labor rate

[ljustice]

Hello to all. *I am new to this forum and am wondering if a i can get some help on hour to determine an hourly rate to charge for lawn care for residential and commerical jobs. *I understand that i need to figure in my expenses but i am not sure on how to come up with an hourly labor rate. *Like what is fair to charge for my time. *This is the part i dont know how to figure out. *Another question is their any place i can go to to figure out the average amount of time a tank of gas will last in my mower and weed eater. *I have a commerical snapper 48 inch sit on zero turn mower and commerical stihl blower and weed eater. *I also do snow removal and already know the cost per mile to drive my truck. Like i said i just am not sure on the hourly labor rate or whether i should use maybe a diffrent cost system to charge per job. I am looking for the rate to cut grass by the way. This might help to let you know what i am talking about exactly.*Any and all help appreciated thanks I am also from Butler county ohio if that would help in determining a cost rate Thanks Lyndale

Lawn care business tips

Hi Lyndale, Welcome to the Gopher Forum. How long have you been in business? What promted you to start a lawn care business? What are some of your goals? Basicly where would you like to see yourself in 5 years? Do you have a marketing plan in place, if so what type of marketing are you looking to do? I'm not to far from you, I'm located in Northern KY. So I could help some with your questions but I would like to know a like about your business and what you are expecting from it. Thanks Tim

[FourSeasons]

I would charge by the sq ft. for mowing lawns not by the hour.
But you can base your sqft figure off of a price per hour that you want to make.

Figure out your expenses and whatever else you need to figure into your rate.
Then measure off a lot and time yourself mowing it and you will get a idea of how long it takes you to mow say 5000 sqft or an acre at a flat rate.
You can then break it down and figure your mowing rate similar to that.
Sometimes guys add extra $$ for obstacles they have to go around like trees or beds.

Hope i didn't confuse you and this helps.

[Steve]

Hi Lyndale!

Welcome to our forum! Tim asked you some important questions that will help get you answers.

[makbootzy]

I just did this last night I figured $40hr mowing $30hr trimming $25hr edge and $25hr for blowing.
if I spend 15 min on mower it is $10, 15min trimming $7.50, 10min edging $5.00 and 10min blowing $5.00. So $27.50 for a trailer size lot...seems fair to me.

[ljustice]

Hi Tim,
Thanks for your help in this problem.

I have been in business for 3 years. I done a lot of residential and some smaller commerical jobs but this past january of 07 i had some major surguries done and had to let go almost all my work. Now i want to comeback but want a lot more commerical work. My goal is to make enough money off lawn care to make it my full year around job. I also do snow removal and i have gone out and got about 7 jobs this year for snow. Right I am not doing any marketing because i was also wondering what type of marketing would be the best to use like radio, signs, etc. Any info on how to price shrubs trimming, mulching would be of great help. My problem is on a reasonable labor rate to charge.
I started doing lawn care because i have cut grass for long. My yard is over an acre and i have always cut my grandparents as well.

Thanks for the help,
Lyndale

See that a lot of people are recominding to do bidding by sq.ft. but how do you measure that in a timely matter? Also is it more effective in getting a price? Because right now I do an hourly rate trying to make about $30.

[FourSeasons]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]See that a lot of people are recominding to do bidding by sq.ft. but how do you measure that in a timely matter? Also is it more effective in getting a price? Because right now I do an hourly rate trying to make about $30.

You wont be very profitable mowing per hour.
You have to know the sqft for when you do bigger lots. A bigger lawn will actually look bigger than it is. Using sqft. you can be more accurate so you don't over bid or under bid. and more consistent


Use a measuring wheel for measuring in a timely manner.

How do I measure the sq.ft. with a wheel? And do you know where I could pick one up at?

[FourSeasons]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]How do I measure the sq.ft. with a wheel? And do you know where I could pick one up at?

Andrew,
You should be able to get a measuring wheel at any hardware store or a store like Home Depot.

To get the sqft. -
If the property is a irregular shape then dvide into seperate squares or rectangles.
Measure the length write it down.
Measure the width and write it down.

Multiply length x width and thats your sqft.

Now you have your sqft. So if you have 3000sqft., then you can charge x amount for 3000sqft.
Then add on for trimming, edging, blowing, and anything else you might want to factor in to the cost.

Figure out how long it takes you mow a certain amount of sqft., with each one of your different size mowers.
This is pretty close to how I do it.
Others might do it different