I don't mow anything for less than 30 bucks, anything less its not worth my time. i can sit home and go broke. I guess 15-20 dollars is ok if you can do enough properties to justify it.have to much invested in equipment etc.
Charge too much!
How do you guys charge so much, why? For a large size residential I only would charge 25 or 30 dollars, small residential maybe 10-15!, medium- 15-25!,
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Get ready to get blasted on this subject. Your age explains part of the reason your rates are low. I have a feeling a lot of these folks are going to tell you to keep charging what you are, because next year you will be out of business and they will get your accounts.
Because people will pay more you just need to start asking for 35-40 per cut.Originally posted by GreenMachine102
How do you guys charge so much, why? For a large size residential I only would charge 25 or 30 dollars, small residential maybe 10-15!, medium- 15-25!,
Your under charging. Think about what your overheads are, (truck, equipment, time traveled, wear and tear, time on the job, gas, oil changes, blade sharpening, belts to change, edger blades to change, trimmer line....and the list goes on and on) and you live in Maryland too. I use to live there so I know the cost of living is higher there than it is here. I charge $20-$25 for smaller lots. look at the landscaping they have too. Do you have to do a lot of edging? Do they have a fence that you have to weed whack around? It's there low growing tree's that you have to weed whack under? Theres a lot involved. not just a matter of jumping on a mower and cutting. Plus, this equipment isn't cheap. when I tell people how much a Ztr is Or just a high quality weed whacker, they can't believe it.
Steve
P.S. your going to make life real hard for the LCO around you low-balling as well. I come across it myself down here.
Steve
P.S. your going to make life real hard for the LCO around you low-balling as well. I come across it myself down here.
You should base your fees for service on what your market will bear. Why would you manage 20 properties each week @ $15. each, when you can get the same properties for $30. each. I am from the Northeast so I can not speak for other parts of the country, but I can't imagine trying to make my business run on only $15. per lawn. I would be impossible to do if you are a legit business.
"GREEN" ..... The reason people charge so much is because they have so much overhead to pay for its ridiculous.
Could you live off the money you make charging 15 dollars to mow a lawn?
Can you afford taxes and insurance?
Can you afford your equipment payments? What if something breaks down... Can you afford to fix it?
If you were to expand some day, could you afford a crew?
Gas?
There is so much overhead its crazy. You cant just break even "Green" You have to make money on top of it all buddy.
Dont take offense to this but does daddy help you out with money or something?? Because i'm 17 and I would not be able to survive making 15-25 on a acre lot.
Could you live off the money you make charging 15 dollars to mow a lawn?
Can you afford taxes and insurance?
Can you afford your equipment payments? What if something breaks down... Can you afford to fix it?
If you were to expand some day, could you afford a crew?
Gas?
There is so much overhead its crazy. You cant just break even "Green" You have to make money on top of it all buddy.
Dont take offense to this but does daddy help you out with money or something?? Because i'm 17 and I would not be able to survive making 15-25 on a acre lot.
I only have two reasons....overhead & profit
Theses plus I like my Fillet Mignon, expensive toysOriginally posted by tiedeman
I only have two reasons....overhead & profit
LGF, you forgot lobster 
At 18 you probably have not found all expences that it takes just to get buy in life. You will see the light before long.
When you have to fully support yourself (and maybe a family), you'll figure it out.
I try to give customers a monthly maintenance estimate, say $110
for 4 cuts with trimming, edging and clean-up. Hedges and shrubs are extra. I find that if you quote a monthly price rather than a single cut price the customer is more receptive to your estimate. If I told the customer $27.50 per cut that might cause him/her to back away from a contract. Most of my cutomers are retired and tend to think of their bills on a monthly basis rather than weekly.
for 4 cuts with trimming, edging and clean-up. Hedges and shrubs are extra. I find that if you quote a monthly price rather than a single cut price the customer is more receptive to your estimate. If I told the customer $27.50 per cut that might cause him/her to back away from a contract. Most of my cutomers are retired and tend to think of their bills on a monthly basis rather than weekly.
Youre not definitive on your large, medium, small sizes, but I bet youve bragged to your customers how youre so good and fast that you can get by charging those rates. You may think youre smart, but chances are not one of your adult customers does. Theyre taking advantage of your ignorance.
Lawn care is not rocket science; all it takes to cut grass is a $40 used mower and physical work. Never the less, this economy is based on supply and demand. Theres a reason for the going rate in your area, and if youre new to the business or just young, then youre ignorant of many of those reasons. Or is there something VERY special about you and/or the way you mow a lawn? NOT!
Money is form of time, kind of like keeping score in life. If you told me you made $1,000 would I be impressed? It depends. If you made $1,000 yesterday, thats impressive. If you made $1,000 all of last year, youre a bum. If you dont charge whatever the market will bear, chances are, youre not making money at a fast enough rate to survive in the long run. Charge too much and you invite competition, which is Capitalism.
It depends on the operation, but many of us charge enough for our work so that we make money at the rate of $40-$60 an hour, or even more. After all the expenses, and I mean ALL of them (too many to list now), there is no point in investing time and money in an operation if theres not going to be any profit. Additionally, this is a seasonal business, so yeah in this part of the season we make a lot of money. Beyond not having to beg in the winter, we (like all reasonable adults) are saving up for retirement when were old and cant work.
Others have listed just a few of the expenses for more concrete reasons behind our rates. Get serious in this business, and youll have a list of your own. Soon, very soon, youll come to realize how badly youre letting yourself be taken advantage of with those prices. Which is your adult customers way of keeping some of the money they had to work for. Hopefully, I have pushed back the frontiers of ignorance.
Lawn care is not rocket science; all it takes to cut grass is a $40 used mower and physical work. Never the less, this economy is based on supply and demand. Theres a reason for the going rate in your area, and if youre new to the business or just young, then youre ignorant of many of those reasons. Or is there something VERY special about you and/or the way you mow a lawn? NOT!
Money is form of time, kind of like keeping score in life. If you told me you made $1,000 would I be impressed? It depends. If you made $1,000 yesterday, thats impressive. If you made $1,000 all of last year, youre a bum. If you dont charge whatever the market will bear, chances are, youre not making money at a fast enough rate to survive in the long run. Charge too much and you invite competition, which is Capitalism.
It depends on the operation, but many of us charge enough for our work so that we make money at the rate of $40-$60 an hour, or even more. After all the expenses, and I mean ALL of them (too many to list now), there is no point in investing time and money in an operation if theres not going to be any profit. Additionally, this is a seasonal business, so yeah in this part of the season we make a lot of money. Beyond not having to beg in the winter, we (like all reasonable adults) are saving up for retirement when were old and cant work.
Others have listed just a few of the expenses for more concrete reasons behind our rates. Get serious in this business, and youll have a list of your own. Soon, very soon, youll come to realize how badly youre letting yourself be taken advantage of with those prices. Which is your adult customers way of keeping some of the money they had to work for. Hopefully, I have pushed back the frontiers of ignorance.
i stopped by a small biz here the other day to drop them a business card . she asked how much and i told her $15 (small property about 5 mins worth of work but in a complex) hoping to get some of the other customers from there too. she says great start this week. oh and i have 4 rent houses and my house that i want done also. so going low on this one payed off.
I like the 1 minute = $1.00 measuring stick.
I've been thinking about reducing my pay and selling my house and telling the kids to pay for their own college, sell the car and ride a bicycle, kill the cat and eat the dog. Terminate my Internet service and sell my computer, Goodbye Lawnsite. LOL Somebody stop me............
Vacations are for your customers not you...
I could go on but I think I will start reducing my prices instead..LMAO
Somebody stop me............Vacations are for your customers not you...
I could go on but I think I will start reducing my prices instead..LMAO
why do i charge , what i charge ? ( 45.00/half acre)
because the customers here will pay it. plus most will even include a nice tip every month,
not to mention overhead!!!
because the customers here will pay it. plus most will even include a nice tip every month,
not to mention overhead!!!
I'll send you out to the small ones, I pay you $15 and bill $50.
Medium I pay you $25 and bill $75.
Large I pay you $35 and bill $175.
SERIOUSLY...son...
Do the math.... lets say you charge $20 each.
And you to 10 per day, 30 weeks a year.
SO you make $200/day * 5 days a week = $30,000/year.
That's your gross. Before buying a drop of fuel. Or insurance. Or equipment. That's for 1500 lawn cuttings and all the hassles involved. All the billing, fixing, going to the bank, getting stung by bees, stuck in traffic, repairing your truck, phone bill, your health insurance...don't forget that its important...
Another way to cross-check your math: If you were paying employees $10/hour could you make any money by sending them out? If your math indicates just the wages would maybe get paid that would agin show you are way off.
Remember, the people you are working for are not charities. They are homeowners with $200,000 - $1,500,000 homes. They are real adults with real money.
I started young like you and made the same mistake. I had people actually INSIST on paying me above my ask- that's a good indication you are undercharging if that ever happens.
The good thing you are doing is being here on lawnsite so we can get your deficiences rectified like a senior drill instructor.
"You will not laugh! You will not cry! You will learn by the numbers for I will teach you!" -Full metal jacket.
Ken
Medium I pay you $25 and bill $75.
Large I pay you $35 and bill $175.
SERIOUSLY...son...
Do the math.... lets say you charge $20 each.
And you to 10 per day, 30 weeks a year.
SO you make $200/day * 5 days a week = $30,000/year.
That's your gross. Before buying a drop of fuel. Or insurance. Or equipment. That's for 1500 lawn cuttings and all the hassles involved. All the billing, fixing, going to the bank, getting stung by bees, stuck in traffic, repairing your truck, phone bill, your health insurance...don't forget that its important...
Another way to cross-check your math: If you were paying employees $10/hour could you make any money by sending them out? If your math indicates just the wages would maybe get paid that would agin show you are way off.
Remember, the people you are working for are not charities. They are homeowners with $200,000 - $1,500,000 homes. They are real adults with real money.
I started young like you and made the same mistake. I had people actually INSIST on paying me above my ask- that's a good indication you are undercharging if that ever happens.
The good thing you are doing is being here on lawnsite so we can get your deficiences rectified like a senior drill instructor.
"You will not laugh! You will not cry! You will learn by the numbers for I will teach you!" -Full metal jacket.
Ken
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