What do you guys charge for labor in a B&B?

[andyslawncare]

I have a good formula for planting, but I don't have a firm number on my B&B plants still...

What do you guys get?


Planting Formula
Step 1:
Double price when under $30.00
Multiply price by 1.5 between $30.01 and $99.99
Multiply price by 1.25 between $100 and $300
Over $300 requires further profit consideration

Step 2:
Add $??? For B&B?
Add $3.00/gallon for 15 gallon
Add $2.75/gallon over 15 gallon
Add $3.10/gallon for 10 gallon
Add $3.25/gallon for 7 gallon
Add $3.50/gallon for 5 gallon
Add $3.75/gallon for 3 gallon
Add $3.90/gallon for 2 gallon
Add $4.00/gallon for 1 gallon

Step 3:
Add delivery
$0.80 per mile from the farm, or farm delivery.

Step 4:
Total price = step 1+2+3

[alexschultz1]

Amazing job on the price list I'm stealing this one from you.
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[muddywater]

Too many variables. How far are bnbs staged from area to be planted? How big rootball? 20" 34" 48"? Do they need to be staked? Is it 5 bnbs or 150 bnbs?
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[Summit L & D]

Here's what you pricing structure should look like:

• Hourly cost to run your company (all labor and overhead costs)
• Material costs
• Delivery charges
• Fuel costs
• Machinery charges
• Profit

You have to look at each job individually. Blanket pricing will only be effective if the numbers magically align according to the formula I listed above. Some jobs you'll be cheap on, others you'll price yourself right out of the market. You have to know your exact costs in order to make well informed proposals.

[andyslawncare]

Originally Posted by Summit L & D

Here's what you pricing structure should look like:

• Hourly cost to run your company (all labor and overhead costs)
• Material costs
• Delivery charges
• Fuel costs
• Machinery charges
• Profit

You have to look at each job individually. Blanket pricing will only be effective if the numbers magically align according to the formula I listed above. Some jobs you'll be cheap on, others you'll price yourself right out of the market. You have to know your exact costs in order to make well informed proposals.

I know my overhead, labor, and equipment... My formula works well and results in profit without complicating my office work. I have a general labor formula also, but want to keep my plant material in a group easy to bid quickly. My plant, maintenance, sod, and chemical formulas are all programed in my graphicing calculator, and the ELMOSCP formula has not been programed yet.

[Summit L & D]

Are you sure?

[muddywater]

My price would be different for 100 3 gallons and 700 3 gallons.
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[Summit L & D]

Originally Posted by andyslawncare

You guys are not helpful at all. I know my price, but I'm comparing to the market. I know when I'm too high or too low, and when to adjust. I'm not a dumba$$ and I make profit. Formulas are used as a guideline, and it usually works in my favor.

To be fair.... You are the one listing your age in your signature line.... I'd venture to say that everyone on here that has suggested a pricing structure based on individual jobs....might....just MAYBE have a little more experience and a clue about what they are talking about...

I've been in business over 12 years, and I used to use the blanket pricing method. Come to think about it...I switched when I was about your age. People suggested that I start bidding on an individual basis. We've tripled in size since the switch.

To each his own. You'll probably be fine, if your final price is not as reflective of your blanket pricing, but rather tied more closely to what you feel the market will bear...just make sure you're not in a race to the bottom with your competition.

[JimLewis]

My response to the O.P.;

I guess that algorithm you created could work. Kinda an odd way to do it, though. I bid planting jobs like this:

1. Plants & Trees (marked up 20-25%)
2. Soil needed for planting
3. Planting fertilizer bags needed for planting
4. Total labor needed to install all of the plants (where our labor rate includes labor burden, business expenses, profit, and any inflation that we can add in there just because we can)

That keeps it simple. Every plant gets marked up just a standard flat rate (and I already buy them for WAY less than the client can get them for. So a 25% markup ends up STILL being cheaper than they can buy those plants from. But it allows me a nice extra bonus.

I don't think you have to get any more creative than that. Just know your production times so you can get the labor part right. The rest is friggin easy!!! It's basically Materials + Labor = Price. Simple

[Executive Landscape]

All areas are different as far as pricing goes but if you choose to use a standard mark up somewhere in the neighborhood of 3x cost of materials will work well for most installs. 1x for cost, 1x for labor, 1x for profit...common sense will have to take over for extreme situations, for example, if you are only planting 5 plants(we have much higher job minimums) that cost $10 each, $100 is not enough to charge to deliver and install them. On the flip side, if you are doing a $100,000 install you will probably move your multiplier to 2.75 or 2.5 depending on what portion of the work is planting.
With that being said its always better to know what your labor rate is per man hour with overhead factored in, pricing each job specific to cost vs profit for that specific job will take more time but net better results and give you guidelines in which the job should be done like total man hours etc...