Two Man Maintenance Crew -Daily Gross?

[Smartgene]

Let's say it's me and one employee handling a daily maintenance crew - cutting and edging only. What daily gross should I shoot for? $400? $500? Assuming a ten hour day, $500 seems difficult to achieve.

[bruces]

Originally posted by Smartgene
Let's say it's me and one employee handling a daily maintenance crew - cutting and edging only. What daily gross should I shoot for? $400? $500? Assuming a ten hour day, $500 seems difficult to achieve.

If you are assuming 10 hours of work, $500 should be very attainable for 2 people. If you can't average $25 per man hour you will find it very difficult to make enough money to pay your help a decent wage, cover your overhead, and make a profit for yourself.

In my opinion, you should be aiming for closer to $80 to $100 per hour for a two man crew.

If you are not able to attain the $50 per hour for 2 people, you should review your pricing.

Good luck.

[Smartgene]

Ok. let's say we shoot for $80 per hour for a two man crew.

Residential: Standard lot. I'm not sure what is considered standard 800 sq feet? Standard lot, cut, edge, trim - should take a two man crew how long and should cost the customer how much?

Commercial: Large Condo complex. You want to bring in $80 per hour for your two man crew. How do you price it? How do you know how many hours are involved?

[TGCummings]

Well, hold on here. A 10-hour work day would be 7-8 hours on the job, in most cases. At $40/manhour, you should be shooting for $6-$700/day for a two-man crew. I shoot for $45/manhour and a 7-hour on-the-job day.

Average lawns vary widely. Most folks on LawnSite seem to measure their lawns in terms of acreage (1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, etc.). That's 10,000 or greater square feet on virtually all their properties.

I measured a property yesterday that was 6500 square feet, and if I get the job it'll be the biggest I have currently. My lawns generally fall under 3500 square feet and average between 1500-2000 square feet.

A two man crew should be able to cut a 2000 square foot property (with 21" mowers) in 10-15 minutes. At my standard rate of $18/cut ($72/month since I don't charge per cut, but $18 would be the average price per cut on a 2000 sf lawn) they would gross $72-$108/hour.

There are a lot of variables, however, Gene. :)

I try to avoid commercial jobs, so I'll let someone else field that one...

[Smartgene]

Seems obvious to me that pricing is a major element in this business. There seems like there is such a fine line between growing your customer base (not bidding so high you are constantly turned down) and getting the kind of money you need and deserve. I suspect the pricing factor alone can dictate your level of success and is perhpas one of the major separators of the big guys and the little guys.

[AielLandscaping]

do you know what size most properties in your area are? if you have small properties or are using 21" mowers, i have a formula that will tell you exactly how long it will take to mow the property.. and i'm sure i can make the same work for other size equipment too, i just don't have any way to test it to see if i'm right or not...but once you know how long it will take you to do certain things, you need to know how much you need to make in order to earn a profit. then divide your needed income into your work scedule depending on how many hours you want to work, and that will give you your price... so if you can tell me how much you want to work, how much you want to earn, i can show you how to figure out what you need to charge...

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Way to low shoot for at least a $700 minimum day for 2 men working 8 hours.

That's 20 $35 lawns.

or 10 $70 lawns.

[TGCummings]

Originally posted by LAWNGODFATHER
Way to low shoot for at least a $700 minimum day for 2 men working 8 hours.

That's 20 $35 lawns.

or 10 $70 lawns.

Or about 40 California lawns. ;)

[Doc Pete]

Isn't this still based on where you live. Heck, in New Jersey the price for cutting is different just by which county you live in.
Pete

[BGRANT]

Originally posted by Smartgene
Let's say it's me and one employee handling a daily maintenance crew - cutting and edging only. What daily gross should I shoot for? $400? $500? Assuming a ten hour day, $500 seems difficult to achieve.




I will assume when you say mow and edge you must mean trimming.What I have found in my 2 person crews is that driving time kills you.I organize my
jobs so they are as close as possible.Then I have
a employee that I pay well and trust on the job alone.I drop him off go down the road do my job and come back and go to the next.Take a 35.00 job for instance.With 2 people it might take 40 minutes to do.With one it might take 50 minutes to do that same lawn.If you split up you will get much more from your employee.
Good luck,
Brian from Mi.

[MATTHEW]

You're right about the variables part. Forget the size issue for a minute. If you do a 2000 sq. ft. lot in a posh gated community, you can charge $30, but if its 2000 sq. ft. in the ghetto, you'll be lucky to get $10. Michigan has them all, just like Ohio.

[SLS]

Yes, it is all about location and what the market will bear in that location. Also, keeping all of your accounts in a very small area (reducing drive and gate dropping time) is important.

The longer that you stick with it the more you will be able to "cluster" your accounts...doing 2 or more lawns with a single gate drop. I think this happens faster in older neighborhood where people who are (or reaching) their 'golden years' live. I have a bunch of widows as customers and usually pick up their neighbors as they decline in health or the husband 'passes on'.

In my area $500 for a 2 man crew would be easily attainable...especially if the accounts are 'clustered'. In a 10 hour day (and REALLY hustling!) I can usually pop around $400...all by myself with a 60" Lazer Z. I really love the ones where I can park, unload, whip out 3 or so, and then move on. :D

I have been thinking lately about hiring a helper and increasing my productivity and customer base. I just bought a new TTHP 36" in anticipation of hiring a helper soon. I hate turning down work but I'm so close to being maxed out that if the lawn looks half-way difficult, unsuitable for fast ZTR mowing (very bumpy, lots of obsticles, small gates), and/or they don't want to schedule it for once a week mowing...I just politely turn it down. I HATE to miss the opportunity to turn a buck for lack of time. :(

[Smartgene]

Sounds like business is good in Nashville.
As for location, I stay in the better areas. Not the really super rich areas, but very nice.