Is this guy a lowballer?

[LFD 1249]

I'm in my first year of business. I had the oppertunity to bid a large seasonal mowing contract, 32 acres total. Mostly wide open, sports fields and common areas. This being my first year my overhead is low ( in my opinion), $15 an hr to meet costs. I bid this job at $35,000 for the year. Now with that said I got beat by a bid for $13,000. I'm a solo operation. I was going to hire a part- time guy to help with this job. Am I over bidding this much? Now I'm second guessing myself on these other bids I have prepared.

Thanks for the help.
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[bdlawncare]

Not really qualified to answer this question... But pretty sure
Your gunna need to add some details to get an accurate answer. Cheers n goodluck!
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[StrokerTurbo7.3]

I would probably do it for about 85k plus fuel expenses.
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[Toro 455]

You're high by the amount it cost to hire a helper.

[ringahding]

When bidding or estimating, you must always figure in where your last account is located. In this case, it is right in front of you! 32 acres? You are attempting to put a $$$$ amount on each acre.

Think about the fact that you 32 jobs @ one acre right in front of you. In other words you do not have to load your equipment 32 times for.

So, you must recalculate each acre accounting for the lack of fuel used to trailer, wear & tear on your trailer & truck, etc.

$15/hr? C'mon man, $40 per hour @ the very least needs to be figured in your calculations. At any and every lawn mowing account.

How long do you think it will take you to mow 32 acres? I mean if this is just you and another worker, you could be there for half a week.

[LFD 1249]

Thanks for the replies. I have a few lawns in this same town. I never really thought about it as 32 different lawns. I'm not saying I charge $15/hr that's just covers my equiptment cost for one mower. I charge an average of $48/hr. but I have a min. of $35. Most of my lawns are anywhere from 2-7 acre. By myself it would take me about 16hrs to mow then another 2 hr to trim the 32 ac. We only average about 28 mows a year in this area. I bid it as follows. If I'm wrong please tell me.

$35000/28= $1250 per service

$1250/32ac. = $39.10 per ac.

$39.10 * 2 ac./ hr = $78.13/hr

Most lco around my area are getting $45-60/hr in my area. Maybe I should change things up alittle to land more jobs? And still make a profit and be able to grow. Thanks again.
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[Wayne 55]

Your putting together this price with ideal conditions. Not too often does anyone work under ideal conditions! Add a wet spring, or any other weather related problems just to start and delay mowing a couple days and you got to double cut. Add other variables to the equation and you will find yourself cutting your own throat. Sometimes its better to let the business loose a job than loose your business to a job. This is the part of job bids that you will learn from. No one can answer this question truthfully but you.

[LFD 1249]

Thanks Wayne 55. I'm not really worried about losing this job. But I've got other bids to submit and in just second guessing myself. I agree with you I'm not going to bid on the work just to have it. If I can't make a profit then it's pointless to have the work. I'm going to submit my bids for next year as they are now. And if I get them then great, if not then I will be happy with what I have already.
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[944own]

Originally Posted by LFD 1249

Thanks Wayne 55. I'm not really worried about losing this job. But I've got other bids to submit and in just second guessing myself. I agree with you I'm not going to bid on the work just to have it. If I can't make a profit then it's pointless to have the work. I'm going to submit my bids for next year as they are now. And if I get them then great, if not then I will be happy with what I have already.
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This is why you or me never get these jobs. You say it is pointless if you cant make money. The big companies will bid this low just to assure the crews have work. If they can sit in the office and make $50 profit they will do it. You or me want to make good money on this type of job. I work with me and 1 helper and I could never be competitive with the big guys price on this. Think about it, they can profit something regardless how small the profit and the guys get the hours. Its win win for them but for you or me it is BS. This is why I mainly just try to stick to residential. good luck and happy holidays

[Patriot Services]

You can't bid acreage as if it were 32 one acre residential yards. There are guys that do commercial acreage for less than 15 dollars per ACRE.
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