STLlawnboy said:
Do you charge by the sq foot?
A couple of things to keep in mind:
1) The amount of trimming is as big a deal as the amount of mowing. I know you know that, but that fact turns the notion of per-square-foot pricing on its head. See more on this at * below.
2). Most here on lawnsite will tell you that small lots yield the most money per square foot. If you are in a position to expand your equipment base (and your truck/trailer setup if needed to accomodate a larger mower), it may make sense to move up in mowers. On the other hand, it may make more sense to expand into areas with roughly the same lot sizes for now and deal with a larger investment later.
We have to be careful about what we think is an opportunity. Larger lots look like more money, but getting in and out is a biotch with the wrong equipment.
A good idea may be to put a business plan together this winter based on your current equipment set-up and one based on an expanded equipment set-up (does the new equipment demand more truck and/or trailer than you currently have? If so, factor that in). The business plan must also include marketing/advertising costs, even if time is the principal ingredient.
I recommend you take a class this winter in small business operation and get whatever help you need to write a business plan. It's tough enough to make a living without having a decent road map.
* Most of us shoot for a buck a minute, but most of us can do that only for each minute on the job and not a buck a minute during transit as well as during production. Whether your market will accomodate that is tough to say, but efficiency and a tight route are probably the two most important ingredients in that equation.