how do you figure out how much you need to make an hour

[gmcplowtruck]

i hear you guys talk about knowing how much you need to make an hour so maybe you guys can help me this is what i have it is all newer stuff

$32,000 dump truck
$72oo z
$8700 walker
$2500 trailer
$900 aerater
$700 truck loader
and about $3000 in trimmers blowers and tools
now this is just the newer stuff i own i didnt list the older stuff being its paid off

can you guys please help me try to find out what i need to make an hour i think im doing good but want to see what you guys say

[thefed]

a lot.........

[Grass Kickin]

If a lawyer charges a bare minimum of 100.00 for a consultation, I think you can get about 50 to 60 dollars an hour for most work outside your basic laen maintenance.

[kieferslawn]

I think it all depends on the area. Around here for basic labor its around $35-$45 p/hour. You have to add in insurance, wear and tear on vehicles/equipment, gas, and the list goes on. My labor rates also depend on what type of labor it is. The harder the labor the more I'm gonna charge. I never tell my labor rates to my customers either. Some will flip out if you tell them how much your charging p/hour. Many people think us lawn guys are out here basically doin charity work. Definately not the case for me! I just turned 22 myself. How long have you been in the business?

[gmcplowtruck]

i've been in buisness since i was 14 so 7 years

[J&P landmasters]

I feel like I'm losing some money if I hire another helper, but I also can't stand stand turning down jobs because I can't handle it on my own...how many guys do you all have? do you pay insurance for them?

[J&P landmasters]

I forgot to mention that I'm also pretty young-25yrs. Have been in the business for 5. I want to buy another truck next month and expand. Everythings paid off except my new trailer-not too bad. Was losing money plowing...

[ed2hess]

It all depends on how much you think the business should pay you for you work. Were you satisfied at the end of the year with the wad of money left after all the bills were paid? If the answer is no then I quess you better look at cutting expenses or increasing prices, or lowering you salary.

[kieferslawn]

Yeah i've been in business since i was 14 also. I was around 35-45 lawns through high school. Didn't know what i wanted to do my life at the time and I couldn't take on too much going to school full time. I made the decision to make this my career because i couldn't go work for anyone, so the last year or two i've been busting my butt and now i'm well over 100 acounts with quite a few commercial including a school district. With the equipment you have it seems like your doing well yourself. Do you have any pics of your dump truck? A 1-ton dump is next on my list, probably sometime this year. I just posted a few pics of my trucks if ya wanna take a look.

[gmcplowtruck]

ill try to take a few of my truck and get them on

[sildoc]

A simple way is to look at your last few years. What did you spend on business costs (fuel, insurance, payments, repairs, payroll and so on.) Then add in what you need to pay your personal bills. add in 3% for cost of living and another 10% for unforseen growth and major problems.
This is your cost of doing business. Now figure out how many hours a year you work and this is your cost per hour. I always like to fudge a litte and add 2-5 dollars per hour just in case. In the end it either makes for a banner year or covers something you didn't forsee.

right now my operating costs are just under 17 per hour. add that I want a min of 35 per hour for my self and 10 for retirement it comes out to 62 per hour that I need to make.

The 17 per hour is a very educated guess as if I work more and have no break downs it lowers some or if I have major problems it goes up. It is the unforseen that you can only guess at to add in.
Everyones cost are different. You need to figure out what yours are. Talking to an accountant can help and will open your eyes on what you are really making.

[Green Thumb]

Tell me how to add a excell spread sheet and I'll send you my copy. Then you can add your costs in. I made mine up from January's issue of Pro Magazine.
Page 32. When I was done my Fixed costs (Equipment) were $44.21 per day or
$6.32 per hour. Your variable costs depend on allot of misc. items as mentioned
above. My variable costs account for about $10 per hour and go's up depending
on how many accounts you have. This does not include any labor so if you want $40 per hour for yourself you must charge approx. $56.32 per hour.
If you have one employee start adding?

[Duekster]

A simple way is to look at your last few years. What did you spend on business costs (fuel, insurance, payments, repairs, payroll and so on.) Then add in what you need to pay your personal bills. add in 3% for cost of living and another 10% for unforseen growth and major problems.
This is your cost of doing business. Now figure out how many hours a year you work and this is your cost per hour. I always like to fudge a litte and add 2-5 dollars per hour just in case. In the end it either makes for a banner year or covers something you didn't forsee.

right now my operating costs are just under 17 per hour. add that I want a min of 35 per hour for my self and 10 for retirement it comes out to 62 per hour that I need to make.

The 17 per hour is a very educated guess as if I work more and have no break downs it lowers some or if I have major problems it goes up. It is the unforseen that you can only guess at to add in.
Everyones cost are different. You need to figure out what yours are. Talking to an accountant can help and will open your eyes on what you are really making.

I separate equipment cost from Labor cost.


Example =

$8.00 Helper
$10.00 labor
$14.00 Forman

= $32.00 X 1.45 ( Suta, Futa, WC, GL, SSI, Sick days, Vacation, Uniforms)

=$46.00 per hour

EQ $ this depends on the EQ being used. How much is the average rig? 50K is pretty low end -

Lets just call it $8.00 hour, then add interest, gas, oil, tires, repairs, down time, insurance.

I would say $20.00 is a save bet.

So now we have $66.00 per hour. This is your cost.

What about phone, Rent, electric, dump fees,

I would be surprised if anyone can charge less than $100.00 hour for a 3 man crew or $35.00 per man hour (based upon a 2 or 3 man crew).:drinkup:

[LB1234]

A very basic method is to figure out all of your fixed/operating costs and tally them up. Then divide by the number of hours worked in a year. Say your operating costs are 50k for the year. Divide that by 2080 (I think thats a 40 hour workweek) to obtain the minimum you need to charge to 'break-even'. So in my example its roughly $24 per hour.

Now you need factor/budget for capital expenses (i.e. equipment purchases, loans, etc.) and variable expenses. Variable expenses may be items like fuel, job materials, etc. This can make it a little tricky since you are really guessing...the more accurate you are in guessing the more accurate you will be in your profit margin.

What I did, and it took a little more time is figured out my operating expense over 9 months. I then have an spreadsheet which lays out all of the services we provide and I figured out what the particular operating/variable costs of those services were. Things like pesticide application, lawn maintenance, snow plowing, etc. Based on the two numbers I come up with a particular price for each of my services.

Best of all I factor all my fixed costs of snow plowing into the 9 months of landscaping/lawn care..things like insurance, equipment maintenance, etc. That way I don't have to rely on snow storms in the winter to stay alive.

Hope this helps...