Well, here are the results of the bid survey. Please no bashing anyone on their bids. This will hopefully be a learning experience for each of us. I was really surprised we only had 17 people place bids, maybe we can do this again if you all think it's beneficial. All the bid numbers are monthly, I had to average the bids over 12 months:<br><br>High Bid for maintenance: R. Martin $200.00<br>High bid for chemical apps: Columbiaplower $75.00 <p>Higest overall bid:Columbiaplower $230.00<br>Lowest overall bid: Poplen $105.80<p>Low bid for maintenance: Poplen $85.00<br>Low bid for chemical apps: Blacer $10.00<p>Average bid for maintenance: $133.97<br>Average bid for chemical apps: $34.16<p>Soil test average was: $28.33 Highest bid $45.00, lowest $10.00.<p>Here is a link so you can see the spreadsheet with all the numbers: http://www.kirbycuttin.com/monthly_charges.htm<p>Interesting, the lowest and highest overall monthly bid had a $124.20 difference each month. Hope you enjoy.<p>Ray<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: KirbysLawn
Kirby,<p>Thanks for getting all this together...it was fun to look at. next time...if there is a next time, I think location would also be interesting to see.<p>jeff
hey,<br>what exactly is a bid, what exactly is the process, etc. what i am thinking is like my grandparents had there bathroom redone at the farm, he called 5 different contractors and they came then mailed something in the mail, you choose the cheapest? <p>----------<br>Scottie Schmidt<br>STS Lawn Care
Scottie, what was your question? <p>We were comparing bids to see what the range would be and I found it interesting. Yes, you can choose the cheapest service if you wish, I choose to look at price along with other things when getting a repair or service. Do you always choose the cheapest car, doctor, restaurant, furniture, and so on? Some times a little extra $$$ is worth it, others times it's not, you take the chance. Sometimes you get what you pay for, other time you get a deal. <p>Ray
FYI, my bid was $30.00/week and was posted at $120.00/month, no so.<p>$30.00/week will come out to $120 or $150.00/month depending on 4 or 5 cuts that month. I find it to AVERAGE 4.3 cuts/month. ($129.00 month)<p>This little detail grosses me $70-75 AVERAGE more per customer per season x 200 customers = $14-$15,000 more.<p>I'm not saying per cut is better than monthly, but it is important to understand you mow 5 weeks some months, not just 4.
Wow. Finally!<p>Someone finally has mentioned that there are 5 weeks in some of the months. <br>I could never understand the pay once a month thing. What about the extra cut? Is that figured into the monthly total? Are you guys still making a decent profit on the 5 week months?<p>I know we certainly don't do monthly billings.<p>Example: Today we did three $50.00 lawns, and one apartment complex.<br>We bill for each cutting. So some months we get the extra cut in, and make more, which is nice!<p>And it's nice getting paid all month long.<br>Anyway, it works well for us.<p><br>Jodi<p>
Lazer, I know you bid $30.00 a week, to make it simple I just did it as 4 mowings a month, sorry it wasn't perfect. I had several emails that had "if this, I would charge that" and so on. I did the simplest calculations based on a monthly billing plan and I stated that in my post.<p>How much do you make in the "off" season for each lawn you normally mow but are no longer mowing? I do bill monthly over 12 months, even with 3-4 months off season so my income does not change.<p>Jodi, same question...I get paid year round, if you bill per mow, once grass quits growing what do you do about $$. I know snow or something, but here and in many areas, after the leaves stop we ahve little or no snow and nothing else. If we did not bill monthly we would be out of business. If any of you wish to make your own spreadsheets and do the numbers and post them please do so, they are at the link above, have at it.<p>Thanks,<p>Ray<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: KirbysLawn
Lazer is right, you are screwing yourself if, when billing monthly, you dont take into consideration there are 52, not 48 months in a year. I always take the weekly figure, multiply by 52 then divide the product by 12 to arrive at an accurate monthly total.<p>"but here and in many areas, after the leaves stop we ahve little or no snow and nothing else. If we did not bill monthly we would be out of business."<p>Correction, you would have to learn how to budget your money. Then you would be able to survive. If you mow for, say, 10 months you dont actually get paid for 12, you just spread it out and take a little less every month.<p>I bill for the work I do and get paid for it, no more no less. (Snow removal is different; for simplicitys sake lets stick with lawn care for this discussion.) A little financial discipline, and if theres no work for a couple months the money is there earning interest for me until I need to take some out, not sitting in my customers pocket waiting for me to stamp an envelope and drive to the post office with their bill for work I did two months prior.<p>Bill<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: thelawnguy
I think that was an exelent idea and we should definitly do it agian. I think for the people that participated it helped to see where you stand with prices and how you can agjust them. Like for the lowest bidders now they know that they bid low and they can bring up there prices. I don't know if anybody understood what i just said but whatever. Way to go Kirby!!!
