During the recent Snowmageddon, an ad for Nextdoor popped up.
“We are students at UST in St. Paul and started a snow removal business to help pay for college. Winters in Minnesota are difficult for residents, and snow removal can add another layer of difficulty. Yes, it’s a valuable service, but it also makes you extra money.”
Do young people still earn money shoveling snow? Who were these enterprising college students? Eye On St. Paul needed to know.
After clearing about 50 facilities so far this winter while attending school full-time, John Voigt, Aeden Loftsgaarden, and Alejandro Koenen sat down to share their stories.
This interview has been edited for length.
Q: Whose idea was it?
John: of Alejandro.
Alejandro: I thought it would be a good way to get involved in the community and make some money. I have known John since he attended school in St. Marks.
Q: How long have you known each other?
John: since 6th School year.
Q: Is this your first year shoveling snow?
John: yes. That’s the first year we did it.
Q: When was the first time you guys got hit by a heavy snowfall?
Alejandro: December. it was a big one.
Q: Was the idea to make money for school?
Alejandro: That was the idea, yeah. I just did the math and figured if I hit the right number of houses every hour… during a blizzard he could probably make a good amount of money for 2-3 hours a day. But soon, we didn’t really have a good plan, and in December I made about $20.
Aiden: We went around and knocked on doors for like 3, 4 hours. And we got one.
Q: Have you made a few changes to your business plan?
John: yes.
Q: how did you keep it going?
Alejandro: I told them to keep going — I just felt like more great things were coming.
Q: Have you changed your marketing plan?
Alejandro: Yeah, we reached about 5,000 people.
Q: When is the next blizzard?
John: January.
Q: How was your January?
Aiden: We had two storms. 1st and 2nd week. The first week I was there, I made about $1,000.
Q: Do you guys make flyers?
Alejandro: Almost just the next door. We have been recommended by many people, including neighbors and friends.
Q: So, January’s second blizzard: how’s it going?
John: almost the same.
Q: And now we’ve had a blast in February, how many houses did you shovel out in February?
Aiden: about 30.
Q: Do you charge per house or does it depend on the size of the job?
Alejandro: it depends. They may have already built the driveway, but we are building the sidewalk. I will charge about $30 for that. They charge about $50 for everything.
Q: Do you only have a shovel or do you have a snow blower?
Aiden: I have a snowblower.
Q: Are all three of you working from home at the same time?
John: yes.
Q: who does what?
Alejandro: Let’s move the snowblower together.
Aiden: In the last photo, Alejandro was on a snowblower.
Q: Do you have a truck that carries a snowblower?
Aiden: yes. I have 4Runner. My dad’s old 4runner. The snowblower fits perfectly.
Q: I think you’re the only one in St. Paul waiting for another blizzard right now.
all: [Smiling] yes.
Q: Approximately how much did you earn this season?
Aiden: $3,500.
Q: So maybe not enough to really cut college costs?
Alejandro: no. But it’s a good way to get involved in the community. For example, you meet really interesting and cool people.
Q: Please tell me about it.
Alejandro: His name is Jason. He’s like an older man. Every time we use the shovel he comes out and talks to us. He’s actually saying he’s interesting.
Q: Now, when you say older man, how old are you?
Alejandro: Probably in the 60’s. He served like an Alaskan Cold War.
Q: what makes him stand out?
Alejandro: he’s just a funny guy. he makes us laugh
Aiden: He will be happy to come out and talk to us.
Q: Have you met and talked with many people?
Alejandro: I met a man named Abraham yesterday. in West St. Paul. he’s pretty cool
Q: Do you have any limits on how far you can go?
Alejandro: Most of our work was in St. Paul or Minneapolis. Many of our jobs are located in Highland Park.
Q: are you trying to do something else?
Alejandro: We are thinking of starting landscaping. You can start with mowing the lawn. It’s easy. But then we were able to build a patio. moving rocks.
Q: do you guys have any experience with that?
Aiden: Slightly.
Alejandro: My father was a construction worker and then an architect. he knows a lot
Q: Were you his hired muscle?
Alejandro: For free.
Q: Are you younger or older? When will you graduate?
Alejandro: We are all new students.
Q: What is your major?
Aiden: business marketing.
Alesi: international business.
John: civil engineering.
Q: Given all this experience, what are your plans for the future?
Aiden: probably start a business. that would be cool.
