Help please

[corylynn1]

Okay so I am wondering if my bid is too high. I bid on a 10 unit apartment complex today with maybe a half acre of easy mowing and approx 15 min of trimming. It also included weed control by spraying flower beds and edges of parking lot. No edging as this property doesnt need any. I figured I woud be their an hr plus the 40 mile round trip. I quoted 105 bi weekly and if we do trimming and pruning of shrubs it would be 124. that also includs policing up the area and fall leaf cleanup. Honestly their may be 250 feet of weed trimming but the hedges are over grown so they need a lttle work to get back on track. What do you think?

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Let's break this down. a half acre of easy mowing How long to perform? weed control by spraying flower beds and edges of parking lot How long to do this? if we do trimming and pruning of shrubs How many and how much shrubs will you have to trim and how often? How long are you thinking this would take? 250 feet of weed trimming And you are thinking this would take 15 minutes?

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[CS-LawnService]

i bid an 8 unit apartment complex at 90 usd and did not get it .they seem, to go for cheep and do not care what they look like

[lxarth]

i bid an 8 unit apartment complex at 90 usd

They didn't accept? Are you sure they only went on the lowest price? Some people, myself included, get a couple bids, and go with the middle one, as I feel that one is probably industry accurate.

If the bids are very close together, I base it on how the company presented themselves when we met.

There are threads here of companies getting jobs even after the customer explained that they are more expensive. $90/mo for ANY account is way low. Even if the place has no more grass and shrubs and gardens area then a typical home, that's still too low.

I don't know how prices work in your area though, so maybe I'm just full of it. But if I got a bid for just basic lawn service at my own house that was that low I would turn in down because it would be a low-ball bid in my area.

As for the apartment complex from the OP. A half-acre for me (I just use 21-inch mowers still, no awesome ZTR's, or 32's here ), plus trimming, would take 2 hours per week. Not including blowing.

For an apartment of only 10 doors, would probably take around 20-30 extra min. Without seeing, I'm just guessing.

So it sounds to me like 2.5 hours. But if you even had a simple riding mower (or decent 32-inch walk behind), you would cut your mowing/trimming time down to 1 hour, as you said. Plus the blowing.

And don't forget that driving 20 miles for 1 job is costing you around 3 gallons in gas.

You also mentioned only bi-weekly visits? Does the grass just grow that slow? In the PNW we need to mow weekly.

[corylynn1]

Well first off the only reason for bi weekly is that is what the guy wanted lol and the prices were gonna be 110 bi weekly the guy also was being cheap and wasnt really wanting the hedges and bushes trimmed but i added a piece quote of 125 bi weekly for that. I wouldnt be there very long like i said maybe an hr each time. thanks for the replies guys any nfo on how to go about getting a few more bids or who to talk to with the commercial side to try to get n the bid lists or offer my business. Also I have been seeing some terrible commercial jobs with small stores and gas stations. Would it be a good Idea to go talk to them and just offer my service. Whoever takes care of these places are definitely neglecting them. Thanks guys

[Steve]

Also I have been seeing some terrible commercial jobs with small stores and gas stations. Would it be a good Idea to go talk to them and just offer my service

Absolutely. Find out who is in charge of it and contact them. Talk about what you saw that was a problem with their property and tell them how you would correct it.

Check out my blog for more ideas on how to get commercial lawn care customers.

And here is some more reading material on the topic.
How To Get Commercial Lawn Care And Snow Plow Customers.

Keep us posted on how it all goes.