Lawn Rates

4289 Views 41 Replies 21 Participants Last post by Flex-Deck, Oct 21, 2003

EagleLandscape

Discussion Starter · Sep 8, 2003

Ok, forget the whole 20 - 25 bucks a cut thing for a moment. I'm about to place some bids on commercial accounts. What numbers do ya'll use to base your bids on. The accounts are in the Dallas, Texas area. St. Augustine and Bermuda are the grass types, sometimes I'll run into Fescue, but that's very unlikely.

Mowing per/sq ft...
trimming linear feet,
edging...

I havent big on commercial accounts before, and I want to underbid some companies but I don't want to be doing these jobs for pocket change. Help is much appreciated

Thanks guys.

21 - 40 of 42 Posts

Whatdefunk

· #21 · Sep 9, 2003

Originally posted by promower
Going rate where I live is $30-$35 and hour hour just for mowing, so he isnt that far off. But 30-35 is also min. for a lawn so having the small properties are the money maker in my mind. When I first started I had no idea what to charge so I called the biggest company in my area told him I had just under a half acre and what he would charge without coming to look at it, He said about $25.00!!:dizzy: Whats funny is Ive taken 6 residential accounts from them because of poor quality work. Just charge what you need to pay expenses and make your desired profit.

Well I live 20 minutes north of him and I know what the pricing is for this area. Also he lives in a thriving area, even with this economy they are building tons of new houses around him. I guess everyone wants to live in an American Idols hometown!LOL He is from Burleson, Tx. Get it?/........

Lawnalternatives

· #22 · Sep 9, 2003

I mow half acre lots in 20-30 all day long. If that is the case then the company that quoted you $25/hr. was charging you $50-$60/hr. I don't have many accounts that I don't make at least $45/hr. Any job less than $45/hr. I will get rid of or turn into cash accounts.

DennisF

· #23 · Sep 10, 2003

I bid based on the cost of running my equipment per hour. Lets say the cost per hour to operate my equipment is $15. That would include equipment depreciation, gas, oil, belts, blades, filters, tires.... after that I put a dollar figure on my time, say $20 per hour. Your cost figures might be more or they might be less. Either way you need to know what it costs you to do the job, then add in your desired hourly wage. Try to bid low, but don't do a job for nothing just to get it. Your time and sweat are worth something so don't give it away.

TRex

· #24 · Sep 10, 2003

promower they charge that because they charge a $1 a min. I know I could cut down a 1/2 acre in 25 min. and what jwingfield2k was cutting for $40 was what I thought was an acre. Please earn what you deserve or don't because the rest of us need to. Going rate should be around $1 a min. everywhere and doing it cheaper hurts everyone. (unless you don't do a pro job) JMO.

promower

· #25 · Sep 10, 2003

When I posted this company quoting 25 for my half acre I was surprised because I thought he was may low. And no this wouldnt come out to a dollar a minute after you figure in the drive time, unloading, and loading. If I had a bare minimum overhead and charged a rate that was lower then yours I wouldnt be bringing the market down (unless it was unrealistically low) but I would just have a more competetive edge on others cause of a lower cost to maintain buisness. As you were saying though different areas have different rates. But like I said charge what you need to make your desired profit.

promower

· #26 · Sep 10, 2003

Also in reading your profile it says years in buisness 0, unless you havent updated. But you will find this to be a very competetive job and to always get a dollar minute is very tough. You may average out to that with the 10 minute lawns that you just grossed $30 each on, but in my area you wont get $60 for a 1 hour job. So dont tell me I'm bringing down your rates when you live several hours away from me, cause you sure arent bring up the rates here. I get the money I deserve and I'm not hurting any other LCO in my area by not always getting a dollar a minute. Its the guys doing the jobs for $15 that bring down rates, but I dont worry about it because they will be gone next year.

SUGAR_CUT_MARK

· #27 · Sep 14, 2003

you should be getting at least $60-75 dollars an hour. On the higher end for commercial, since they usually willing to pay more. It's because of low ballers that many customers expect you to charge only $25 for a typical 1 hour job.

promower

· #28 · Sep 14, 2003

Commercial customers are the least willing to pay. They contact several LCO's and give the job to the lowest bidder. Jobs that pay 60-75 an hour are the little 15 minute homes where you charge 30-35.

EagleLandscape

Discussion Starter · #29 · Sep 15, 2003

Well my hours worth of work is with a 21 inch mower, so obviously i get alot less done in an hour than you all do. I'm investing in more productive equipment so I can make more money, but ya;lls input is appreciated. almost got the business plan done.

Meier

· #30 · Sep 15, 2003

I have to say, this is certainly an interesting thread.

It's a topic of conversation that seems to be the single most common issue among people in the industry.

Here's the problem I run into. My next door neighbor uses one of the larger LCO's in the area. The guy runs multiple crews, advertises in the yellow pages...seems to be an industry leader. I would think he knows what he's doing. Don't know if he's making any money or not, but he's certainly got an impressive image. And I would assume his pricing is a fairly good bench mark of what the market will bear in my area.

Anyway, my next door neighbor was paying $28/mowing. My next door neighbor moved about three months ago, and the new owner hired me to mow the lawn.

It takes me, by myself, about 50 minutes on average, to mow that lawn for 28 bucks. That's no where close to $40/man hour, which is my real goal. It's about $33/man hour. If you allow five minutes of drive time, the hourly gross drops to $30.

Now, if that guy hires Chemlawn next month and starts over watering, as a few of my other customers do, guess what happens? Right on, bro. Add another 10 minutes of blower time. Now, we're at $28/hr with zero drive time.

So right there is a variable that puts you way under with one method of bidding and way over with another for the very same property. And that's assuming you're able to bid accurately every time.

My goal is to bid in the $40/man hour range. I figure if the going rate is $30, I'll bid my work at 33% more and take what I can get. I know a lot of my competitors struggle with things like broken English, unreliability, lack of professional image, weekly payments as opposed to monthly invoicing...things like that. I sure as hell don't want to work cheap either. The problem is, I keep underbidding. Not on purpose, but because I continually underestimate how long a job will take. I've won business when my bid was higher than the goal, but it's only happened a few times this year. Most of my accounts are well below my goal as I struggle to gross $30/man hour.

This is a tough business. Very tough.

Anyway, I just started this business 9 months ago. I filled my Wednesday route and promised myself that as I filled my Tuesday route, I'd bring in better hourly figures. So far it hasn't panned out as my gross per hour on Tuesdays is even lower than my gross per hour on Wednesday.

I guess the only solution to my estimating problem is more experience.

Later,
DFW, TX

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Meier

· #31 · Sep 15, 2003

++++I mow half acre lots in 20-30 all day long++++

OK. I guess I'm showing my inexperience here big time. Are these half acre accounts just like vacant lots or fields or something?

Are there homes on these lots with driveways and sidewalks and pools and fences and bed liners and retaining walls and trees and other things that have to be trimmed and edged and blown? I just don't see how on earth one man could mow 20,000 sq ft of normal residential landscape in 20 to 30 minutes. Maybe if you're not trimming, edging and blowing it would be possible with the right mower, but otherwise, I just don't see how it could be done.

I struggle to mow 23 residential lawns in an 11 hour day with a two man crew...average size of lawn is about 4,500 sq ft.

Later,
DFW, TX

TRex

· #32 · Sep 15, 2003

I thought of it as an open 1/2 acre and my going rate is right at $45 an hour with all drive time and unloading. We need to figure out a good way to get are rates up or your rates up because I have just started also and I have personaly gotten my customers with none given to me not even any friends. So I bid as best I can and get more per hour than some of the big crews in town and I have gotten all but 3 bids I have given so far. I just need to figure out how to be able to get more potental customers to call. Meier I also do my nieghbors lawn but it is $20 and I told them that because they couldn't afford it if I didn't and that is the same price that a scrub did it for with out edging or trimming, but it took the two of them 45min. and it only takes me twenty to have the equipment back in the garage. I am sorry that you guys are not making any more than you are, but keep tring to bring the price up or the work time down.

kerrazy

· #33 · Sep 15, 2003

I have recently been charging $1 per min or $50 per acre (depending on trim/cleanup time). I have 2 three acre lots that take me just at 2 hours each to mow and 30-35 min to trim/clean up and get $150 each for them. and have a 2 acre lot that I get $100 per cut. Seems like some of you are cheating yourself by only charging $30-45 per hour. I have also raised my minimum to $25 per cut. These include alot of residental lots that average about 5500s/f or about 15-20 to cut and trim. Back to the original question....charge at $1 per min and give yourself extra time for windshield time.

promower

· #34 · Oct 19, 2003

$35-40 an hour is a little on the cheap I will agree. In my case ! have several $35 jobs (my minimum) that take me between 10-35 minutes. Then I have bigger jobs that I average $35-40 an hour these are 90% commercial jobs which around here is very competetive. So in the end I guess I would average between $50-60 which is about the best we can get here. Actually just got an 8 acre job this week $400 per cut, 8 hrs, I think I can get it down to 7-7 1/2. I try to get as much work as I can and I cant pass up a job for $35 for an hour of work.

dvmcmrhp52

· #35 · Oct 19, 2003

What kind of equipment are you using that it takes 8 hours to do 8 acres?
Not busting just curious.

mrusk

· #36 · Oct 20, 2003

I am just getting started in this business however i am trying to bid all my accounts at the minimum 60 an hour. I feel there is no reason why i should not be able to achive this goal with my 60in liquid cooled laser.

When i get a second mower and have someone else mowing with me should i shoot for 100 an hour? The area where i live all has big properities where i am mowing for 35-45 minutes. It makes no sense to have a helper to trimmer and blow untill i have another mower, because if i had helper, they'd be sitting around for 25 minutes why i finish mowing. With 2 mowers i figure the best way to work it would divide each lawn in 3rds in our head. I mow 2/3s of it and the helper mows 1/3. When he gets done mowing his 1/3 he starts trimming then blowing. We should both finish at the same time. Does anyone else have better methods?

matt

Flex-Deck

· #37 · Oct 20, 2003

I have said this before and will say it one more time:
1. I do not care where you are from. 10,000 square foot yards or 1 acre yards are worth the same to the customer. He does not give a dang as to whether it is mowed with a 21" push mower or a 60" ZTR.
2. When you bid Jobs, you had better be informed as to what that type of job brings in your area.
3. If you want to make money - You can not compete against the going rate - you have to increase you efficiency per mower, cut the number of machines necessary, which will cut employees.
THIS May require wider mowers, as Gorell uses or something else.But Do something to increase your profits, Decrease mowing and trimming time and enhance your bottom line, OR
4. You will spend the next 2-3 years here complaining about LOW Ballers.

Flex-Deck

· #38 · Oct 20, 2003

I have said this before and will say it one more time:
1. I do not care where you are from. 10,000 square foot yards or 1 acre yards are worth the same to the customer. He does not give a dang as to whether it is mowed with a 21" push mower or a 60" ZTR.
2. When you bid Jobs, you had better be informed as to what that type of job brings in your area.
3. If you want to make money - You can not compete against the going rate - you have to increase you efficiency per mower, cut the number of machines necessary, which will cut employees.
THIS May require wider mowers, as Gorell uses or something else.But Do something to increase your profits, Decrease mowing and trimming time and enhance your bottom line, OR
4. You will spend the next 2-3 years here complaining about LOW Ballers.

Flex-Deck

· #39 · Oct 20, 2003

I have said this before and will say it one more time:
1. I do not care where you are from. 10,000 square foot yards or 1 acre yards are worth the same to the customer. He does not give a dang as to whether it is mowed with a 21" push mower or a 60" ZTR.
2. When you bid Jobs, you had better be informed as to what that type of job brings in your area.
3. If you want to make money - You can not compete against the going rate - you have to increase you efficiency per mower, cut the number of machines necessary, which will cut employees.
THIS May require wider mowers, as Gorell uses or something else.But Do something to increase your profits, Decrease mowing and trimming time and enhance your bottom line, OR
4. You will spend the next 2-3 years here complaining about LOW Ballers.

Whatdefunk

· #40 · Oct 20, 2003

you can say that again!!!!!!!

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