you may remember this post from last May about some of the
{Disclaimer: I am not referring to one specific customer here...these situations literally happen again and again, season after season}
{Scenario 1}
Josh touches base with his customers after a light snowfall where we only accumulated about an inch of snow. He asks if they would like any ice melt put down or their sidewalks touched up (Josh doesn't go out unless it snows 2+ inches as a rule). A few customers say 'yes' they would like that service, so he goes to Ankeny to do some shoveling and salting for the customers who have requested it.
After he's home and showered and it's 8pm and we're eating frozen pizza, a customer who said they didn't want Josh to come service their driveway/walks earlier, says they've changed their mind and they would like him to come now that it's icy.
Hmm...no.
Sometimes I ride along with Josh if a blizzard comes on a weekend. This is what it looks like diving down to Ankeny
in the middle of the night in the middle of a blizzard. I wouldn't recommend it.
in the middle of the night in the middle of a blizzard. I wouldn't recommend it.
{Scenario 2}
It snows six inches overnight. This requires Josh to head out in the middle of the storm and push at least two times. If there is a lot of blowing and drifting, he will need to go back to a couple places to take care of their drifts...resulting in two and a half to three pushes of snow. He charges his customers a fair rate for these services.
Customer is mad he came to push sooooo many times. Why couldn't Josh wait until it was done snowing and then push all six inches at once so he only charges for one time?!
Hmm...no.
Customer doesn't understand that waiting to push all six inches of snow would actually end up costing MORE because it would take so much longer to move that much snow at once. Josh is actually saving the customer money by pushing snow the way he does.
This is one of Josh's 'driftiest' accounts. You can see he had already pushed and when we came back four hours later,
it obviously needed to be done again.
it obviously needed to be done again.
{Scenario 3}
Josh quotes accounts and plans for snow removal for months. He meticulously calculates how long each account will take, marks the curbs with orange poles, and hires some sub contractors for shoveling. He has to make sure he doesn't take on too many accounts so he's able to get to all of them if the snow is falling abnormally fast or it's going to snow a foot, etc.
On the morning of the first snowfall, Josh gets a call from an unknown number asking if he can come and push their driveway before they have to go to work.
Hilarious.
Hmm...no.
Most of the time when Josh pushes snow, I'm stuck at home. It's hard to enjoy a blizzard
(and this pretty view!) when my husband is out working hard and I feel like a lazy bum.
(and this pretty view!) when my husband is out working hard and I feel like a lazy bum.
{Scenario 4}
A nice snowfall of three to four inches means Josh will definitely be pushing snow for all his accounts. He still touches base with a few of his non-residential customers to make sure they're planning on him coming out. They all say YES. Josh shows up to his first place (a regular account where he has been pushing snow for four years) and after he's finished two driveways, someone flags him down and says, 'we don't need you, we're all going to shovel ourselves.' Obviously wanting to avoid paying the snow plow guy and save some green.
Josh is confused but he leaves because that is what the customer has asked him to do.
Later someone falls and their family calls to complain and ask Josh why he didn't come push snow and shovel their steps and sidewalks? Josh feels horrible. He explains he was told to leave after he arrived to push their snow.
Now that he's back in Ames and done for the day, they would like him to come back and do everything he had been told NOT to do in the first place.
Hmm...no.
People are mad when he doesn't come and should have.
They're mad when he does come and shouldn't have.
They're mad when they told him he didn't need to come put ice melt down and then their G'ma slips and falls on the ice and breaks a hip and that is obviously Josh's fault because he should have done the opposite of what they told him to do.
I know he just wrote a post complaining about the weather people being wrong (AGAIN!!!) and that complaining might be annoying to some of you who don't care when/where/how much snow we get...but cut him some slack. He's a young business-owner trying to please 12 snow removal accounts; 100+ lawn care customers; quote new business for summer 2014...and keep his wife happy...ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
MmB
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