The other half was for a dealer fee and two days of classroom training.
DEALERS FOR ACTIVE SKY 16 WITH ASCA PLUS
Of Jackson’s initial $30,000 investment, about $15,000 was for the cost of equipment and deicing material, including two 3,000-gallon storage tanks plus plumbing and pumps, a spray system, one semi of granular material and one tanker load of liquid deicer. Most of the equipment is available from the master distributor, and many contractors may already own some equipment, such as a spray system. It’s also recommended that dealers have covered storage (warehouse, dome, etc.) for bulk salt. Also, pallets of bagged, pre-treated granular materials are available for distribution, so a dealer must have a means for unloading and storing these bags, usually shipped in semi-truck loads. No storefront is needed – a typical landscape or snow removal yard will do, but dealers need to have the space for at least one 5,000-gallon liquid storage tank and the ability to fill tanks (pumps, hoses, etc.) and trucks equipped with spray systems (a 230-gallon capacity spray system is required to treat a 25-ton stockpile of rock salt). Application time is about 30 minutes for a 25-ton pile.įirst, a contractor must have the infrastructure required to house a dealership.
Typically, the dealer provides a spray tank unit and the customer provides a loader and operator to turn the material as the liquid is applied to ensure uniform treatment of the stockpile. Either scenario is a good one."Įssentially, becoming a dealer entails buying the deicer in bulk (usually a 4,500 gallon semi-trailer tanker), storing it and treating customers’ stockpiles of rock salt and/or sand, Oakes says. They value the fact that they’re buying the product at wholesale price. "Some people really get that this is a great opportunity to make some additional cash, and they go gung-ho selling and marketing," says Brian Walters, director of business development for RMG Enterprises, the parent company of Ice Kicker, a deicing product master distributor with about 20 dealers. "Contractors know how it works and can really give the hands-on sales experience because they are the users themselves."Įven if a contractor-dealer chooses only to reap the benefits of wholesale pricing, not ramp up sales, deicing product distributors say they don’t mind.
Taconic, a former snow-removal firm itself, is the sole distributor of Magic Salt, and has more than 50 sub-distributors, or dealers, located mostly the Northeast, Midwest and Canada. Snow contractors like Jackson are ideal dealers in the master distributors’ eyes because they are primary users of the product, says John Oakes, sales manager for Taconic Maintenance, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. It could easily grow to a million-dollar a year business if you give it enough time." "I haven’t pushed it real hard," Jackson says. However, he’s experienced two sub-par snow seasons and hasn’t yet focused on outbound sales, which he says has limited his ability to realize the service’s true earnings potential. The main reason he added a liquid ice melt dealership was to have access to a product he wanted that he couldn’t purchase in his region.Īfter two seasons, Jackson says he’s close to breaking even on the $30,000 investment he made to become a dealer. Currently, he does about $250,000 in snow business with six employees and 25 subcontractors. Jonathan Jackson of Jackson Lawncare, Columbus, Ohio, added a liquid deicer dealership to his business in October 2005. Adding dealerships allows contractors to increase profits two-fold: by acquiring the product at wholesale pricing for their own use and by reselling the material to other contractors and non-municipal customers.Ĭonsidering retail profit margins can reach 60 to 100 percent, adding a liquid deicing product dealership might be worth a look. Many companies look for ways to stabilize their winter profits – whether it’s through increasing sales or cutting costs.Ī business model has taken shape over the last decade allowing snow contractors to become dealers of liquid deicing products. Snow contractors certainly understand the ups and downs of doing business in a weather-driven market. What controls does the master distributor impose?.What management, technical, and ongoing assistance does the franchiser offer?.How much is the initial fee and any additional start-up costs? Are there any continuing royalty payments? How much?.How long has the master distributor been in business?.The Small Business Administration offers the following questions you should have answered when comparison shopping to determine what partnership is right for you. While adding a dealership to a business isn’t the same as buying a franchise, many of the same guidelines for investigating options exist.