what to charge?

[git-r-done]

:hammerhead: just trying to get some pricing on what to charge per 1/4 acre. I know that I have to look for objects in the yard and so on but do you guys have some type of chart. 1/4= 1/2= 3/4= that you go by just in need of alittle help.

[Runner]

??? For what???

[sildoc]

Depends on time it takes. I guess bidding is an art. any one can toss a number out there but can they make money? or do they over bid? The number one thing is to figure out what your fixed operating cost are and a good idea of what your varible operating costs are.
by fixed I mean your truck costs you x insurance x and equiptment x
varible is fuel, supplies, and other things that vary due to the amount of work you are doing.
once you have a good idea on this add what you would like to make per hour.
example. costs =15 (give or take per hour) you would like to make 30 per hour so you charge 45 per hour.
ok now look at
drive time
time at job
time going to dump
time getting supplies
time for maintenance
and other misc.

ok
it takes 20 min for you to do a 1/4 acre lot now add on 5 min drive, 2 min dump, 3 min maintenance and 5 min misc time. this is per job so you are looking at a 20 min job taking 35 so figure you want 45 per hour that bid is going to be 45per hour 35 min 60 min in an hour so 35/60*45=24.23 per mow. Now figure in fudge factors. rain, excessive growth and other. now you are at 25-27 per mow. fill in your rate and get your charge.

OR you can charge 10 bucks like the neighbor kid and have a million accounts and go out of business in a year.
good luck.

[git-r-done]

just mowing and trimming

[git-r-done]

thank you very much sildoc for the help!

[1MajorTom]

Every lawn will be different. One thing to look for is the terrain of the yard. is it flat, or on a slope? Another thing that plays a part is how much trimming there is involved. Trimming will take more time, how many beds will you have to go around, are there trees with low laying branches, is there a trampoline in the yard, swimming pool, etc. Each lawn should be priced accordingly, not just just a flat price for say 1/4 of an acre.

[sildoc]

what jodi said is true. you cant really price by the sqft or acre. I have a 3 acre account that costs less and takes less time than one of my 1/2 acre lots. It takes me 1 hr for the 3 acre open and 1hr25 min for the 1/2 acre. tons of trimming and a pool to clean out when done. after you screw yourself out of a ton of money you will learn the right way. it is experience that you need to make good solid bids. I find in my early years after under bidding I way over bid some accounts that I could have done for half the price. Live and learn. Charge what the market will bare. do quality work and you can charge more. mow and go and get less.

[Myk]

what jodi said is true. you cant really price by the sqft or acre. I have a 3 acre account that costs less and takes less time than one of my 1/2 acre lots. It takes me 1 hr for the 3 acre open.


May I ask how much you charge for that 3 acre open. I gave a bid yesterday for a lady out of town takes about 30 mins to get there from my closes lawn its an open lot 3.1 acres I priced it for $100 every 10 days she about hung up on me when I told her.

[sildoc]

May I ask how much you charge for that 3 acre open. I gave a bid yesterday for a lady out of town takes about 30 mins to get there from my closes lawn its an open lot 3.1 acres I priced it for $100 every 10 days she about hung up on me when I told her.

95 a mow every week from march 15 till oct 31. leaves in fall 3 large oaks pushed to woods and mulch rest. spray fence line trim pump house and side walk. fert 3 times a year. total 375 a month 12 month contract. total 4500 a year. cost 30 a fert 1 hr to mow and trim spend a min or two looking at river and when the salmon are running I end up staying another 2 hrs fishing. great lady and fun to work with. runs her own business and knows what it takes so I think I came out even instead of a person that wants something for nothing.

Now I use a 54" mower so if you are using a larger it will be less time or smaller it will be longer. wide open let it fly.

[Myk]

Thanks sildoc for the info. I would be mowing with a 60'' so it would take less time. I really wanted too open land mowing with a dip in, and million dollar houses around can't beat that.

[sildoc]

Love open land. This turf need some help so I belive I will get aeration in fall with over seeding at a price around 1500. all dirty water irrgation and good irrgation. think next year will take me a bit longer but will have to see. She loves her grass but doesn't want to take the hours to mow it. I love river front props. It seems like it goes faster, just because of the seenery.

[nwlandscaping]

Sildoc, how do you figure those numbers for truck, insurance, and other misc stuff? How do you break it down to a daily cost? For example: would you divide the cost of your insurance for the month by 30(days)? Maybe this doesnt make sense, but it seems rather difficult to break things down to a daily amount.

[sildoc]

Sildoc, how do you figure those numbers for truck, insurance, and other misc stuff? How do you break it down to a daily cost? For example: would you divide the cost of your insurance for the month by 30(days)? Maybe this doesnt make sense, but it seems rather difficult to break things down to a daily amount.

You will never get a exact constant number.
So figure this. truck payment/maintenance/misc. ???(what does it cost you per year) Insurance is a constant x per year, other consistant costs. figure out how much you work per year and get a operating fee for your consistant fee items.
now the more you work it uses more fuel and supplies these are your varible costs.


ok truck maintenance and payment is 200 payment 40 maintenance a month insurance is 800 a year 400 a year for liability. business licenses are 50 a year and other. so figure. 344.16 a month.
figure varible (gona adjust all the time so a good guestamate is in order)
gas per month 500
maintenance 100
misc 400
what ever you have
now figure it is 500 per month so total opperating fee is 844.16 divide by days worked say 20 is 42 per day and 8 hr day is 5 bucks an hour. Now we all know we cant opperate on 5 per hr but there are alot of misc costs in there you have to figure out.
good luck and get the pencil and paper out.