Advice on bidding, please

[grasshog1]

I am new to this forum; I joined because I want to expand my business and begin performing maintenance for commercial establishments. I have been doing maintenance on residential homes for about two years full time. I have been asked to bid on a commercial account that has little grass (3/4 acre, total maybe), but it is a large lot (a nursing home) with LOTS of shrubbery. I want to bid this accurately, and would appreciate any advice.

On this property there is a line of junipers approximately 100' long and 4' wide. There are approximately 300 boxwoods that are 2' in diameter x 1' height, each cut into a perfectly manicured round shape. There are 300 more that are 3' in diameter and height. There are hedges of mixed varities lining the building area that grow together in a line- these are that are 3' to 4' wide, with a total length of approximately 450'.

There is approximately 2500' of edging (curbs) to perform. The are approximately 21 flats of flowers existing. There is less that 1000 square foot of mulch.

All bushes , hedges, and junipers are surrounded by straw; I estimate replacement would require approximately 150 bales. (As I have never placed straw on areas this large , does this sound close?)

All grass will require 21" push mowing (narrow sections). I plan to sub out fertilization, bug control, weed control, etc. How would you guys begin your estimates? I am in Atlanta, Georgia where we have long growing seasons.

Thank you very much in advance.

[grasshog1]

Any advice, guidelines, or "rule of thumb" would be helpful.

[Phil Nilsson]

Count and carefully measure all parts of the work ... quantity of work ... then convert it to time ... how much work is there? ... how long will each "part" of that work take? ... how many times? ... carefully consider the frequency of work ... ask about a fixed snow contract if that suits your fancy ...

Is there a chemical program for lawn care ... if you're not licensed, bid it, sub it, profit from that too ... and be in a position to "control" the days apps are to be made ... so you're not there mowing that day ...

[grasshog1]

If I could get everyone to give me a "fixed snow contract" here I'd be on easy street. Here's an idea-reckon they'd just just let me clean up snow year 'round? Seriously, thanks for the advice. Anyone have any time standards that may be applicable? As you can tell from the original post, the property is mostly shrubbery-lots of it.

[grasshog1]

Ok, since I did not get this bid I'll ask you guyd what you may have bid on it-again. After estimating the man-hours and materials I came to a price of $2210 per month. The company rep I spoke with said they were getting it done much cheaper (I tried to get a number but "cheaper than $1400 per month" was all I could get). She also said I was not the most expensive bid she had been presented with, but I was "on the high side". I used $40/hr for my calculations.

[RRS]

She also said I was not the most expensive bid she had been presented with, but I was "on the high side". I used $40/hr for my calculations.

Sounds like you were right where you needed to be in my opinion.

I don't do any commercial work, but I've bid a lot of high dollar ($50k+) jobs when I was in the telecommunications business. There would always be at least 5 contractors on the bid walks. When the business was booming (1990's) everyone was pricing the same...high as hell. After every job was awarded all the project managers from the different contractors would tell each other what their bid was. This was great for us, but when the economy started slipping, and the cell carriers started tightening the reigns contractors were lowballing and backstabbing eachother left and right just like I've seen in the landscape maintenance business.

I don't know where I'm going with this. I was mainly telling you why I don't bid commercial work. If there were more of a standard in the green industry I'd think more about getting into commercial. The fact that you had a difference of nearly $1000 on a bid that low just reinforces my opinion on the matter.