Bidding help

[anewinc]

Hi everybody;

I am about to bid for a Hospital Job (33 acres) mowing, trimming, blowing in PA. I would appreciate any help in pricing, equipment etc. You may e-mail me at gyazici@earthlink.net. Happy labor day!

[Guido]

Theres normally no private consulting. It sounds liek you don't have the equipment for this job. Are you sure your ready for 33 acres??

If there is a reason you don't want to discuss it publically here, you can e-mail me and I'll try to help, but you will be better off posting questions here for all to see and reply to.

Good Luck!

[Evan528]

Where in PA?

[kutnkru]

Have you measured the size of the property. In order for us to give you acurate pricing we will need to know what size mowers you have or plan to buy.

If you will give us the total turf area to be maintained with trim mowers(21")/deck mowers(36-60")/and wide area mowers(72" +) we can give you a price.

If you give us the linear footage of string trimming(turf/bed/fencing) and the linear footage of edging we can give you a price.

If you submit these specs to us and let us know the degree of difficulty for each, we can give you a price.

What are the factors that you will have to deal with in order to keep the grounds professionally maintained: debris/trash removal, lot sweeping/blowing, bed weeding, mulching, etc.

Hope this helps you know where your homework begins.
Kris

[Guido]

I KNOW MY CAPS LOCKS IS ON, ITS BECAUSE I'M SHOUTING!!!! :angry:

I, and imagine some others, don't like this scene. Someone finds this site, figures we can solve all their problems for free without them participating at all, and has the nerve to just leave his e-mail and not check back here to the thread.

Please, Please, Please, and I know its been said before. Check back with the threads that you participate in, especially the ones you start!!!!!

Just had to vent, a little pet peave I'm developing!! :)

[Fantasy Lawns]

I'd charge em the average cost of a heart transplant $150K ;->

[cp]

Must not want to let any secrets out since he ain't checked in.:(

Eric, I wonder if ???????;)

[JimLewis]

I don't know the situation well enough to answer this. Furthermore, I stay away from large commercial because it's not nearly as profitable in my area.

That being said, I have to agree with Guido in questioning whether you are ready to take on such a big job. In my experience I've learned that if a job is so big I need help bidding it and don't have the equipment to do it - it's probably something I shouldn't be bidding on. When I have ignored this advice I've always ended up regretting it.

I have learned to take small steps in this business. Nowadays I never bid out a landscaping installation, irrigaiton job, or maintenance account if it's vastly larger than anything I've ever done before. I'll allow myself to stretch the envelope a little - that's how you learn. But going too large too quick is almost always a bad idea.

Just my 2 cents.

[SLS]

I recommend that you use a 21" pushmower and charge them $15 to $20 dollars.

This seems to be the way most people are starting out these days.

Good Luck! :D

[John from OH]

I'm with Jim on this one. If you do not know how to bid a large job, you are probably not in a position to take the work on.

That said, bid it like you bid a small job, only its larger. The procedure is not any different, just the size of the property.

[Runner]

Is this a 33 acre complex, or is it 33 acres of actual turf? That seems like quite a bit for a hospital. How much other work do you have? Are you just starting out recently? Do you have, and will you have enough other work to support yourself without this job? See, one problem is, is that with a job this size, if something goes wrong, and you lose this account, (to some administrators nephew, even) you lose about everything. I think that's refered to as "putting all your eggs in one basket." I would gather that you PROBably don't have a whole lot of larger acre properties on your roster, by the way the question was stated and the vagueness involved. THat's O.K. though!!! We all start somewhere! Start off a little smaller, and grow as you go! Anyway, welcome to Lawnsite, and I'm sure you'll find this site MORE than valuable to yourself. Good luck with it!

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Guys I think he went out boating for Labor Day and got lost, or didn't want to come back!

If you have to ask us for help bidding a property, then I think it is out of you reach, or out of you spetrum of service you provide. Meaning too BIG. No offence.

LGF:blob1:

[wallzwallz]

Is there any sharks in PA?.... I f you can't come up w/ a ballpark figure w/out help it's probably too big

[KDJ]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by guido
[B]I KNOW MY CAPS LOCKS IS ON, ITS BECAUSE I'M SHOUTING!!!! :angry:

I, and imagine some others, don't like this scene. Someone finds this site, figures we can solve all their problems for free without them participating at all, and has the nerve to just leave his e-mail and not check back here to the thread.

Please, Please, Please, and I know its been said before. Check back with the threads that you participate in, especially the ones you start!!!!!

Take a look at this!!! Are we having a bad day????? Gee it is his first post (1) and you hamer on him then wonder why he doesn't reply back LOL!!!!

[anewinc]

Hello everyone;

Many thanks to those who replied my question. I apologize for my delayed reply. I wish I went to a boat trip for the Labor Day however I was busy with the arrangements for the funeral of my father who passed away on Sunday unexpectedly.

Anyway, I have to admit that I have never bid for a property this big, I do mostly residential jobs and the biggest property that I have been mowing is 3 acres, therefore, I was not sure how to bid on a property that big. By the way bids are open to anyone who is interested and no secrets about it, for those who are in Philadelphia/PA area, if you contact me I can give you the details of the mentioned contract bid, so you can bid as well.

This is not an actual 33 acres turf area, actual turf area is approximately 10 acres to be mowed plus trimming around the trees and fire hydrants ( 17 fire hydrants). I am still learning like anybody else and doing my homework as I need. And this site is great for this purpose.

Gary

[lawrence stone]

Some of you guys might want to try a little salt or steak sauce with your crow.

[AltaLawnCare]

Originally posted by lawrence stone
Some of you guys might want to try a little salt or steak sauce with your crow.

LOL
LOL

Stoned again !

Gary, break it down into smaller areas, and add it all together, for a ball park price, and work from that.

[anewinc]

Thanks Billy, I think that is the logic I was looking for.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Sorry to hear that Gary, my condolences to you.

BTW welcome to LawnSite.com

What was that blip between anewinc and AltaLawnCare? Was that Stone? Welcome back Mr. Stone! Does this mean the boycott is over.

LGF:blob1:

[kutnkru]

Gary

Seeing that you are not going to be cutting the pedestrian/vehicular surfaces and you currently are familar with 3 acre sites you've already got your ballpark figure!

You can figure out how long you think it will take to do the edging/trimming, and blowing off the debris. Then add this to 3.5 (x's) what you get for a 3 acre residential site.

Not as tough as you thought.
Kris