Part 3 - Fail Fast and Pivot: Founder Lessons from The Snow King
Written by Taylor Devoe
If you have read Stefano Narducci’s founder profile and his business innovations, you’ll know about Northern Snow and how they have transformed the snow removal industry in northern Ontario. But with every innovation story comes fast fails and roadblocks along the way, especially in periods of rapid growth. It’s the response that makes all of the difference.
In 2025, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (the Soo) received record snowfall amounts. This meant Northern Snow spent way more hours on the road than they estimated (and charged for); this was above and beyond an average snowfall year, which subsequently led to more issues with their equipment and operators quitting due to the long, cold hours. The contracted prices his customers had paid were suddenly not going to cover the bills. According to the contracts, Northern Snow was allowed to seek additional payment from customers for the extra work on such an above average year. It’s a surcharge; or a snow-charge, if you will.
But when they put out the surcharge request, it was not well received by customers. The story spread like wildfire, with a lot of upset customers taking to social media to say so, with some customers wanting to cancel their services entirely. Customers were angry and felt misled (even if their signed contract said otherwise). Stefano and his team were left with little choice but to retract the surcharges, but a lot of the damage was already done and this meant they were losing money fast. Each day that went by, and more snow fell, Northern Snow was falling with it.
As the winter season was nearing its end, the company itself was just two months away from bankruptcy.
“I love this place. I love my customers - they mean everything to me. Everything we do is about them first. Every intention we have, we’re thinking of them first and how we can improve their experience, and how they work with us.”
Stefano admits he was ready to just close up shop, feeling defeated and burnt out. With his dad suddenly having health issues, this stirred something in him to keep going, to not give up and lose everything he has worked for. The Northern Snow team brainstormed what they could do to keep the business alive to face another winter season.
They did what they always try to do - put the customer first - and landed on the idea to run a promotion offering a discounted price for those willing to sign up early for the next season. This promotion ultimately saved the company, and Stefano and his team then turned his attention to flipping the snow removal industry on its head.
“And it’s been the easiest season so far”.
The Sault has had similar amounts of snowfall this winter but with all of the changes and innovations now put in place, he says it’s been the easiest season so far.
Stefano and his team have been through many ups and downs, but they are taking the lessons learned and moving forward. Here’s a few things he would share with aspiring entrepreneurs out there.
An Entrepreneur’s Lessons Learned
Here’s what Stefano tells himself when there are no cameras around.
Volume Negates Luck
When you put in enough hours, you start to eliminate the risk of not accomplishing your goals.
Give It 10 Years
If you have a big goal and want to accomplish big things, give yourself 10 years to consistently work hard at it. By having your expectations be longer term, it eases some of the burden. You need patience, but you also need to be fully committed.
Every Bad Door Leads to a Good One
If you can endure temporary defeat, there will be something outsized waiting for you on the other end. Experience the bad, soak up the lessons, take responsibility, be accountable, learn - and success is waiting for you on the other end.
At just 25 years old, Northern Snow is employing almost 100 people. That’s a big number for any company, but even more so for a company in a small city. He wants to continue increasing their pay, circulating funds back into the city, and fundraising for causes they care about, like this one.
Stefano’s face lit up when he spoke about how grateful he feels that he gets to provide this service for his community, knowing how hard shovelling driveways are in Northern Ontario, and there are a lot of customers who physically can’t do it themselves. He knows if he were to shut down today, his service, particularly the customer experience, could not be easily recreated.
As for someone who lives on a 10 year goal cycle, and we’re in year 6, it will be exciting to see what he has planned over these next few years. If there’s a young Canadian innovator to look out for, I’d suggest we keep our eyes on Stefano Narducci.
