Bidding Help (please)

[Cnclawns]

Hello Everyone I need some help bidding on a job. Here is the job! Soccer field which is 7.5 acres of grass to cut. 1 softball field and 1 baseball field entrance way and surrounding area's. I live in upstate New York. This would be my 3rd commercial job I was figuring approximately 120$ per acre which would include trimming. any thoughts too high too low just right.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Welcome to our forum! What would be the total area needed to be mowed? How many linear feet of grass would you be having to trim? What kind of mower are you mowing the lawn with? How wide is it? Have you experimented with using the lawn care calculators on this site? Once you enter these figures, it should give you a pretty accurate time estimate to perform the job.

__________________
- Subscribe to my Lawn Care Marketing Blog Feed and get daily tips sent to you. Free!
Download your Free trial of Gopher Lawn Care Software.

[Cnclawns]

I have estimated the property at 435,000 square feet which is ten acres of mowing that needs to be done. 7.5 acres of straight Field and 2 ball fields with some mowing around the perimeter of the park. 2200 feet of trimming and no blowing off clippings. I am only a company of 1 and may be getting in over my head but the bid is open and I want to go full steam so that I can do what I like to do on a daily basis. I am using a 52" ztr and a echo weed whacker. I don't want to over price this job but don't want to lose my shirt either. according to the calculator it states that it will take me 80 minutes to mow 1 acre and weed whack 900 ft. I find that kind of high and the calculator does not give me the option to input 10 acres and 2200 feet of trimming. If I add the times per acre for 10 it states that it will take 13.3 hours to do this job I find that hard to believe. I am thinking of quoting this job for the remainder of the season here in NY for the total of 10,400.00 $ that is equivilant to 800.00$ per cut for 13 weeks. Am I on drugs that just seems like a ton of cash. I also got a ball park figure from another company and he charges anywhere from 150.00-200.00 per acre holy smokes please HELP me

[shadrach]

I can't see where that would possibly take you more than 6-6.5 hours with a 52.
I would be around 4-4.5 hours with a 61 & that is probably on the high side for time.

[lxarth]

If you found that you need to charge $120 an acre to make money, where is the problem?

I think fields like what you are describing will actually take longer then you expect. They need the fields looking perfect, so you might be asked to patch spots that get torn up from play, so you have to consider that too.

When I first started this I started doing bids for full service on regular residential lawns, and I wanted to raise my prices, but I was thinking "holy crap, that's a lot of money I'm going to be asked from them".

Now, though, I have a price, and I stick to it.

If you know that ABC Landscaping down the street charges $150-$200 per acre, maybe you should raise your price some to stay competitive. You don't want to be too low. Why not just undercut his price by $5-$10?

$145/acre.

Also, do these people want fertilizer? Weed control? Liming?

[Cnclawns]

No fertilizer no weed control just cut

[Site*Rite]

HI...
you're post just caught my eye - i should tell you, i don't do much mowing/trimming these days, but i do bid jobs quite often. My accnts are mostly maintenance oriented for vacation homes & rental props, but i liked the direction of the response you got from lxarth, -"I think fields like what you are describing will actually take longer then you expect.." AMEN! your goal should be on quality - not speed!! Consider why they don't want the Fertilizer & other Svcs lumped in with a new contractor??? Maybe cuz it's not their first rodeo! (...you know, the all eggs in one basket thing.)
Perform well in one aspect and your opportunity to secure the other services will follow in due time.

I fail to understand the constant emphasis on SPEED -I can't see where that would possibly take you more than 6-6.5 hours with a 52.
I would be around 4-4.5 hours with a 61 & that is probably on the high side for time. WHATEVER! Unless you're running late to get the White House lawn mowed for a state Dinner, focus on doing it right!

SURE - Bid per acre, bid for linear feet, but work for reputation! Good Luck.