Solo operators

[GrassQuester]

Anyone mind sharing what they are making per day gross?

[SamTheLawnMan]

Between $200.00 to $300.00 a day. :weightlifter:

[TLS]

Shoot for $60/hr garage to garage.

[GrassQuester]

Thats alot to shoot for...:dizzy:

[Drew Gemma]

300 a day when I was solo mowing
Now with helper 350-500 most days are 400
Only mow 4 days a week plus every year the route gets tighter

[Cahsking]

Honestly... I work 40hrs at another job. So I get about 3-4 lawns in a day (7-
2:30). At least $40 a lawn is about $120 to $160 for 7.5 hours. Thats for mowing. Not talking about landscaping...now thats different numbers.:cool2:

[TLS]

Thats alot to shoot for...:dizzy:

Not really when you consider most solo small time guys are spending over $200/week in gas alone!

It's time to make people realize it's not the 90's anymore with buck and a quarter a gallon gas!

[GrassQuester]

Cool Im at around 67 yards for $5800 monthly

[GrassQuester]

TLS I have 67 clients in a 4 mile radius:)

[TLS]

TLS I have 67 clients in a 4 mile radius:)

Sounds good. :clapping:

Why the concern of a buck a minute being a lot to shoot for then?

With a tight route like that you should be exceeding that easily.

[cessnasovereign]

I pull in about 800-900 a week but I don't work really hard either. :) And that's off only 25 residential accounts. But if I'm doing my math halfway correct, you're average price per yard is only like $21.00 or am I way off?

(I do suck at math!)

[GrassQuester]

At a buck a minute you would have to have 3 yards lined up perfectly that you could do in 60 minutes at 20 bucks a pop I do have some like that but not the majority......I still have loading time and driving time..even though all 67 are within close range.Are you talking about larger properties you charge more for like 1 acre =$60?

[TLS]

Yes, most of my lawns are larger. But thats not necessary. It's even easier to make money on the small ones. A solo op should have no problem grossing $4-500/day.

[GrassQuester]

LOL $400- 500 day pm me your messenger plz:)

[TLS]

GrassQuester
Years in business:
1

TLS
Years in business:
25

[GrassQuester]

BTW $8250 a month would me hard to do by myself at your equations

[TLS]

Work smarter....not harder.

Your location may not support my pricing structure.

[GrassQuester]

Wrong

GrassQuester 4 years with biz

GrassQuester 12 years working for bigger comany doing only apartments as supervisor.Learned that I could make alot more by myself.....

GrassQuester 2 years of Horticulter

[TLS]

:rolleyes: Great for you. :cool2:

Fix it in your profile.

[GrassQuester]

Then again Never mind you do more than mowing :)

[Full throttle lawn care]

I'm the walking wounded and make 225.00 a week. Keep in mind I only work 1 day and need the other 6 to recover.:weightlifter:

[GrassQuester]

Tls If I was sounding snotty sorry I hate it that people can make more than me lol,I do thank you for your input , after alot of years thinking and thinking and trying to develop the best route possible for my solo self Im trying to find out what peole are making for just mowing not snow plowing etc....

[daveintoledo]

way too many variable, where you live, cost of living, legal operation..

what people SAY they make compared to another has no baring on anyones business.... what do YOU need to make, to clear a profit....
way to many part timers with extra time on there hands....

and having another job doesnt make you a part timer, but only needing to mow a couple days a week...... why the he11 bother.... get a better hobby and let the people who need to support there families work...

[GrassQuester]

Dave in Toledo read my post...It says Gross I dont care where you live I wanted gross :)

[daveintoledo]

Dave in Toledo read my post...It says Gross I dont care where you live I wanted gross :)


gross net, that is imaterial, what people say they make here and really do , are two different things anyway, you will learn that later...

but the statement is valid..

if the starting cost of a lawn in orlando is 25 buck, but the starting price for a lawn in vermont is 40, then it makes a difference..

[GrassQuester]

Yes of course,I dont wanna go into the price of living of all the states lol,Id prefer to grab the the few post that are in the southeastern region of the United States and then base them on what I am making,people that live in the Northern states will of course be of less importance to me.But as people post I will indeed see where they are from by thier signature.

[GrassQuester]

I think I contradicted myself Im off for another beer lol :)

[daveintoledo]

if you dont mind big beers...:drinkup: :usflag:

[martinfan06]

Yes of course,I dont wanna go into the price of living of all the states lol,Id prefer to grab the the few post that are in the southeastern region of the United States and then base them on what I am making,people that live in the Northern states will of course be of less importance to me.But as people post I will indeed see where they are from by thier signature.
grassquester im also from s.east by my math your just about right for this area. As long as most of the 67 are subdivison type lawns 1/2 acre or less? If most are acre + little low.

[sbc1971]

Cool Im at around 67 yards for $5800 monthly
Sounds like less then $22.00 per Lawn? Maybe you meant $8500?

[TLS]

Im trying to find out what peole are making for just mowing not snow plowing etc....

I wasn't referring to snowplowing at all. To hear that hourly rate, you'd need to sit down. :dancing:

The demographics of lawn care average prices has been talked about on here hundreds of times. While certain areas can garner higher prices (mine being one of those areas), I still cant understand why other areas cant. A loaf of bread cost the same in FL as it does in PA. A new truck cost the same in both areas. Same with gas (to an extent), same with mower cost, parts, etc.

Some guys have more overhead than others do, but that should NEVER stop you from charging the MOST that you can for the job at hand. Say your overhead is lower than mine. Same lawn....cost you $13 in expenses to mow, and cost me $23 in expenses to mow. Say I charge $55 to cut it. You should too! By you going in and only charging $45, your leaving money on the table and hurting the industry as a whole. Can you see my point?

[topsites]

Thats alot to shoot for...:dizzy:

I hear you, keep in mind prices change around the country and also it depends how many years you have under your belt.

My first year, I averaged $20 - $25 / hour and maybe 100-150 / day, 500-600 / week.
My second year, $30'ish / hour and 150'ish / day, 700-800 / week or so.
My third year was worse than my second, but 40'ish / hour.
My fourth year, $45 / hour and I broke 300 / day and 1000 / week frequently.
Now in my 5th year, sometimes I catch $60 / hour but not always, but as you can see it gets better with time.

[carcrz]

I average $60 an hour mowing 2 days a week for 14 hours a day or daylight to daybreak, whichever comes first. On the other days, I am doing landscape installs & maintenance, as well as chemical applications on the regular intervals. W/ just mowing I am averaging about $800 a day as a solo operator.

[Sandgropher]

This has been the topic on our local forum this week the results are the average good operator is on about $55000 a year with a few top guns making around $2500 for 4 day week in summer $1500 in winter for 3 days (growth slows to around half on some lawns). these guys $90000+ per year.

The top guns dont have high prices $25-$35 but the whole key to this business they reported was grouping your lawns together which can take 20 yrs or more one guy has a bit over 200 cust with only 26 single stops he some times makes $140 in 1hr and bit just from hopping from small court yard lawns, another guy has all his cust within a 500 metre radius of home (150).

How did they get all these groups they reported they let the quality of the work do the job which lead to refferals (no flyers or door knocking) and of course time lots of time.

Having a quick read it seems TLC knows this is true and the above figures are correct using cylinder mowers ,edgers ,snippers etc summer 10 hr days.

[Sandgropher]

hmmmm just had a quick read TLS seems to be preaching highest possible price, whereas the locals here are saying be reasonable and get the groups, TOP SITES is on the money the longer you do it the more you make hopefully

[TLS]

hmmmm just had a quick read TLS seems to be preaching highest possible price, whereas the locals here are saying be reasonable and get the groups, TOP SITES is on the money the longer you do it the more you make hopefully

This isn't a hobby! Your in this biz for ONE reason! Why leave money on the table? :confused:

[JFizzle]

topsites- as far as increasing your hourly- did you just start charging more or become more efficient or what? are you just mowing or doing other as well? im only in my second year and seem to be about where you were at that point.

[Sandgropher]

This isn't a hobby! Your in this biz for ONE reason! Why leave money on the table? :confused:

This is how i have thought for the last 15 yrs (your way) just changed my mind this week, by charging the going rate and not trying to get top dollar you have a chance to group others around because they talk find out your reasonable and you do a quality job = refferals.

I will now have to adjust my thinking because these guys are making up to $2500 a week , lots more than me, the only problem i have which you know, what happens if it remains a single stop moneys left on the table.

[Sandgropher]

This isn't a hobby! Your in this biz for ONE reason! Why leave money on the table? :confused:

I must apoligize tls i have reread your posts more carefully and can see where you are coming from (charging 45 for 55 lawn) this undermines the whole industry i agree, i am saying if the going rate for your area is $30 charge $30 do not become greedy and charge $40 you may not get many niegbours, let the quality of your work talk , but of course if your schedules about full get a bit greedy if you like because you have the power to walk away, unlike new start ups that are on there knees begging can i please, please do your lawn for little or nothing i beg of you. ha ha

[Freddy_Kruger]

I hear you, keep in mind prices change around the country and also it depends how many years you have under your belt.

My first year, I averaged $20 - $25 / hour and maybe 100-150 / day, 500-600 / week.
My second year, $30'ish / hour and 150'ish / day, 700-800 / week or so.
My third year was worse than my second, but 40'ish / hour.
My fourth year, $45 / hour and I broke 300 / day and 1000 / week frequently.
Now in my 5th year, sometimes I catch $60 / hour but not always, but as you can see it gets better with time.
I'm glad you posted that, I was starting to get a complex. I was grossing (after wages) $60 an hour on my good days but it would go down to $40 sometimes but this was Power Raking. With lawn care in my frist year, I only have these small lawn and with the few bigger lawns I still got the same 21" mowers. I make about $30 gross working by myself. I keep telling myself, I'm learning about the business, soon I will have bigger mowers maybe with those skullies, IT'S GOOD EXERCISE:cry: I need bigger lawns (richer people) and bigger lawn mowers.

I have one customer, I've been doing her snow for 6 years (good money there) I also used her as a customer reference (she really likes me) SHe's a little old lady... Takes me 45 minutes to do her small yard. Its all triming, trees and bird baths and flag stones. When I mow the back yard I can barely go 5 feet with out having to drag back the mower, its too crowded. Then she brings out her little dog so I can pet it, spend 5 minutes talking to her...$15 a cut.:cry:

[Freddy_Kruger]

topsites- as far as increasing your hourly- did you just start charging more or become more efficient or what? are you just mowing or doing other as well? im only in my second year and seem to be about where you were at that point.
I'll bet he did both and then some. I'm going for a 2nd round of advertising and this time I already got 25 customers and a third of them are marginal profit wise. It will be a lot easier to give decent prices because I'm not so paranoid about getting work, I've also learned quite a bit 2 months into my lawn care adventure. Trimming is a B*tch, bigger lawns with no obstuctions rule. Locked gates are a pita. Dog S*** , Hoses and messy yards..

IN window cleaning I can usually recognize problamatic jobs, windows that haven't been cleaned in years, uber clutter inside houses plants etc... all take time. I still screw up, but now I am learning some things about lawn care.

[GrassQuester]

Sounds like less then $22.00 per Lawn? Maybe you meant $8500?
Nope most of my yards are $80 a month witha few at $240.However the ones that are $80 month take me 15 to 20 minutes max.

[PMLAWN]

Never ran a truck solo but with 2 in it I wanted to be at least 800 and tried for 1000 for the day. This is just the maintenance rig. My thought on the solo rig was that you truck costs the same, you insurance costs the same, and many of you fixed overhead cost are the same no matter how much work you do. by having two I could produce more per truck per day. As a solo I think you could get a route to be tight enough and right on pricing after a few years that you could get easy, 400 and even better 5ish.
These are Gross-- not NET.

[sbc1971]

Nope most of my yards are $80 a month witha few at $240.However the ones that are $80 month take me 15 to 20 minutes max.
O.K., Sounds like its working for you.

[M RASCOE&SONS]

:drinkup: i have 65 lawns this year and i can mow them all in 3.5 days as long as we dont have a breakdown but thats 630 am to 7 pm for 3 days and about 6 hrs on the 4th day my wkly gross just in lawn mowing is $3100 per wk,most of the lawns are grouped real good which is key for me to do the route in that short of time and we never skimp on quality .i do have a helper on some days when he shows up but i have found that he only saves me from the half day and that isnt enough time savings to keep him on full time..i remember my first year i wanted to throw in the towel everyday because i wasnt making sh*t for money ,my route was everywhere but i stuck it out and learned by my mistakes ( still learning everyday ) and things are at a point that i could really expand but i dont want the full time help problems because help makes you and they break you so at this point im at the cross road for my growth potential..:drinkup: :usflag:

[Drew Gemma]

with mowing time will increase your hourly profits by gaining more customers you get a tighter route. Plus then you can pick and choose get rid of the ones that don't keep the route tight.
Me
55 man hours per week in mowing right now that includes 5 that get twice a week service until July.

Not exactly sure but it is around 4,900 a month

that equals 22 an hour roughly not good but that means the helper cost with taxes,ins,ss,wc all that still only cost 10.23 an hour. so I actually get around 34.00 an hour I like that better but take all taxes out what do I get not enough. Basically I am saying this charge alot but you gotta produce target weak spots in your route and try and bundle up accounts just hang in their and do a good job then money and work will come your way. I always target ppl who have lawncare service beside my customers if they are scrubs I drop a doorhanger and try to pic it up.

[jlohouston]

one week i am at 800ish and the next week 1500ish..... I have yards from 20 to 100 per cut

[justanotherlawnguy]

Not sure, but at the end of the month it comes to about $5500-6000/month. That does not include any cash that I pick up either.

No I dont kill myself either. Monday and Friday are very light, with Tue, Wed, and Thur are pretty much open to close....

THis year seems to be going alot better than last year. Spending less on gas, Working less, yet making more Benjamins. I am not complaining....