How to Make App like Shovler and Earn from Snow Plowing Business?

What is Snow Shoveling App?

Snow shoveling app is an on demand service that is requested by a user. The person drops the request to remove snow from the desired area and the snow plower comes after the booking. 

Just like any on demand home service app, the requested service of snow plowing is provided by the expert and then payment is done. The app tells about the charges, the information of the snow plowing person like age, contact details, experience, etc.

The app has major success in the cold areas as snowfall is a common thing there. In today’s busy times, people can’t afford to stop or slow down their lives. Along with that people have also bent towards a comfortable life. They want to save on efforts and have ready-made solutions for every problem. They want to be in action and snow plowing services make that happen very comfortably. The person just has to book a service and the snow plower will come to your doorstep and do all the plowing.

Reasons to Make App like Shovler

As mentioned above, the winters bring heavy snowfalls that block the commutation with snow jamming the roads.  Along with roads, there are heavy snowfall blockages in domestic areas. People can’t move out even in their parking and porches which puts life to a break. 

We as humans can’t be put to rest in one place for a long time. It is rightly said that necessity is the mother of invention. The necessity of removing the snow sitting at the comfort of the home gave birth to on demand snow removal app. 

Snow plowing business has today become one of the major sources of revenue generation in the fall season.

Here are some of the stats by SIMA, Snow & Ice Management Association to validate the same.

• There is a 3-4 billion US dollar market that is purely related to snow removal.
• Around 34% of Residents ask for snow plowing services.
• Of all the USA, 13% of New York is a contributor to the snow removal industry which sums up to approximately 3 billion US dollars.
• It is an estimate of having a 22.7 billion US dollar market in North America for snow removal.
• The North East has the largest market in the U.S. for snow removal. It accounts for 27% of the industry, followed by the Great Lakes area 25%, and then the Mid Atlantic 15%.

Thus, now we have enough statistical reasons which make a solid ground for making a snow shoveling app. Apart from stats, if we look at the customer’s behavioral approach towards app like Shovler, it is quite positive.

The reason is firstly it is convenient. The user just has to put a request at on demand snow plowing app and the serviceman will arrive at their doorstep. Secondly, it saves tons of time. With on demand service app, the snow plowers are readily available and they come to serve you in a very reasonable time. And the third one is protection from cold wrath. The user by booking a snow shoveling service saves himself from the cold, wind, and the tiresome process of removing the snow. 

Just book an app to save your health and time easily.

Features you Need to Make App like Shovler

Now as we have learned there are very bright chances of earning revenue from the snow plowing business. The apps in general will have three panels- admin, vendor, and user panel.

• Admin panel

It is the backend of the app that manages both the users and the serviceman. The revenues, commissions, salary deductions all could be accessed and seen through the admin panel. The need for Admin Panel is very crucial for the snow removal mobile app.

• Vendor Panel

It is the panel that connects the end user and the app owner. In the vendor panel, the serviceman should have the right to accept and reject the request. Also, they should have the option to know about the commissions and sign off from the portal. 

• User Panel

The panel that is used by the customer. It should tell them to mention their location. Know about the fees and what is the estimated time of arrival of the serviceman along with his contact details.

For making effective and efficient panels, consult mobile app development experts. For now, let us know what core feature we need in these panels to make app like Shovler.

1. Customization

The app should work the way you want it to work. Anytime, Anywhere! If we talk about the user panel, the customer should have the right to put their location, book their preferred time slot and in fact change the service person if they want to. It should also give them the power to pay from the payment method that suits best to their comfort.

The same customization should apply to the vendor panel where the service provider can accept or reject the request.

And in the admin panel, the admin should have full rights to access the information about revenues, approval of the vendors, and setting the percentage of commissions. 

2. Live Tracking

The user on asking for on-demand snow removal should get complete detail of the time of arrival. They should know how much time is left for the shoveler to arrive and how much time it will take for them to do the snow clearing.

Talking about the vendor panel, they should get a detailed route map and track where they have to go and provide their service.

And in the admin panel, the admin should know where and when the driver has reached and either they are currently engaged in dropped requests or not.

3. Push Notifications

The constant updates of requested service are always beneficial for customer satisfaction and professional decorum. So, in the user panel, the user should get constant notifications regarding confirmation of their requested service, estimated time of arrival of the service provider, the fees, or any other offers you are running over your snow shoveling app.

The same is the case with the vendor they should get notified who is dropping a request from what location and what commission amount will they receive. And in the admin panel, they should have the right to make customized messages regarding offers, discounts to attract more sales and revenue. They can simply make offers and send them to both end-users and the vendors.

4. Pre Bookings

The user should have the option to pre-book their service. This means they can fix their time slot in advance. This feature is basically for the user panel only as it will help the users to book the services as per their convenience.

5. Feedbacks

The user panel should have the option to share their experience and provide feedback for the service provided. They should be able to give ratings and even comment on how the overall snow removal service experience was for them.

This gives users the feeling of power and at the same time opens the doors for vendors as well as admin for the improvement of the mobile app. They can learn what are things that they need to focus on for providing better services. 

In some snow removal apps, we can also see the feedback option provided to the vendor. They can submit their experience with a particular client as it builds the client profile over the panel. You can see the return feedback feature in the taxi booking app Uber too.

6. Split Payments

Snowfall is a natural phenomenon and when it happens, it generally spreads all across the area. So, many times the request of removing the snow is requested by two or more parties as they have the common area where they want snow shoveling to happen.

In such a case, the snow removal app should have the feature of attending one single request from multiple users and then divide the fee equally as per the decided proportions.

Therefore, one service request but from multiple users altogether that pay their due amount differently.

Business Plan for On Demand Snow Removal App

The idea for making an app like Shovler did not come out of blue. It had a great story behind it. Daniel Miller, the CEO of Shovler shared the story behind the founding of the snow removal app.

In one of the articles published in the penny hoarder.com, I learned that Miller himself used to work as a snow shoveler in his teenage. He found it interesting as people use to acknowledge his work, he was paid well and it was fun to be in the snow!

He came up with the idea of making his own on demand snow removal app in 2015 when he was coming from Florida to New Jersey and was stuck on the road due to heavy snowfall.

In the article, he talked about his email regarding making a snow shoveling app in which he said,

It just dawned on me that there are lots of people in similar situations, especially the elderly, that just want to hire a snow shoveler on demand for the days they need one or want to take a break from shoveling themselves.

Also, it is a great help for those who wanted a good source of income in winters as well. The pricing of snow shoveling is decided on two parameters- Area of clearing and Depth of the snow. Well, sometimes some other factors also come into play to decide the service cost. The Shovler app takes a 20% commission of total service charges.

Each app or business needs to have a revenue policy. In order to launch and make an app like Shovler, you need to introspect and know certain aspects as follows.

Let us learn what these aspects are and how they affect your business model. 

1. Know your Market

Learn what is your potential market and then launch the app accordingly. Launching an app in an area that doesn’t have heavy snowfall or no snowfall at all won’t be useful for you. Therefore, you need to select what is your target audience and then launch your app.

On launching the snow removal app, you also have to take care about what is the living standard of the people for whom you have launched the app. Will they be willing to pay the amount that is fixed by you? What kind of snow clearing services will give them satisfaction and lots of other things that you need to focus on. 

Therefore know your customer before making them your customer.

2. Know your Technology

When it comes to what tools and equipment you need to carry out for clearing. It is very important. If you have only some axes and spades to remove snow from the path it won’t be effective. Thus, leading to unsatisfied customers and negative responses.

Therefore know which kind of tools and equipment you need to provide your snow plowers for effective snow clearing. Talking about mobile apps, since you are providing service through on demand snow removal requests by users. Learn what kind of features to add or subtract (that we have already discussed before). Rest, for more queries, you can ask an experienced mobile app developer.

3. Know your Budget

One of the very important points. Get to know your revenue model. What are the costs that you have to put in to make your snow shoveling app a success and what are the revenues you can generate from the same?

When it comes to the cost of launching an app. It could be divided into two.

• Technology– This states what features, panels, and functionality you want to put in your app for good user experience and working.
• Physical Attributes– It relates to recruiting of the staff, buying equipment, and transportation for the area you want to be operational in. The cost will be proportional to the area your services are being operated.

4. Know your Team

Last but not least learn about the manforce. Know how many people you want to collaborate with to make your app function smoothly. Learn about the demands of your team, their salary expectations, and also the need to provide snow plowing services efficiently.

Because happier the team, the better the results and higher are the profits. Therefore knowing your team members are equally important too. It also includes their contact details and other information.

Conclusion

Snow plowing is one of the major activities that is carried out in the snowfall. People can not sit and get stuck at home all day long. They need the path to be cleared for commutation.

Making the snow removal app like Shovler will solve two purposes of end-users: remove snow as per their convenience and secondly service is provided without any fuss. They will be able to enjoy hot chocolate in cozy blankets while snow is getting cleared outside.