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Help me price my first yard!

10K views 40 replies 18 participants last post by  Jaybrown 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
So this is my first yard I have had to price since starting my lawn care business the other 3 yards i have done were just yards I took over from other people and charged the same as the other guy, so this is the first one I actually have to price out and its an account I really want. I checked the property size with google acreage, and it comes out to 1.4 acres the best i can tell. In the aerial shot its the one that looks like a dirt yard( this is an old photo from when the house was new over a year ago) Thanks for the help and suggestions!

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#2 ·
Since you're kinda new at it just compare it to your other properties and adjust accordingly.
 
#3 ·
Figure out what you want to put in your pocket at the end of the day. (Make it reasonable and ethical) Figure out fuel, insurance, marketing, etc. and figure out your time. If you can mow an acre an hour. (hopefully a little more than that) and price that puppy. No one can give you a price because no on knows your market like you do!
 
#4 ·
You can use the tools on the gopherforum as a starting point for your estimates, and then adjust to your particulars:

http://www.gopherforum.com/showthread.php?t=7898

There are several available there, the first two are the important ones for you.
 
#6 ·
Buy a wheel and physically measure the turf. This way you know first hand what obstacles you have to contend with. Also it gives you a number you can present to you prospective customer along with the estimate. Also you get a chance to measure any mulch beds or get a good look at any shrubs to trim. This way you already have the numbers on two good up-sells.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for the comments but id appreciate if someone would tell me what they would charge that would give me a starting point thanks!
Rowdy, we are trying to give you tools you can use to further develop your own business, as well as some of the logic we use to determining how we charge what we do.
 
#15 ·
Mowing 7 days, 10 days or 2 weeks?
this is very important... In the Spring, Bi-weekly are a nightmare and have to be double cut at least. I usually with bi-weekly think of my weekly price than go add 1/2 of that on top. That is just a generalization and somewhat standard in my area.

Also I saw your comment on really wanting it.... Just keep in mind, DO NOT bid so you just win... I have walked away completely from landscape projects and maintenance purely because if I am not going to make money then I do not want to do it. I rather someone else run themselves into the ground and work for free then do it myself. Plus I have been under bid many times and sometimes they still go with me or they go with the low bid. If they go with the low bid, the guy will either does a bad job so they can make money or quit when they realize they screwed up. Then the client calls me back for my price ha. I just picked up a client due to the landscaper that under bid quit mid season realizing the error.
 
#16 ·
Also, keep in mind... prices you get on here are not always right for you, your area, and etc. The price can come from a great company on the other side of the country... As a new guy on the block, you REALLY need to find how much it costs you to do the job time / materials, then decide how much you want to make...

Cost of mowing:
- gas for equipment
- gas / diesel to get to the job
- time to go to job and do the job
- wear and tear on equipment so you have the cash to replace when it does wear out (I have a saving account where a percentage of sales goes into for this purpose solely)
- wear and tear on truck
- Overhead such as cellphone bill, rent of shop/office, equipment/truck payment, insurance, and etc.

All this takes time to figure out... but someone that sits down and thinks about this from the beginning and looks at it on a regular basis for changes is the success company. I hope this helps, this is just a nipping the bud on the subject. But this costs are different for every company so that is a big reason why prices you get on here should be thought about and considered but can't be completely trusted.
 
#18 ·
when I plugged my numbers into the gopher forum calculator, I came up with a $60 estimate, and you have a bigger primary mower than I calculated for.


Good luck with other bids!
 
#23 ·
the math just doesnt add up people charge $45 around here for a .15 acre lot and to only charge $60 for 1.4 acres seems low to me but what do i know im new. It doesnt matter anyway i got underbid because the person doing it currently only charges 50$ so to each his own some guys dont mind making minimum wage i guess
Sounds like the guy that charges $50 might know his numbers
 
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