Bid on a school?

[devuono311]

Ok, so we have a school district in my area that was looking for bids, I NEVER would have even THOUGHT about attempting to bid on this job. However, I share some work with another Lawn Care Co. in my area, we're kinda associates I guess you would say. If he has jobs he thinks are too small for him he bumps them my way and if I come across something too big for my blood I bump it his way. So, here was the situation. A landscape company in the area contacted myself and this associate of mine in regards to this school district. My first words were, "Do you think you and I can handle something of this exteme?" Jake says " Yeah we got this if they decide to hire us." So, I figured if he has faith so do I. WELL....... We started mowing last wed. before a FINAL agreement was signed between us and this landscape co. I told the landscape co. that we needed to figure out a $ figure before jake and I were knee deep in this work. "Yeah, yeah, not a problem " they told me, as they also agreed on atleast $30/hour per machine. Alright no big deal right? WRONG, after speaking with the school administrator, as well as this landscape co. I found out There were three other bids for the mowing/trimming alone. There are 78 acres to be mowed and trimmed for these schools including athletic fields, and basic school yard grounds. The other three bids given were for $57,000 , $53,000, and $33,000 . So what did the landscape co. Tell the school WE would do it for? $10,000! WHAT? Thats $5,000 per machine for 7 months of mowing. 78 acres, 2 mowers, 28 hours per week roughly. That would mean, I would BARELY cover expenses for the season, wouldnt make a dime, as well as wrap up the better half of three days per week for a chump change job. Am I wrong for thinking this way?

[jklawncare]

Lawn care business tips

id tell them 25 that way its significantly under the lowest yet you still get a profit out of it but then again i have no experience with this situation

__________________
Just Kut Lawn and Landscape
"Where Service is Always in Season"
Reach for the stars so if you fall you land on a cloud.

[Steve]

WELL....... We started mowing last wed. before a FINAL agreement was signed between us and this landscape co. I told the landscape co. that we needed to figure out a $ figure before jake and I were knee deep in this work.

Sometimes we will see that a lawn care company may mow a property they want to bid on first to see how long the job will take. Especially if they are inexperienced at estimating the amount of time with large jobs.

Is this what you were doing or was there some other reason?

[devuono311]

Nope, we got started because they made it sound like we had an agreement on what OUR cost would be and we were afraid of losing the bid if we didnt get started. We're still getting paid for the time we already put in, however, we're NOT signing a contract for $10,000 for the season, thats nuts.

[bruces]

The only good thing in this situation is that the school board has a contract with the landscapers not you,and you have only an informal agreement with them .Run while you can,but be prepaired when the contract comes up again .