Lawn Calculator

[CoryMeckle]

Hey I was using the calculator and typed in lawns I mow and noticed the prices were high for where I live and think there should be a button where you can chose if you are in rich average or poor town

[Al Kessinger]

Lawn care business tips

I asked a question about this very topic a couple weeks ago about if anyone has used them and if they found the prices to be accurate or if they thought the prices were high.

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[Steve]

They are only going to be as accurate as the numbers you enter.

If you have a high overhead or put too high of a profit margin, then your final price will be higher.

The key to them is their consistency. Which means, you should be making the same percent of profit on larger or smaller properties.

A lot of lawn care business owners tend to underbid as the jobs get bigger because they don't realize how much time is involved. With the calculators, when you measure everything out, it should help you bid a lot more consistent.

[lxarth]

I find the calculators to be very helpful.

I have, though rarely, lowered or raised a price based on the neighborhood/customer.

The only times I usually do this is in nicer neighborhoods, and only because those customers typically have a vision on what their yard should look like, and God forbid they spot a weed. So those yards usually take just a few extra minutes each visit with just a second walk-through to make sure there everything looks perfect.

When I lower a price, it's usually for the elderly, as they are mostly on fixed incomes, and actually pay on time, and appreciate the help that we are providing. At the same time, I still need to make money, and have a bottom price that I won't go below.

[bubbgarcia]

I don't know what to make of the part on the calculator that asks for the footage for the edging...it only goes up to 999 feet and I have 1500 plus to estimate on this bid. Also I am unclear as to if it is asking for me to enter the total time for the job or for the edging itself. I would be nice to have different variables, say for instance on a job where two different mowers have to be used.

Bottom line, I've been trying to figure my time for 15,000 square feet of lawn with a difficulty of 65 and 1500 feet of trimming. The customers wants service every other week. Round trip travel is 50 min. So if anyone can lead me in the correct way of plugging in these figures I would appreciate it.

[Steve]

I don't know what to make of the part on the calculator that asks for the footage for the edging...it only goes up to 999 feet and I have 1500 plus to estimate on this bid.

That was a mess up on my part. When I put the calculator together, I didn't put enough thought into how large this would need to be. I have to update that. Also, the paid lawn care estimation calculators have no limit on data entry size.

Also I am unclear as to if it is asking for me to enter the total time for the job or for the edging itself.

It asks for the total linear feet and asks for how many feet you can feet you can trim per second.

Round trip travel is 50 min.

There is a spot in the calculator to enter any additional time and you could enter your travel time there.

Does this help?