how to et a lawncare company started

[bkslawncare502]

hey you all im tryin to get my company up and goin and i have some quesions. im not sure hat to charge cause i did a bid on a apartment and never heard back so i dont know what happened have been told to charge hourlyso mine is 20 dollors and how to ge the word out

[Georges Lawn & Mulch]

Use the search function

hey you all im tryin to get my company up and goin and i have some quesions. im not sure hat to charge cause i did a bid on a apartment and never heard back so i dont know what happened have been told to charge hourlyso mine is 20 dollors and how to ge the word out

on this site and you will find a ton of information on starting a new business. You will also find you are wasting your time for $20.00 and hour.

[bkslawncare502]

but the only number that i can come up with is 25 cause i dont want to go to high cause i dont want to make it to much but then that might get me more to and what a good way to write up a contract

[MASTERMOWER]

Fishing eh?

$20....$25/hour? Sounds like the local Walker Mower/WeedEater scrub here in Poverty. You'll eventually find you're selling yourself short and pissing off local lawn companies in the process.

What ever happened to the Walker Mower/WeedEater scrub? Well, since I last spoke of him a couple years back, he's still living right next to the county dump in a mobile home (rent-free).....has 4-5 employees....and was left with just $13,000 to pay himself last year (he's married with one kid, another on the way, wife doesn't work either). I told him several years ago $25/ man hour is ridiculously cheap. At at that time, he told me his low labor rate ensures they have plenty of work to do. You'd almost think I'm making this up....I'm not.

I don't call it Poverty, Kansas for nothin'.

[bkslawncare502]

well my dad had someone come give him a price to do his yard and it was 25 to do it and it would take him like 20 min to do itand then some guy was goin to chage my mom like 80 to do there lake house....so u got a way to come up wit a price cause i dot to charge to much cause i did a bid on a apartment one time and didnt get nothin back rom t and then i look at one the other day and told him 75.00 dollars and he just laughed at me

[bkslawncare502]

i dont know where the 75 came from but the one i did bid on i think iwas aound 30 an hour and it would have been about 3 hours of work mow,trim,clean-up and thats by myself and i think this year im goin to have someone with me give him 10 an hour and charge 40 an hour for apartsment and then 30 for homes unless the are only goin to take me 20 min to do and i think that apartment was goin to be like 150 a week and u anyone know what all insurence i should get and how to find out about taxes and business licence cause i think i need one for KY but dont think i need one for IN and what aout charging for taxes

[bkslawncare502]

ok guys i got some apts to put bids on and i have been calling all of them around me and finding out when they take them and what would u all do got an ideas and the want them faxed but would be good to fax them i need to find a form to use and a form for a contract

[scagguy]

Until you can use proper grammar and spell correctly, no one looking for new lawn service is going to take you seriously. Just my .02

[Sammy]

Until you can use proper grammar and spell correctly, no one looking for new lawn service is going to take you seriously. Just my .02

I agree 100%.

[Georges Lawn & Mulch]

So there you have it

well my dad had someone come give him a price to do his yard and it was 25 to do it and it would take him like 20 min to do itand then some guy was goin to chage my mom like 80 to do there lake house....so u got a way to come up wit a price cause i dot to charge to much cause i did a bid on a apartment one time and didnt get nothin back rom t and then i look at one the other day and told him 75.00 dollars and he just laughed at me

$25.00 for 20 minutes is $1.25 per minute. $1.25 X 60 minutes is $75.00 per hour. That's alot better than $20.00 an hour.

[safari lawn]

I personally try to Eyeball it for 1.00 per minute, granted if I have a helper, I can do it in half the time so I try to guess it as me alone. I might cut a break if I think I can get more customers out of the deal, high profile street, yard etc.. so far its payed off and I have 2 spots that are well over 75 an hour, a few I eat a little depending on how the grass grows. (everyone has a different climate that challenges Grass Growth) Cooler grows faster, hotter grown slower, wet dry etc... so to answer the main question about the Apartment ,

How long will it take to mow?
do you need help?
will there be other work out of the deal?
how long will you have to keep mowing it?

then from there formulate a price that ISNT COSTING YOU MONEY!!!!

[P&C Lawn Care]

Just starting out and you want to bid an apartment complex? Forget it, it will eat your lunch. Stay away from cemetaries, apartment complexes, neighborhood assn, duplexes and things like that. You will loose your A$$ if you don't know what you are doing. Honestly with your posts (and run on sentences) you sound like you have no idea of what your doing. Mowing grass may not be hard, but running a successful business and making money is. Maybe you should go to work for a lawn guy in your area and learn a few things first.

[bkslawncare502]

i do know how to type and know grammer. i just type fast and dont look over it when im done. i do know how to do apts and stuff. the problem is that i think that im over doing it. i have been looking at them allday and i am gettin in down. the funny thing is everyone wants to make fun of me for only charging like 20 ro 25 dollars an hour, but if u are doing it yourself it is different. now if iu have someone helping me the hourly rate will go up cause i have someone i have to pay. the only real problem im really having right now is what is a good way to come up with a price to charge for mulch and how much you will need.

[Georges Lawn & Mulch]

You better start paying attention

i do know how to type and know grammer. i just type fast and dont look over it when im done. i do know how to do apts and stuff. the problem is that i think that im over doing it. i have been looking at them allday and i am gettin in down. the funny thing is everyone wants to make fun of me for only charging like 20 ro 25 dollars an hour, but if u are doing it yourself it is different. now if iu have someone helping me the hourly rate will go up cause i have someone i have to pay. the only real problem im really having right now is what is a good way to come up with a price to charge for mulch and how much you will need.

$25.00 an our is not nearly enough if you have decent equipment and are a legitimate business,(insurance and licenses) I work by myself and currently bill out at $45.00 and am considering going for more on certain jobs. If you have two people you bill at $90.00 per hour to cover your help and expenses. Don't plan on increasing your rate to $35.00 an hour so have $25.00 and your helper gets $10.00. Helpers cost you more than just wages if you are doing business on the up and up.


There are formulas to use to ensure you get enough of mulch to do the job. Spend some time researching and you will find your answers. Measurements will tell you how much material you need. Then time, plus material, plus profit
equals the total cost for the job.

[Wingnut]

What you dudes be talkn bout, he talk just fine i understand him no prob

I think 20 is way 2 much so charge 10 and smile and then everyone be happy and then you make lots o money and just work slow at 10 and they think they get a deal

hehehe