Cold calling seems to work best when starting out. Drive around to some businesses in your area. Get business name, address, and phone number, or look it up in the phone book. Don't go looking for Home Depots, or Walmarts yet. Start with small restaurants, small apartment complexes, small manufacturing companies, or even gas stations, or hotels. Call them and depending on the business, ask for the property manager, operations director, maintenance, or just the person who is in charge of snow plowing. Keep good notes, will help you when looking for landscaping customers! When you get a hold of the contact person, introduce yourself, along with the name of your company, and just ask them if they are looking for a company to handle their snow plowing and/or ice management situations for this winter. Most will say they have someone, they do it themselves, or they are not interested. If they are interested, ask them if you can bid the property, and drop it off and meet them. This shows personable-ism, and initiative. Or ask once you get the bid together, how is the best way to get it to them, fax, mail, or drop off. Dont just call them with a price. Have it printed out. After you drop some bids off, again keeping good notes, follow up with them after a week or so. This shows persistance, but dont do it to the point of harrassment. Everyone will say not to underbid a job just to get it, but you will anyway. I did, most everyone has at some point. If you bid something way too low, and you get the contract, you will feel this account is a burden after the first few snows. Because you will end up getting other accounts too, and the bid-too-low account will be a thorn in your side. I will tell you if this is your first year, and no previous experience, it will be a bit difficult to find someone to give you the experience.
Dont get discouraged, it is alot of legwork, but at some point it pays off. Check with your car insurance company to see if anything in your policy covers any damage if you are plowing. I used that my first part-time year. Also, if you stay with small businesses, they normally dont require large amounts of insurance. If your insurance covers damage while plowing, when doing your calls, let them know you are insured-it helps!! Find out the amount you are covered for, let them know. For more professionalism, when bidding, get a certificate of insurance from insurance company an attach it to the bid. Email me I will give you more assistance. Plowsite is probably the best single source of info out there. Spend time here, do searches, PM users, read as many posts as possible.