I see like 10 different lawn services a day driving around...

[Landscape Poet]

Originally Posted by ben fritz

I have been in business for a month last friday. i will not drop my gate for less then $25 and that's for a very small yard(mow, edge, weed,blow). i dont want 100 yards at $65 a month. My first goal right now is 35 yards at $30 a cut or 30 at $35 a cut. thats $1050 a week. or $4200 a month if there is 4 weeks. My first goal on my business plan.

Ben I would advise you to not try the per cut route going forward. It is standard down here to figure out what you want for the property for the year for the number of cuts you plan on offering and get the customer to pay you monthly all year round. I know you are a little further north but I would think there would still be a demand for service all year round.

I tried the per cut route my first year in business to be disappointed overall with the loyalty and quality of those clients. It is normal to expect a year round monthly fee for lawn service down here especially on St. Augustine.

Bahia is a different breed as well as Zoysia, Bermuda but if potential customers have those type of lawns you need to explain to them that they need to pay the same year round amount because they would be taking your time during that period of year which could be used to care for a St. Augustine lawn which will require year round attention.

Last resort if they don't agree to that and you really want them....then your amount should be equivilent to what you would should make on a account in a year.

[williams lcm]

Do not do it per cut like landscape poet says. I see all the newbies doing it per cut. Just charge a good flat rate (12 timer per year). It is much easier that way. The billing will alawys be the same each month and the customer will always know that each month will be the same. Thats how it works in this state!!!

[Ric]

Originally Posted by williams lcm

Do not do it per cut like landscape poet says. I see all the newbies doing it per cut. Just charge a good flat rate (12 timer per year). It is much easier that way. The billing will alawys be the same each month and the customer will always know that each month will be the same. Thats how it works in this state!!!

Rule of thumb for estimating a Monthly Price in Florida is to Multiply the PER CUT X 3 or 3.5 = the monthly price. We have a Dry & Wet season and cut 4 times a month in the wet and 2 times in the dry. Weather pending we cut 36 to 42 times a year. Lush irrigated lawns are X 3.5 while non Irrigated lawns are X 3.

I am out of touch with Hourly Labor prices, but 10 years ago $ 30.00 a man hour was my pricing factor. 3 men on a job was $ 90 an hour etc. At the time my labor burden was $ 15 an hour. So by the time I ran a truck and trailer load of equipment to a job, I wasn't making a huge profit. However to stay competitive at that time I could not raise my price.

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[ben fritz]

Thanks for the advice, i am going to works towards the year contracts, see us new guys think we know it all but we really dont know sh*t, lol

[ben fritz]

so if its $35 a cut, you take $35 x 3.5 = $122.50 a month x 12=$1,470 for the year contract.

[mjlcare2]

this is how we do it.. price per cut.. x43 cuts per year divided by 12= monthly price.. that is weekly service March-november, biweekly November-april.. depends on how your going to run your company and how many services your going to provide over the year and what kind of service.. bushes trimming etc included? only you can decided at what cost you can provide a service. the only thing I can say is ALWAYS MAKE A PROFIT on any job you do.. that means, pay the expense to do the job, pay yourself, and pay your company.

[Landscape Poet]

Originally Posted by mjlcare2

this is how we do it.. price per cut.. x43 cuts per year divided by 12= monthly price..

That is how I figure mine essentially too. I know others do not plan on cutting weekly till April but that simply would of left most of the lawns looking like Crap with the EOW schedule in March.

Now the good thing is generally your winter visits are going to cost you less as your efforts will be less as everything is not going through spurts like they do during the active growing season, so if you have labor then your cost should go down significantly and in turn your profits should go up too as labor is generally every ones largest expenses.

[justanotherlawnguy]

Originally Posted by Ric

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The established WORD OF MOUTH guys are actually turning down work here in Florida. Sure the economy is bad, but quality always has a demand.


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Amen, I turn down people all the time and haven't advertised in 2 years. Luckily we've been around for 8 years now and have a solid base of customers.
I would hate to be a new lco right now, cause new accounts are in the toilet!!
We're running open to close six days a week as is!
Posted via Mobile Device

[Ric]

Originally Posted by justanotherlawnguy

Amen, I turn down people all the time and haven't advertised in 2 years. Luckily we've been around for 8 years now and have a solid base of customers.
I would hate to be a new lco right now, cause new accounts are in the toilet!!
We're running open to close six days a week as is!
Posted via Mobile Device

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You been on Lawnsite long enough to remember JUST MOW out of Dallas Texas. The short story is I am going after the JUST FIRE ANTS business model now. My target customer is no longer the lush irrigated yard. The Tree Huggers have beat me with all the Rules & regulations on fertilizer. In a way, I am starting a new business targeting non irrigated yards. Sure I still have income from exsisting Fert & Squirt customers, but I am picking up Ant Customers at a fair rate. I am hoping to sell off all my L&O customers by fall. This last 6 months or so have been extremely good.

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[Florida Gardener]

Originally Posted by Ric

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You been on Lawnsite long enough to remember JUST MOW out of Dallas Texas. The short story is I am going after the JUST FIRE ANTS business model now. My target customer is no longer the lush irrigated yard. The Tree Huggers have beat me with all the Rules & regulations on fertilizer. In a way, I am starting a new business targeting non irrigated yards. Sure I still have income from exsisting Fert & Squirt customers, but I am picking up Ant Customers at a fair rate. I am hoping to sell off all my L&O customers by fall. This last 6 months or so have been extremely good.

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Ric

Why would you get rid of good steady cash flow??