Hi From NJ

[khj]

Help Help I just start last mouth got 1 job so far It seem like every bid I do is to high. I just bid one today the bid was to high.It was 2.90 acres and 1500 Ft. of edging, grass was 8" high. I bid $110 a week. They had someone for $50. last year. How can anybody make money in this business, if you have people going around doing jobs for this. It is a big lawn care company to. I went as low as $85 It was 8 min. from my house.I still did nt get the job. Am I to high on the bids? This is 6th one I lost to somebody that was way too low. Kevin

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Kevin, Welcome to our forum. I just bid one today the bid was to high.It was 2.90 acres and 1500 Ft. of edging, grass was 8" high. I bid $110 a week. How long would this job have taken you? What kind of mower would you be using?

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[khj]

Originally Posted by Steve

Hi Kevin,

Welcome to our forum.



How long would this job have taken you? What kind of mower would you be using?

.Would have taken about 2 hr. to do the job. I have a Kubota ZG227-61 It is new. I would have had to cut the pool area by push mower which would have taken every bit of 15 min. then edge that area to I just do not see it to be a 50$ cut. This company cannot be making much money. If any on jobs this size

Originally Posted by khj

.Would have taken about 2 hr. to do the job. I have a Kubota ZG227-61 It is new. I would have had to cut the pool area by push mower which would have taken every bit of 15 min. then edge that area to I just do not see it to be a 50$ cut. This company cannot be making much money. If any on jobs this size

I'm new to lawn care as a business but a dollar a minute is good. But I think you might need to look forward some. If the yard would've taken 2hrs the first time how long will it take if done on a weekly basis. Also take into account if You do a season contract how many weeks x how many $ could you earn. Also a larger company can drop of 3-4 workers and maybe have it done extremely fast. But sometimes it doesn't look as nice either. Not saying larger businesses are messy but I have heard said "If it's done right you're not making $'" and that's not right.

[Steve]

I would bet the original company won't be doing it for long. So if you keep in touch with them, you will probably find the job available again.

[robgee05]

Im from Jersey too. Southern part. I really don't think you gave a bad bid even at $85 very doable. I do have another question though. How much did you sink into that mower??? $50 is ridiculous though. If I charged that for an acre 1 would feel like Im getting screwed. Do you have any idea of what your costs per hour are? I know your kinda new but if you base it on life expectancy of equipment, fuel and such you can figure it out. Id think a 61 inch Kubota would cut 3 acres in 30mins LOL. Some customers just snag the lowest guy every year and some pay for reliability. Im sure in a month from now this company wont be cutting that lawn(KIT with them) He may just low ball and blow through customers as they get sick of him tearing up their lawns.


I bid a mulch job today. She said the other guy was suppose to be there 3 weeks ago. (8yards- red die), (Heavy debris)cleanup beds and a 400sq ft dog pen(mainly grass and leaves), cut, prune, sweep off gutter guards($750) She gave me kinda a funny look. So I asked what the other guy charged before. She said $450, that was just to mulch and clean out beds Im sure. So i kinda explained the costs, then in a nice way I told her that the other guy would of been here if he didn't low ball.

[lawncrafter56]

welcome to all!