I have decided to start charging my customers a gas surcharge on top of there normal bill. I have thought about charging a flat fee of $4 to 6 dollars a month or $1 to 2 dollars per visit. Any thoughts?????
This is what I did. Just raised everyone from 10-50% this year. Explained to them that gas, steel, fertilizer, it's all taking a huge jump.WhohasHelios? said:I am considering the same thing, I think I will do one or two percent of the bill however.
Either that or I might up my labour rate a bit to counteract higher pump prices. That way I am just charging out at XX per hour as opposed to adding an additional charge that people may not respond well to.
-Reuben
Not to say you are like this, but I did see one or two, here and there who are guilty ... These are the guys who feel they just pass the price on to the customer, and the hell with it, take it or leave it. And that is all fine and dandy with a few customers but mainstream (Average American) customers who are my main source of income simply can not (and will not) go for this arrogant attitude.Logan's Landscaping said:I have decided to start charging my customers a gas surcharge on top of there normal bill. I have thought about charging a flat fee of $4 to 6 dollars a month or $1 to 2 dollars per visit. Any thoughts?????
Some of us still read every thread trying to educate people. They really do need to know their numbers before they institute any "surcharges" for fuel. While my mower and trimmer fuel usage is about the same as yours my truck fuel is less than half. I spent the first 5 years building my business and the last 5 years condensing it. Right now I am only burning about 10 gallons of gas a week in the truck for a total of about 25 gallons a week total. On 30 customers a week if the price doubled ($2.25 to $4.50) I would still only realize a per customer cost increase of $1.88. My regular and new customer price increases are more then able to absorb the increased cost of fuel.Runner said:I may post this on a seperate thread, as well, to get more opinions, as many on here don't even look at the surcharge threads, anymore. Like someone else said, it has been exhausted.
Have you ever asked your customers??Logan's Landscaping said:Well just raising the prices on new customers is a good idea , but i am doing that anyway since things like insurance, license fees , taxes , and most cost rise even if it is only slightly every year. I raised some my reg. customers prices this year on everything but mowing. There is always some one out there who will under cut you to get the work but if you raise the core of your business then that i think is what makes your customers think about giving the cheaper guy a try even if your service is being done very well. I talked to 3 more of my customers today and informed them about the surcharge and all 3 said they understood completely since they are affected by the same thing. Now if i went to them and said I'm going to raise your weekly mowing charges for the same reason or just told them that i was going up on that with out a reason i don't think they would be quiet as understanding. I just go up on the other things like chemicals, mulch , bush trimming ....etc. well theres my 2 cent again today.
One tank for a day?Not to say you are like this, but I did see one or two, here and there who are guilty ... These are the guys who feel they just pass the price on to the customer, and the hell with it, take it or leave it. And that is all fine and dandy with a few customers but mainstream (Average American) customers who are my main source of income simply can not (and will not) go for this arrogant attitude.
At least now I find it easier to stick to standard prices ($35/average size yard) and not have to argue and give discounts all the time because I can't do it anymore. But while they're paying slightly more, I lowered my fuel-consumption for grass-cutting to a gallon per yard which includes the truck.
Really, a gallon is now only a dollar more than last year. What's the big deal, one dollar? I can deal with that, once the price goes to 4-5 dollars/gallon, we might talk again. By the way, $3/gallon is not far away and I think we'll see $3.50/gallon before summer's end.
So I spent money and got high-performance 8mm Taylor wires, High-performance cap-and-rotor, double-platinum plugs, open-air filter, replaced the tailgate with an airgate, and stopped the oil leak by replacing valve cover gaskets. I serviced the transmission which was leaking, I replaced and/or packed (worn) bearings, checked tire-air pressures, replaced fuel filters, changed oil (synthetic), etc, etc ...
In addition:
- All equipment starts in 1 pull. Ok 2 (1 for choke, 1 for run), 3 maybe but not 4 or 5 or more.
- Fuel up in the morning and leave the 5-gallon cans at home (thou I do have a syphon-pump in the truckbox) and carry the mix.
- Weedeaters run dandy at between 25-75% throttle. Only time I need full-throttle is for SERIOUS weeds - One tankfull of mix should last all day. On another note - learn to skim the string along paved areas in such a way that the pavement does not consume it - One tap of the head to release more string should last the entire yard.
- Backpack blowers usually clear light grass-cut debris on idle or slightly above - One tankfull of mix should last two days.
- Mower-throttle - Turn it to FULL, then lower it slowly until the engine changes pitch, then raise it a little bit to get the pitch back but with OUT being at full throttle - This saves fuel. One 5-gallon tank on a WB should cut 10-12 yards, maybe 14.
- Plan all-same work for the whole day (i.e.: Core Aeration ONLY, Grass-cutting ONLY, etc) and carry ONLY that equipment. If you're doing mulch, what is the seed-spreader doing in the back of the truck?
- Plan your route so everything is in a row, no cross-town trips for 1 yard and no doubling-back. Do it right, everytime.
- Carry only ONE WB. Carrying two wb's in case one breaks wastes more fuel than the once/year occasion when this happens is worth. If you got 2 guys, one cuts grass while the other weed-eats and blows.
- Learn to use liquid edging - Round-Up is cheaper than weedeater-fuel if you buy the 64oz concentrate and mix with water. But be damn careful, LOL!
- When fueling, always fill everything up. For me, one fill-up lasts at least a week - Every stop at the station wastes fuel.
- Don't need it today? Leave it at home. This includes wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes, and any and all utensils/tools you will not need. If per chance someone offers me work that involves a tool I do not have, I would just as soon re-schedule for the next day I'm in their area.
- Schedule jobs in areas/day. One day: southside, next day: east-end. etc
- If equipment isn't working, it shouldn't be running. Always Turn it OFF, even if 'only leaving for a sec.' This includes the truck anytime a stop should take more than 20 seconds. 20 seconds of idle = the fuel it takes to start it.
... I turn the engine off at red lights, it's a european trick. And if you don't know why Europeans turn their motors off at intersections, try paying over $5/gallon of fuel. Needless to say - train crossing = Motor OFF
Also:
- Learn to drive with-OUT using the brake pedal. Now you can't drive recklessly so you learn to control the speed while using ONLY the throttle (or not using it, so to speak). When you use the brakes, you are shaving off speed which took fuel to build. In essence, using brakes means wasted fuel. This means leaving a lot of distance in front of you and coasting a LOT, ways in advance of known slow turns and intersections. As an example, I try to coast all the way down to 25mph before applying brakes in a 45mph zone. If you do it right, the light turns green and traffic starts moving before you have to touch the brakes.
In neighborhoods, when pulling up to a customer's house, I usually put gear in neutral and turn the motor off, then coast the rest of the way and hopefully eek to a standstill right in front of the house without the use of brakes.
I do fill up once/week even if there's plenty of fuel left, today I filled up 42 dollars for last week after grossing almost 1000. Once I start cutting grass 5/6 days/week, I do expect the fuel bill to go up towards 80, which is max. budget for peak.
For those who wonder why my prices haven't gone up - The math is simple.
lalala