Snow Business, June 2016

THERE IS AN ENERGY ABOUT MIKHAIL EVGRAFOV You can feel it when you talk to him a sense that while hes present with you his mind is constantly churning with ideas and to dos all of which center around taking his company Monster Plowing Company in Toronto Ontario Canada to the next level W ith an entrepreneurial spirit that started with a paper route at 13 Evgrafov has built Monster Plowing into a force to be reckoned with Hes had bumps along the way but his determination hard work and perseverance have helped elevate his company from a 1000 startup to one that topped 15 million in revenue last winter He never quits preaches professionalism and is determined to provide a better life for his team and those in his community Evgrafov gracefully and humbly shares his success with those who helped get him to where he is today a successful business owner in a thriving market and chosen by his peers as the 2017 Snow Business CEO of the Year Shaped by early influences Mikhails family immigrated from Russia to Canada when he was 4 His parents divorced and he watched as his mother a school teacher worked tirelessly to provide for him Struggling to make ends meet Mikhail took on part time jobs to contribute to the household From a paper route to operating a hot dog stand outside a friends deli to opening a computer repair and web design business at the age of 16 Mikhail was charting his own destiny Growing a successful business became my goal and the allure of the stability that could come with success was worth the risks I knew Id have to take he says A rough start Evgrafovs first foray into snow and ice management began with a friend as a business partner a Dodge Durango with 12 SNOW BUSINESS JUNE 2016 www sima org snowbusiness a winch powered snowplow and hastily created flyers Ten customers and a brutal winter later they were able to pay back the loan on the truck and come out a few hundred dollars ahead He spent the summer creating a true business plan that would capitalize on what he saw as deficiencies in the market The result was a portfolio of 150 contracted clients but Mikhail knew he was playing with fire Running a snow removal business at age 20 with no experience no connections and no real clue proved to be extremely difficult he says Luckily it only snowed five times which allowed me the time to learn the ropes and challenges of the industry I learned that I didnt have the equipment the people or the infrastructure to handle what I was building Plus my partner had to step away from the business for personal reasons But I persevered and took the following summer to recuperate and reorganize and Monster Plowing Company was born With half of the revenue value of the contracts he had started with Mikhail delivered thousands of flyers learned to manage payroll and accounts receivables and staffing and equipment Since that first winter of 2010 11 he has developed innovative service solutions and built Monster Plowing into an awardwinning service provider The company now Continued on page 14