#1- you are prepaid for a fert program, that includes x amount of treatments. an additional one is neccesary, do to , whatever reason. do you charge an additional fee, or, eat it. #2- you are prepaid $200 to keep the beds weeded for the season. you figured it would need maybe 4 visits, at around an hour each. well, you come to find out, it's really gonna be 6 visits, at around an hour each. do you demand payment for the extra visits, or, eat it. #3- you are prepaid for shrub trimming maintenance for the season. you figured one light clipping in spring, one big one after the growing season, and another light one in mid fall. as it turns out, excessive rain caused these things to grow like wild, and all 3 visits were more than you expected. do you demand more money, or, eat it. just be honest. i aint gonna bash anyone for saying they'd eat the extra cost. remember, you were pre paid for all of these services. thank you for participating
If I estimated incorrectly, I eat it. Next year I will make the necessary monetary adjustments though.
an estimate is an estimate. if it was the exact price it would be called a quote or the price. I give estimates. It's not my fault when I bid the job, I hadn't yet learned to predict the future.
A prepaid contract is just that----a contract. Always add for the unseen or unexpected. Yes you will have to sell it right in spring but that is part of the game. I say this under the assumption that being prepaid means ---contract
These are small time scenarios. If the cost of eating your miscalculation is that big of a deal for you, then you are in the wrong business IMO. We're talking peanuts here, not a make-or-break deal...
Talk about underbidding--- one of the HOA's I do, at about 60K for the year, is taking bids. HOA board called me in and asked why someone could do it for $23500.00!! Simple answer, they can't. 3 bids me -another within 4K of me and this winner. And they are considering him!!!!!! Got to love it.
Let's assume all three situations are contracts which can either be oral (or better yet written). #2 -- $200.00 for the entire season to remove weeds. Looks like you underestimated this one because you didn't state how many trips you would make. You only thought how many it might take. The customer thought you would come when the beds needed weeding. No meeting of the minds between the parties. #3 -- Same situation as #2 customer thinks you are gonna keep the shrubs trimmed when they need it. You under estimated the growing rate. No meeting of the minds between the parties. #1 -- You win on this one. X amount of treatments are stated in the contract. Both parties know how many treatments are to be given. But the customer may argue you told me X amount would be enough. So it is up to you, if this argument is given, because you may loose the customer. Nosmo
My fert program is fixed but additional app's for fungus and ants are unavoidable sometimes and therefore billable. Weeding and trimming bushes I bill hourly rate. If my estimates are that off I'll inform the customer prior to billing and try to absorb some of it for being that wrong. I usually quote heavy on first time jobs even though this strategy knocks my sign-on rate down to about 50%.
