Commercial Bidding

[jrod14]

well...i recently started to cross into the landscaping market. I usually just offer standard mowing but right when i started to decide to offer full landscaping. i got the chance to bid on a huge project. Its a 6 acre retirement home with 3.03 acres of turf, 2 courtyards that need about 3,000 sqft redone each and 5,000 sq ft of real estate in the front office. Not to mention i had the chance to bid on the mowing and lawn maintenance too. I submitted the bid 2 weeks ago and most likely wont hear anything for another 3-4 weeks. I know i really sold the mowing. i actually impressed myself but did a hell of a job with the bid..i hope. thanks to all of you guys where i have gotten my research and info. the ground manager actually told me what he is paying and he is currently paying $1100 monthly for the mowing and trimming on both courtyards. of course...you get what you pay for and you can definitely tell on that property. it looks really over worked. the grass is dead and continues to be mowed at the short improper heith of 2" for st. augustine. I put in a bid for $2258 monthly. but this covers 17 palms, 25 oak trees, 20 little oaks, 200 ft of bushes 4 ft high, fertilizing 4 times a year and i threw in the the trimming of the courtyards and powerwashing the courtyard walkways twice a year. the good thing is that if i am awarded this account i will get paid the same in the winter months for 2 cuts as i would for 4 weekly cuts during the season. i figured if the guy is paying $1100 a month for just a cut...why not figure a full service one stop shop price and offer that. so i was in his office explaining the whole deal and services and the great thing was that he told me "man, you know what you are talking about! im extremely impressed with you and your company. If it were up to me..you would be hired right now but i have to send this to corporate. But Mr. Rodriguez, i will definitely try to sway them with your company. I like what i hear and am excited to see this place turned around!" As big as a compliment as it was...it scared the hell outta me too!! haha! i know its a hell of a deal for both of us and this account could really put my business out there. i didnt offer anything i couldnt handle and i always stick to my words was very important in this bid. i guess thats why i am really excited about this one. Here in South Texas...alot of companies have burned the hell outta customers. I want to fix that by keeping my word and offering great service. i know you guys would need pics to really tell if this is a good deal or not but your input would be great. i have pics but there are so many that it would take me days to upload. I guess i really just want to thank all of you too because i have done tons of research from this site and read so much material...its like you guys helped me bid it. Say a prayer for A CUT ABOVE LAWN CARE! Oh, so the final price was $28k a year for the full service mowing and $19k for a full complete renovation in landscaping with cleanup, new plants, mulch, edging, weed barrier...you name it! I have a great feeling about this one and did my homework on this bid. I know it will payoff! I will keep you guys posted! Heres also a pic of my new logo. well the logo is just the baseball themed part but im getting a trailer sign made with this one. As far as an update on my mower....its a hell of a worker! Got new paint and decals to make it look brand spankin' new! Not to mention its new kawasaki 27hp engine, clutch and xmsn! Ck out my website at www.acalawncare.com and let me know what you think. Thanks! Jacob Rodriguez

Attached Images

ACA Lawn Trlr Sign.jpg (54.0 KB, 16 views)

__________________
Jacob Rodriguez
A Cut Above Lawn Care
acalawncaretx@gmail.com
www.acalawncare.com

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Last edited by jrod14; 05-09-2011 at 09:42 PM. Reason: misspellings

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Jacob, I am crossing my fingers for you! I really like your logo too. Could you take out all the contact information and show us how you put the bid together? It would really help others just getting started to see how the process is done. Also, could you show an overhead view as a way of giving a visual for the project?

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[jrod14]

Originally Posted by Steve

Hi Jacob,

I am crossing my fingers for you! I really like your logo too.

Could you take out all the contact information and show us how you put the bid together? It would really help others just getting started to see how the process is done.

Also, could you show an overhead view as a way of giving a visual for the project?

Thanks Steve! Well, i measured all the turf with a measuring wheel. It came out to 3.03 acres. I usually cut $100 and acre but since there was so much trimming. I had to up the price to $150 and acre which is my max. I know i know $150 AN ACRE! It is a lil expensive but i made up for the price in other ways. He wants this property shining. There are some bare spots and it is dry down here right now. luckily he has fixed the irrigation system and i must say shoots plenty of water to keep this property immaculate. I offer seeding first and then 4 fertilizings per year. A buddy of mine trims palms, trees so i got him involved. he has been doing alot of work for me now so i can offer trimming 25ft + palms. added those in at whatever he charged and marked it up 15%. added weed control at $150 per month based on area. I took all of those totals and divided them into 12 of course so it is only $1000 more than what they are paying now but for 5 times the service. I am offering them 15% for the first 3 months until the property progresses and after 6 months a chance to secure another 12 months at this years price regardless of the economy if they renew their service agreement. sounds risky but if they do award me this contract. its alot of money. I pretty much marked up all the materials needed for this year 20% and added about 55% labor to the gross total and came out with the net total for the year. sounds a lil difficult but at the end....it really is a great deal for a better price than what they would just pay for mowing. I also input a turf assesment and trouble shooting criteria in my bid sold my insurance in my bid since so many companies around here lack the insurance. I probably could of come down $100 maybe $200 on the final monthly price but im getting tired of so many low ballers out here. so, im not budging. if i dont get it...i dont get it but their property wont get any better paying what they are currently paying. The manager is a cool guy so i think that i have a really, really great chance at this one. We shall see. Sorry to not be more in depth on the process but im way too busy to break it down. i pretty much took what alot of people on this site were doing and took bits and pieces from everyone. I tried to develop a bidding process for me. I bid either on time, sqft or difficulty. Take care gentleman!

[Steve]

I pretty much marked up all the materials needed for this year 20% and added about 55% labor to the gross total and came out with the net total for the year.

Are you saying that out of your total bill, 55% of it is for labor? Or how do you work all that out?

[jrod14]

Originally Posted by Steve

Are you saying that out of your total bill, 55% of it is for labor? Or how do you work all that out?

thats exactly what im saying. dont know if its too much or too little. i added all my labor costs and with my estimate. i should really be on top. but...i do know that for example when you hire contractors for building. they usually charge whatever you spend on materials for labor too. meaning they charge 100% of what the materials is for labor. if i get this bid it should pay about $130-$155 an hour. Man, i hope i get it! I gotta call him in the next couple of days to ck on the status.

[Steve]

Great! I am looking forwards to hearing your results!