new and trying to figure costs

[mike72kk]

I Am New To The Buisness As Far As Owning. I Need Help In Figuring Gas Cost For The Year. I Am Only Mowing And I Am Not Sure About How Much Gas I Will Need To Budget For The Season. I Am In Ohio And I Figure That I Will Have About 28-33 Weeks Of Mowing Depending On The Weather. I Am Also Planning On About 60-70 Accounts. If Someone Could Help Me I Would Greatly Appriciate It.


Thanks
Mike

[CSICONCEPT]

This would be impossible to calculate. you could not figure this with out knowing the exact amount of land you were going to be taking care of, how much fuel per hour your equipment use's and how many hours a day you plan on mowing.
when you need a tune up, air filter ect....... everything makes the difference.

sorry

[N.TX]

One of the biggest factors is how far apart your accounts are and making sure you create a route that saves both time and distance.... I take into consideration traffic ... I live close to a school so there is school traffic and other traffic hitting the highway close by so i can leave at 7 45 am and it might take me 30min to go 2 miles where as if i just start on the other side of town .. it may be more milage to get there but i get there quicker and then im right by my house on the way home. I would say if you route your stuff right your gas expenses should be around 7-12% of what your bringing in total but those are by no means exact figures ... depends on what you are charging too, type of equipment, size of trailer,Ect

[Bulldog26]

I like what N. TX is saying about figuring your routs. I started out last year and had no method to my madness and was very unproductive. Having a tight route is even more important when your doing it like me after my fulltime job (teaching). Once I figure this out I cut my gas cost by 5%.
Second, I would suggest trying to focus on some high end neighborhoods and offer discounts to the whole neiborhood once you get 3 or more. Passout flyers offering $40.00 for any home in the neighborhood. My two cents.
bt