dilema w a mulch job- HELP!!!!

[Smallaxe]

You can't allow the h.o. to add even small projects to the job after the bid has been agreed upon...

[32vld]

Originally Posted by LawnPatrolNY

ive also noticed that people haev put comments about typing or spelling, well guess what im typing on the computer and this isnt a proper document so there will be errors and u will just have to deal w it . thanks

Willing to take short cuts and be sloppy here makes us wonder how this carries over into other areas of your life.

Everything one does should be as if you had to sign your named to it.

Who wants to people to say who did that work and ran?


Too hard to take pride in all manners reflects how it is too hard for you to use spell check.

[cpllawncare]

Using proper grammer should just be second nature, it shouldn't take extra effort. I know we're not in a formal environment here, but geez, some of you guys are just wayyyyy off. Age has nothing to do with anything!

[zak406]

Originally Posted by LawnPatrolNY

this part of the post is to greenindustryassociates:

i dont think you read the part that i said "IM JUST STARTING OUT" , and the fact of only having 3 clients as of right now i dont think makes a lot of sense for me to go out and get all the needed paperwork, like i said if it goes good this year and i stick w it next year i will go ahead and do all of those things. right now im using my already owed pickup truck ,my residential 22" push mower my string trimmer and blower, so my cost is very low, basically i just pay for gas, i didnt go out and drop 1000's of $ like people do , im testing the waters to see if this is something i want to do and want to be involved in. i already work 60 hrs a week at an overnight career, and i will not be dropping that either. i understand and respect the fact that people who are in business for lawn care do go out and get the needed paperwork , but for me i think im small enough right now to wait out the paperwork.

as far as bidding $200 plus material... its the 1st job i had to bid on and the guy was looking for a price right there, now i know for future reference to tell the person let me take some measurments and get back to you w a bid or quote... like people said on here.. live n learn if i dont learn from this mistake then theres something wrong .

and i find it funny that i tell ppl first thing that my spelling/grammer isnt good when im just BLOGGING and shooting around ideas/thoughts. but its ok for u to be useing an ipad and have a fat finger and its fine if u make a mistake in spelling/grammer. lol .. well guess wut then, dont use an ipad simple as that


as to everyone else who has posted and not been negative to me thank you very much for your time/support/ideas/advice , bc of some of u i now know how to more properly give a quote or not short myself

I know what your trying to do here however, with the attitude your carrying you will not go anywhere in this business. Your right you only have three yards but as another member stated what happens when you break a window or a door and the 60 dollars you make a week off of your three accounts is lost because it goes to replace a new door??? The other thing is and I know your a newb, your obviously clueless to pricing (which I understand) after years I can still royally **** up a price. However until you get Liscensed, insured, and paying taxes you will never know your true cost. Until you know your true cost you will be working for free at this point it would be better to go and work at burger king (alot less stress trust me). Dont believe me? Thats how this thread was started. I do a good amount of work a year and the one thing you need to understand is time and material is good for 2 situations. The first being a job were you are doing multiple jobs within that job and are on site for a long time. For instance we have a house that I have been there since march 31 of this year. We will be finishing this upcoming week. This is great because this job fills in any spare time in my scheduale. the other time, time and material is good is if you have no clue how to price a job. I usually get per yard of mulch 80-90 dollars ( I aim for that) anything else is extra. Bush trimming, weeding, pruning ex ex. Also if you only have 3 accounts and are only doing a "few" yards of mulch there is no reason to have a helper. I just did a 50 yard job and there were only 3-4 guys on that for a few days.

[LawnPatrolNY]

thank you to everyone who gave me advice, even the ones who non-stop bash me about every little thing. so to clear things up and give an update ...

my pride of work has nothing to do how i type

extra projects that get added on dont scare me , just as long as the homeowner knows " hey this is going to be extra"

cleaning the beds and laying mulch... there was a comment about how long it took me ... yes the beds were a disaster, they were completly overgrown and i had to tear it all out , edge it all up , then lay the mulch... maybe to some it took awhile but i had a time sheet of how long i planned for everything to take when i first started and i was actully ahead of schedule so i was happy

i am no where near most of the people on this site are w my business . my customers are happy and i am as well , i think a little more time in the estimate is well learned here.

i have finished this project and the customer is very very happy, i can see future work for him eventully, just have to make sure like i said to take the time ofr the estimate and plan it out then give the quote, im sure ill be on here asking how much i should charge for something one day .


thanks again everyone