production goals

[Old Stone Lawn Care]

Hey guy's I new to this forum..Just found it today.Here's my ? What would you expect a crew to do in one day of mowing for $$
You can break it down these ways
1. 1 man crew doing res.
2. 2 man crew doing res.
3 3. man crew doing res.
4 3 man crew doing com.

In the past few years i have found that the most profitalbe mowing for res was 2 men and commerical was 3 man crews what do you all think?

[kutnkru]

I think there are several important factors that you must compare so its not apples to oranges but oranges to oranges.

mentality of employee -- training -- skills -- education -- age -- weight

I do not feel that sex is an issue because there are several high end operations run by women in our area.

[Old Stone Lawn Care]

I am talking about your spefic company

[LoneStarLawn]

I have found out that 3 men res. is most profitable (It's alot more efficient)

[kutnkru]

From the company we use only 2 men operations for residential and 3 for commercial.

The only times we beef up labor on our Grounds Crew is in the early spring when renovations have to be done the same time mowing operations have commenced.

Then again in the fall for leaf removal.
We have rarely used more than three men per crew at either time though.

Sorry about the confusion
kris

[kutnkru]

I estimate each residential 2 man crew should gross $1300 for every 8 hrs. of mowing production (+) trimming/edging operations.

Hope this helps.
kris

[LoneStarLawn]

kutnkru...so you are saying that your 2 man crew is doing about 5.5 residential lawns at $30 each every hour...so approxiamtely 43 to 44 yards a day...is my math right?

[lawrence stone]

Boy Kris that's big numbers for working out of Elmira or Johnson City.

Are all your customers clueless geeks who work for IBM or Singer Link that have money to burn?

[tazman]

I think a 2 man crew for Res. should produce $500-$700/day depending on the size of the properties. For commercial with 3 man crew $700-$1200/day. My formula is I want to gross $800-$1000 a day to meet my monthy and year end sales goal. Once those goals are achieved, then a new $ amount is calculated to get to the next $ goal. Somebody on this web site once said a 3 man crew should generate $20k a month in business. I believe that is true because my guys are close in doing that. This boils all down to what do you want your business to do and how hard do you want to work to achieve it. I have seen a lot of lazy landscape crews that I wouldn't hire because they would hinder me in reaching my $ goals.

[Richard Martin]

The amount of money earned differs from company to company and area to area. There really are too many variables to consider in order to answer your question with any degree of accuracy. These variables include distance between jobs, equiptment, is the company in question concerned with quantity or quality?, type of turf, growing characteristics, weather etc..

[bdemir]

wow kris thats bank money. Youre doing it right if those figures are true. More power to ya.


Bedros

[goose]

We try to make about $1300 a in an 8 hour schedule for a 3 man crew.Thats a good average , somedays more some days less.

[kutnkru]

Our figures are based on quality not quantity. Being in the business for 5 years I have been able to show our clientele that just like everything else, you get what you pay for.

Our clients are paying for knowledge, expertise, and piece of mind. The question was profitability and what We strive for. Im not out here to brag or look pompous, but at 30 yrs old im not about to mow over 300 lawns for $2000 a week.

I have tried to stress several times We as an association of green turf professionals need to sell Value not Volume.

Kris

[RYAN]

hey kutnkru and goose:


I was just wondering what type of equipment you guys are using to get these numbers.

[Groundcover Solutions]

I use 3 men crews for every thing!!!

[kutnkru]

Reviewing my statement I see the confusion. The $1300 is for open area homes 20/m sf or larger.

2 man crew with the following equipment.

72" 3 wheel rider
52" walk behind hydro with rocket wheels
48" walk behind hydro with rocket wheels

Most properties are maintained using the 52 on the front lawn and the 72 out back. We also mow with virtually no overlap.

I cannot tell you the number of crews out there where after a 48" deck was used it looks like the lawn was cut with a 36.

Kris

[LoneStarLawn]

That makes more sense KutnKru...wish we had accounts that large.

[KindGardener]

I must be in an area where competition is unbelievable!

I average 60 accts/week - gross less than $2000/wk. And have lost a few accts recently to price! There are LOTS of guys around here with an old pickup, a toro, a weedo, & a blower - and owners who don't really care about a sharp blade.

I guess I've g to really learn how to identify that NICHE y'all are talking about & grow it!

[bdemir]

Kind gardener,

You get paid with surf and sunshine and the beutiful beach boy tunes on the radio in beutiful southern Cailfornia. This is why you are not making big bucks. You cant live in a nice place like that and make what the guys in middle of the U.S. make. Would you like to relocate to the great plains or the boring middle or the freezing north. Well if i had a choice i would catch those big mama waves and keep the california spirit high my man. I can just hear the surf tunes as i cruise from newport to huntington and back down to laguna beach. Wow



Bedros

[lawrence stone]

Now Will take that $2k and run it through a cost of living calculator.

If you compare the cost of living in the biggest town in my area Wilkes-Barre to Huntington Beach it cost TWICE as much for basic living expenses.

So in conclusion you have to work twice as hard as I do so just to survive. Plus our pricing levels are higher than yours. There is very little competition in my area for we don't have millions who just got off the boat who are used to and willing to work for next to nothing.


http://www.homefair.com/calc/salcalc.html?NETSCAPE_LIVEWIRE.src=moneymag