Very Small bid ques....?

[Hawk83]

I got a call today from a family aquaintence, looking for someone to cut their lawn that consists of only a front yard, measuring a mere 10'x15'. they were just interested in a regular cutting service for the summer, and i would have glad taken on the job since i'm always out for more customers. the only problem was that the other guy only charged her $10 to cut it, i'm guessing because it was so small, but i turned it down. I told her i won't even start my equipment for any less than $25/cutting, and i know my base price is on the low end, as far as LCO's go- and given the rising gas prices alone, we have to account for that no matter what size job it is- so i suggested she should try to get some neighborhood kid to cut it if they wanna keep paying such a small fee. Now i am not sure if the previous guy did anything more than cut, but on such a small piece of property, with no back yard, and basically just grass to tend to, what is the going rate,? what would guys have said to someone that came to you with this scenario? thanks, hawk

[Scaper-S2k]

If it was close to other accounts, we would do it for our minumum price as well.

[Stephen M.]

I think your comments are right on. It'll cost you more to get there, unload and load than doing the actual work. Stick to your gut instinct.

Last year I had a similar situation and got the job. A lady called from her vacation home located on the Coyle [pronouced "Coil"] peninsula, about 1/2 hour from my shop one way. I drove out for a look. Mow/string trim-$60 + tax.

Her response was "What? That's alot of money for about an hour's worth of work!!

I responded that she lived out in Tim-buck-two and it would take that long for a round trip. A few days later she called with a billing address.

So, charge her the $25.

[Mo Green]

If it were me, and it was a family friend not to far from me or a regular customer, I would have told her $15. You never know what kind of referrals you could gain from someone. You could cut a 10'x15' patch in 10 minutes with a 21".

[ahlgrenlandscaping]

Two of my accounts are about 10x15' i charge 10 bucks a piece for them and i'm in and out of the yard in under 5 minutes. I make about 600$ a year off of each but each customer gets me about 10-15g's per year in referrals they are two elderly couples who know more people in town than i know what to do with. So even if you only try it for one season you never know what kind of exposure you will get from them. I am usually willing to give every potential customer a shot for a season and see where it goes.

[MGO]

If it was my neighbor...i.e right next to me......but once I start my truck I ain't doin' nothin' for $10.......don;t sweat that one....

[ahlgrenlandscaping]

MGO i don't think i made my post very clear those two lawns i've done for 2 years and each year total i get approximately 30,000 dollars in work from them and it's usually just 3 or 4 other large accounts. so cumulative this year i will have made about 60,000 dollars off of two "charity" lawns.

[mariner]

I would have passed too! Any legitimate lawn care business would not be profitable doing $10 stops. Fill your time with one that pays well. There out there.

[Mo Green]

So if you pick up $20,000 a year in referrals from one of these $10 stops, is that not worth it?

[MGO]

Sorry ahlgrenlandscaping....I was responding to the original post by Hawk83....not to your response

[Luxor Landscaping]

This is an interesting post... since it is just one yard.. yes, it is questionable as to if its worth it. In my book I would agree with ahlgrenlandscaping.. u NEVER know what kind of referrals you can get. When I was working in Florida, we picked up a yard for a lady in a town home.. was being done for 15$ by local.. so we agreed to give it a try and see how it went. ( Our schedule was busy but not loaded.. so we figured hey, it lunch that day... turns out she ended up being the manager for servies for a LARGE corporation and guess who got the bid.. I thought my boss was gonna crap himself LOL we had to add another crew to handle all the work... granted situations like that are rare, but less rare are situations like ahlgren's where its an elderly perosn.. and they have a lawyer son who lives in a large gated community.. u get the idea.


My advice.. if your schedule is not slammed .. agree to take a lower price if she will pay cash, think of it as doing that job that day for your lunch. see how it goes.. if it doesnt work out then let her find someone else later.

oh yeah.,,.. when in Florida.. we we're the 12th company she had talked to Goodluck

[boazcat]

I think some of these guys that say pass on it, have plenty of accounts and don't need to worry about staying busy. Lots of guys on here need the work and might go for it, just for the potential referrals.

[Hawk83]

Wow! kinda surprised to get so many replys to this thread about such a tiny lawn LOL, But hey, thats what this forum is all about i guess. Well i apprectiate all your comments and ideas. Thanks alot. Hawk