Me and a friend are starting up a Summer Landscaping/Lawn Care business. How much should we charge?
October 10th, 2007 by admin
redsox_ws asked:
For the basic mowing lawns and doing weed whacking around the yard, what would be a good base price for running a serious summer lawn service business with a friend of mine? Are there other calculations we would need to include? (Labor, yard sizes, gas for the mowers?)
For the basic mowing lawns and doing weed whacking around the yard, what would be a good base price for running a serious summer lawn service business with a friend of mine? Are there other calculations we would need to include? (Labor, yard sizes, gas for the mowers?)
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October 12th, 2007 at 6:57 am
You did mean to say my friend and I, didn’t you?
Prices for lawn care vary widely depending on your area. Obviously you can not charge as much as a pro. Call some local places and ask what they would charge for a lawn. Give them the size of the lawns in your area and then decide what you think is fair. I think $25 would be the minimum.
Of course you need to take into account labor, the size of the yard (you need to know how long it will take so you can schedule your day appropriately). You need to consider both gas for the mower and the gas for your vehicle to get from job to job. You might want to consider some liability insurance just in case you run over someone’s prize winning roses.
Try to get your customers on a repeating schedule IE: every week or two so you can spend your time doing the work and not trying to find more clients. Good luck!
October 15th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
With any business you need to look at your costs of doing business and what competitors charge.
Most landscapers charge less per visit if you have the yard done weekly, slightly more for bi-weekly and quite a bit more for a one time job. Obviously if you do the yard weekly it won’t take as long each time but if it hasn’t been tended in several months it will take a long time to get the job done.
fees vary in different parts of the country, in San Francisco I paid $120 a week for the works but in Atlanta i paid $40 for the same service.
I would call around, pretend you’re looking for a service to hire and see what the going rate is. You’ll need to undercut it slightly to get started, give people a reason to try you out.
AND always remember that word of mouth is the best advertising you’ll ever get. Make sure your customers are happy and they’ll tell their friends and neighbors about you. For the same reason, one unhappy customer can ruin your summer’s business. Always check back with people after they’ve had a chance to look at your work and if they’re unhappy offer to fix the problem no charge.
Good luck