Need Fall Cleaning Up 101 Help/List

[Moki]

She called this morning I have the job...

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

That is fantastic! Keep us posted on how it goes and how the actual hours compare with the estimated hours. Also take some pictures!

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[Moki]

I did the job this afternoon took before pics but it was dark when I finished so didn't take after pics.

We had a super wind storm over the weekend = all of the leaves from the freaking huge maple in the backyard had now dropped.

It took 2 hours just to blow them into the slough behind the property I can just imagine the nightmare it would have been if I had to rake them onto a tarp and hawl them out to my trailer.

Anyway I have to write up the bill and email it to her so she can send a cheque.

[Steve]

Excellent! Do you feel there were any learning lessons from this job that stand out?

[Moki]

Here is her response.

Hi Cam,

I'm sure it is a little deceiving on the volume of leave that tree can produce! Thank you for all your hard work. I will forward payment before Friday.

Because I am so knew at quoting and doing this kind of work everything is a learning experience...

It would have been a nightmare if I would have had to remove all the leaves in my trailer it is only a 4'X8' with high sides would have been at least 3 - 4 trips to the green dump.

Same as yesterday I did another yard clean up mostly for leaves just the driveway filled my trailer fortunately all I had to do was back up down their driveway and dump the leaves over the bank.

So two lessons are standing out for me...

1) is get a trailer that can do the job unfortunately that is going to have to wait until the spring.

2) quote by the job not by the hour.

I quoted Mondays job with a finished price unfortunately due to all of the freaking leaves dropping of that huge tree it took an extra hour to get the job done so it ended up taking me the entire time I had allotted instead of scoring an extra $50.00.

Yesterdays job I lost out I was done in 3 1/2 hours but that is because I work extremely hard and race myself to get the job done so but I had quoted an hourly rate so I could only charge for 3 1/2 hours.

If I would have quoted the job instead I would have charged an extra $80.00 - $100.00 = my financial loss again.

[Steve]

It' great that you experimented with both methods. Usually when you are getting started, it is safer to bid jobs by the hour but as you get more accurate with your bidding, you find as you did here that you can make a better profit if you bid by the job.

[element009]

Originally Posted by Moki

Yesterdays job I lost out I was done in 3 1/2 hours but that is because I work extremely hard and race myself to get the job done so but I had quoted an hourly rate so I could only charge for 3 1/2 hours.

If I would have quoted the job instead I would have charged an extra $80.00 - $100.00 = my financial loss again.

Sounds like you need to raise your hourly rate by about 25 bucks or so if you want to get the price you desire.

[Moki]

That would be great but I wouldn't get the job if I did...

I heard last night that this lady stopped by my old shop in Langley and dropped off the cheque my son has it and will give it too me Sunday morning when he comes out for a morning deer hunt.

I'm doing another yard clean up now but it is more of a leaf clean up and a final mowing should take under 3 hours for the entire job.

I have a 10% off special for senior and for the month of Nov an additional 10% off for veteran's this fellow is a senior and a 31 year veteran = $40.00/hour instead of $50.00.

I am content with this price as his word of mouth advertising for me with other veteran's will more than cover the 20% that I am discounting.

When I quoted him he was so happy with the discounts/pricing he asked if I would cut his lawns for him next year.

[Steve]

How are you feeling your time estimates for these jobs are when compared to what it actually takes? Are you finding you are getting them to be more accurate as you go?