How can you guys get away with charging these extremely high prices, like 60 or 80 dollars an hour, or $25 just for putting the gate on the trailer down??? COme on!!!!!! You cant get away with that stuff here in MD, you'll be out of work fast! Please explain? I am not a scrub, but my biggest property is 70 bucks, and takes me about 2 and a half hours to do, and I think 70 is fair. Some people on this site would charge over 100 for this job, I don't know how you do it, I got people complaining with these prices! I enjoy cutting grass, and in 2 weeks am getting a 27hp lazer, I have 20 accounts ranging from 10-70 dollars, and I am happy with the money I make, unlike some people I am not trying to get over on people! BTW-- I cut grass part-time, I work with a HVAC contractor for the half of the week!
Are you fully insured do you pay taxes? If so how are you making money with those prices? If I had a lawn that took me two hours, it would be at least a 150$ lawn.
Well it could be something as simple as the area you are living in? How much are people making, and how much do the houses cost where you are? I am one of those people who get around $100 an hour, but most of the houses I cut are well over $400,000 and some well over a million dollars. I am in an area that is increasingly growing and has a lot of big businesses that pay a lot based here.
I almost responded to your question, but decided against it. Jeff Fisher Lawn Care Insured,tax paying, full time company.
Get "over on people". lol. When you get that 27H.P. Lazer, let me know how much it cost you to run it for an hour. Much less all the other expenses. (BTW- how long does it take you to service that 10.00 yard?) Been getting 1.00 per min. for a long time. Would NEVER drop my gate for less than 30.00, and would be gone in 30 mins. or less.
Are you getting paid driving to the customers house? Are you getting paid when you are talking to a customer on the phone? What about at the end of the month when you are mailing out invoices? No.....So you better charge more than $75 an hour or keep your day job
Drive on up I-95 and I'll show you how its done when I go do an estimate. Maryland is a gold-mine, you just have to pick your areas right. Brian
If thats all you charge in a place like Cambridge MD then you should have about 200 accounts, not 20. P.S. when you leave mommy and daddy's house and are out on your own we will see how you feel about $28 per hour not including drive time, down time, ect. What does it come to $15 pefore expences?
Really, I always figure that people see me (or anyone else) out making alot more money per hour than they ever dreamed of making. (much less all the $ and time ...as in 8-12 years of higher education, to try to get to that plato) In my case, they see only that side of it. It is a FULL time job. ........ Takes alot of work/time to run for an hour, over all, and I got to get payed for everything...Too much like work to not get paid.
If you plan on buying a lazer or any type commerical mower and your prices are what you say they are, I feel sorry for you but thats your business. Must of us that have been in this business are professionals, pay taxes, workers comp, have employees, liability insurance which is what is called overhead. It is not about getting over on people. Some lco do work in upscale areas and are very competitive in there prices. Look at this way, if an upscale client called you and wanted a price on just mowing there lawn and say it was 10000 sq ft. and they also called someone more professional, educated and you bid it at 25.00 and the pro. bid it at say 45.00 if this client has had past lco. more then likely the pro would get the job. so continue bidding cheaper rates and i bet down the road you will either be out of the business or bidding higher then you have in the past. dont take this the wrong way im not bringing you down, but ten bucks get serious....
