Estimate ettiqute

[oceanpotion]

etiquette

Ok guys, I gave someone an estimate on a job for X amount of dollars. After getting a few opinions from different helpers, I have come to the conclusion that my estimate may be alot on the low side. Im thinking the best thing to do is to hire a professional for a written estimate and then compare. The question is how should I present the change in estimate to my client, if there is any?

[Greenscapes, LLC]

suck it up and do the job, this is how we learn. how bad is the estimate off you think?

[bigcountry01]

yeah i say just go ahead and do the job. you might make very little or no money but thats how we all learn. do a good job and next time chances are they will ask you to come back, they'll also tell their friends about you and when they call you be a little more careful about the estimate. good luck

[IowaLawnEnforcement]

This is how you do estimates in the future. When you meet with the customer you tell them you cant give an exact cost untill you have got into the job and see what it involves, but the cost wont be anymore than an inflated amount. Then once you get in there and see what it is going to take then you tell them a cost cheaper than the inflated amount and they feel like you gave them a deal and a good price for the service you provided:cool2: .

It takes a bit of creativity and salemanship to pull off this type of approach, but once you get the hang of it you will find that you are making the money you deserve.

[bladelawn]

Yeah, the best way to do it is by trial and error. I have thought about calling in another service just to see what they would bid, but that can get tricky. I found the best way to do it is by formula. Figure out your costs, so say it will cost you $10 in gas to do this job. Then, figure in how much you want to get paid per hour, say $10. If you estimate the job to take two hours, then you bid $30 ($10 gas, $10x2 per hour) and maybe add in a couple bucks to cover overhead, unforseen repairs, etc.

[daveintoledo]

Yeah, the best way to do it is by trial and error. I have thought about calling in another service just to see what they would bid, but that can get tricky. I found the best way to do it is by formula. Figure out your costs, so say it will cost you $10 in gas to do this job. Then, figure in how much you want to get paid per hour, say $10. If you estimate the job to take two hours, then you bid $30 ($10 gas, $10x2 per hour) and maybe add in a couple bucks to cover overhead, unforseen repairs, etc.


two hours... 30.00???????????????? you are SERIOUSLY under priced..... this sounds just like inexperienced lowballing..... just because they dont know any better

gas plus hourly wage, what about insurance, vehicle payments , equipment payments, (and you cant say its payed for) thats not how a business works.... you have to put the money towards replacement equipment..... workers comp, phones, and on and on...

you have to understand your true cost of business to decide what to charge....

and as far as calling a professional to see what they charge, YOU are supposed to be a professional....

if you have a business plan this should be pretty easy, if you dont, well.....

[daveintoledo]

etiquette

Ok guys, I gave someone an estimate on a job for X amount of dollars. After getting a few opinions from different helpers, I have come to the conclusion that my estimate may be alot on the low side. Im thinking the best thing to do is to hire a professional for a written estimate and then compare. The question is how should I present the change in estimate to my client, if there is any?

you have been in busines for 4 years and you are asking your helpers what to charge????

[bladelawn]

two hours... 30.00???????????????? you are SERIOUSLY under priced..... this sounds just like inexperienced lowballing..... just because they dont know any better

gas plus hourly wage, what about insurance, vehicle payments , equipment payments, (and you cant say its payed for) thats not how a business works.... you have to put the money towards replacement equipment..... workers comp, phones, and on and on...



Yes, if this were a real bid it would be lowballing. However, this was an example. I used small amounts to simplify it. Sheesh.

[Clear-Cut]

^ haha..right...jump right down your throught for giving a little example

[bladelawn]

no kidding...no hard feelings tho.

[prizeprop]

Talk to other people in the industry when you run across them, at the mower shop, Trade shows,coffee shop etc. They will give you some basic information once you establish a relationship with them. Most of what we learn is through trial and error and years of defeats and successes. DON'T WASTE ANOTHER CONTRACTORS TIME by getting him to do an estimate on your property, if thats what you meant. And while I'm at it, Thats one thing I dont like about this site is people giving away there contracts, customer letters and other written material that might have took someone years to perfect. Sit down and put some effort into writing documents or contracts and edit them through experience. After years in the business, I bought some of the material from Sean to see if I could improve on my own. Alot of us didnt have the intenet when we first started out in this business and we succeded through time and effort. You might lose some money on this account for under pricing it, but if you learn from the experience you didnt fail!

[daveintoledo]

Yes, if this were a real bid it would be lowballing. However, this was an example. I used small amounts to simplify it. Sheesh.

you see, i have seen those types of numbers here before and they where dead serious, thats why i asked if you where serious or not.... and others who arent that knowledgable may think that is what you really ment, not just a stripped down example....thanks....:)

[Greenscapes, LLC]

great post lawnenforcement.

[daveintoledo]

This is how you do estimates in the future. When you meet with the customer you tell them you cant give an exact cost untill you have got into the job and see what it involves, but the cost wont be anymore than an inflated amount. Then once you get in there and see what it is going to take then you tell them a cost cheaper than the inflated amount and they feel like you gave them a deal and a good price for the service you provided:cool2: .
.

as a professional you should be able to give an exact quote after inspecting the property,..... i would think that the customer will find that approach kind of unexperienced...

just my opinion....

[bladelawn]

I pretty much agree with mr. toledo above. However, if you are new and dont have the creativity or knowledge to bid right away, you can always try. after all, experimenting is how we all got here in the first place.

[Mowgli]

This is how you do estimates in the future. When you meet with the customer you tell them you cant give an exact cost untill you have got into the job and see what it involves, but the cost wont be anymore than an inflated amount. Then once you get in there and see what it is going to take then you tell them a cost cheaper than the inflated amount and they feel like you gave them a deal and a good price for the service you provided:cool2: .

It takes a bit of creativity and salemanship to pull off this type of approach, but once you get the hang of it you will find that you are making the money you deserve.

If ANYONE gave me an estimate this way , I will never hire him.
Like daveintoledo said "customer will find that approach kind of unexperienced..."

[daveintoledo]

I pretty much agree with mr. toledo above. However, if you are new and dont have the creativity or knowledge to bid right away, you can always try. after all, experimenting is how we all got here in the first place.

you make some mistakes and learn from them, no other way really..... just what ever you think it cost, go a little higher, when your new, you almost never charge enough

[wowmowwow]

i got laughed at over the phone for a quote i gave this past fall. i think i smiled as much as she did. she wanted an eroded half acre mowed,on a hill. it hadnt been mowed in at least two years. there was a big pine tree she wanted cut up and hualed off that was in the middle of the yard. i told her 250 for the tree and 150 for the mow....lol, i dunno... at any rate another guy told her 150 for the tree and 75 for hte mow. my hats off to him for that job but i really didnt want it so i made sure to go sky high on the Quote.

point being go ahead and get your laughs while your young in the biz

[oceanpotion]

I called her today and told her the quote I got from a very high end company and told her I could meet her half way, all apologies, blah blah. She said that she re-read her letter from the city and the project wasnt as big of a priority as she had initially interpreted. Anyways, she is easy going and said to proceed with the lawn and she will get back to me about the project... I kinda hope she doesnt bother, but whatever

Ive already learned a bunch about my capabilities and my resources from this experience. First off, thanks to everybody for the thought food. The "high end" company I had to do the estimate was the son of the owner of a lawn/landscape/tree service that has been in my area since 1961. I met him fishing one night. He argeed to do the estimate if I would help him with his boat trailer, sweet deal, huh?

Anyways, he looked everything over and said that unless I was super hungry not to even cut that grade of yard. Secondly, he told my I was quite underpriced for my mowing. Anyways, Im definitely still feeling everything out so thanks again for helping me brainstorm guys :drinkup:

[echeandia]

... this sounds just like inexperienced lowballing ...

It's better than an experienced lowballer.

[daveintoledo]

It's better than an experienced lowballer.

doesnt matter the damage gets done

[Big Bad Bob]

Yes, if this were a real bid it would be lowballing. However, this was an example. I used small amounts to simplify it. Sheesh.

simplifying it would be using real numbers. your $10 per hour example was a lowballing amount. and your whole premise of adding "in a couple bucks to cover overhead, unforseen repairs, etc." was unrealistic and too simplistic. dave said it right.

[Big Bad Bob]

I pretty much agree with mr. toledo above. However, if you are new and dont have the creativity or knowledge to bid right away, you can always try. after all, experimenting is how we all got here in the first place.

i learned by making a couple of bone head lowballing mistakes myself. just don't be like the beer money bubbas. learn from you mistakes. :waving:
oh, and read and absorb all you can from this list. best resource there is. you just have to learn who to listen to and who to ignore.
you need to know how much it costs you to do business and how much you need to gross to make a decent living. that takes time and work.

[bladelawn]

sorry for trying to make it into something easily understandable...didnt know there was a rule about that...I think he got the idea and that was the goal of my post.