What To charge per hour for manual labor?

[yz250]

I have an elderly lady that wants some of her flower beds cleaned out and trimmed down etc. I charge her 60$ to mow her 3/4 of acre lot which takes me about 45 minutes - 1 hour. So what should I charge for manual labor where I'm not using my equipment the whole time. The flower beds are overgrown and haven't been taken care of for quite a few years so it will probably take me 6-8 hours total. I was thinking about $20-$25 per hour. Thanks for any advice.

[Kidsweet]

I would not lower my prices for nothing. Does people give you a break when you buy things for your business. You probably also need to pay your help.

[grasschaser]

I charge between $30 and $35 per man hour. This is just my price if you feel that you can do it for $20 to $25 then go for it. Is she a good customer that you may want to give a senior discount to. Old ladies like to talk and it may bring future work for you think about it. I quit giving senior discounts because they always want more done than what you signed on for. I find it hard to tell them no so I keep my pricing firm. This is just my opinion.

[GrassBustersLawn]

$35 per man hour if it is something I want to do (bush trimming, edging,etc). More if it is something I don't particularly want to do or is excessively physical.

I have one business that has a big drainage ditch in front of it. Whenever it rains hard all the water from the neighborhood runs down the ditches to this 1 drainage ditch. IF it rains REAL HARD the metal grate over the ditch fills up with debris and the ditch overflows completely flooding this business' parking lot to about 2 1/2 feet deep and goes right up to their front door. I get $60 per hour to clear the debris from the grate so water will continue to flow down the drain. I am over there every heavy rain/downburst. They love me. It saves them money in the long run because when it does overflow their parking lot, they have to hire someone to come out and power wash the parking lot for even more $$$$$.

The more work it is and the more someone else doesn't want to do it, the more you should get paid to do it!

Mike

[edrenckh]

I like to try and get $50. Look at your local Ford dealer's labor rate. Imagine you have employees and all costs associated with them, you have to bill pretty high to make it worthwhile.

[andersc1]

I would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 to $40 per hour. $20 to $25 per hour is a fairly cheap labor rate for something like that.

Curtis

[Maddog]

I charge around 30-35 per hour for most work. More if it is real difficult or tricky.

[mjlawncare]

How much your time is worth?

Just think,are you a slave or a business man?, Real business person rates are not cheap, Think how much your time is worth!
Do you want to work hard for peanuts a day or make profit in your business?
When customers call you is because they want a pro doing some work , Leave the peanuts for the kid next door!