How Much to Charge for Lawn Mowing
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- čas přidán 21. 01. 2024
- How much should you be charge for lawn mowing services? One of the most important things we do in this industry is sell time. Time is money, and we have all heard that. But, what if you were able to reduce the time needed to complete the lawns. Should we lower our prices since we are more efficient, or should we as lawn care business owners realize those returns through higher margins. In this video I'm going to show you how to price your lawn care service based on time, then I'm going to show you why it may not be a good idea to always price based simply on time. Pricing is a little science, and a little art to get it just right.
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⬆️ rate increase letter: www.turfprosacademy.com/rate-...
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MY STORY:
In 2016 I had been in law enforcement for 7 years.
I was not in control of my schedule, I was hardly making any money, and I was away from my family working nights and holidays. I was capable of more, and I was silently suffering. I knew I was selling myself and my family short.
I started Florida Turf Pros as a side hustle in 2016 before going full time in 2017.
My lawn business changed my life.
I control my own schedule, control my own income, and I am proud of what I have built; a business that supports me, my family, and some employees.
If you are a lawn care business owner, this channel will be a valuable resource for you.
This really is a great industry to be in, and I hope that by documenting my journey it will help you.
-Jonathan C. Christian
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Is pricing your lawn care services a science or an art? I think it's a little bit both. Be careful on slapping formulas on every estimate... Might be leaving BIG chunks of profit on the table if your team is exceptionally efficient.
Jonathan you have helped me think alot differently about my prices and alot of other stuff about it. I am glad I started watching you alot or I might have more than this 1 yard needing a big price increase when I got serious about this last year.
Great points you explain in this video. The beauty of starting with a push mower is that when you do upgrade, you can still use the time it would take you push mowing as the the basis for pricing while seeing how much money that new piece of equipment is making you. As always you’re preaching that good lawn care gospel. 😂
Very true!
Another great video. It took me a long time to figure this out!
Always enjoy the knowledge bombs you drop, thanks for all the information
John, I know it's off topic, but I'd love to see some videos on the skid steer, and how it's benefited your business.
How long do those tracks last
Noted!
Thank you for the content.
I was kinda confused last year at the beginning of the season.
Pricing is something I am becoming better at always learning.
Thank you kindly.
Not only the key in lawncare but many other biz too! thnx Jon
Always appreciate what you give back to the community! I have benefited a lot from you! Wishing you a super prosperous 2024!
Same to you!
I have used that price increase letter you helped me with and I am actually getting surprised. By raising my prices I am actually gaining more clients this year. Even though I had to pay a little for it. That doesn't matter because it has already earned me double in my 1 and half months of mowing this year than made last year through 2 to 3 months. By raising prices and getting new clients. Thank you
Jonathan is giving more in 2024! Great tips, love it, and keep it up! Have a great season!
Thanks! You too!
Thank you!
Very good formula, mine real close to that!, good stuff!
Jonathan thank you for sending me that letter it is helping me out a lot with my clients. With how professional it looks so far the ones I need to raise prices just a little have not complained and agreed to it. I will have to talk to the one I need to really raise the price on still, but your letter is helping my business to get higher prices with the low clients I was losing money on last year.
Glad you're able to raise rates!
@@FloridaTurfPros Everyone always complained when started to try in the past but with using this letter not 1 complaint yet. Guess I just didn't have a good of one as this one is so far.
Good points
This is really another way of covering investment cost of new equipment. Once it is paid off, then you see those max profits. You don’t increase price to cover it, but you also do not punish yourself for making an investment into your efficiencies. An adder is that you need to really hone in on square footage vs mow time when using the push mower so that you know in the future when you get new clients how to price them at the original rate to continue with these maximum profits. Great information here that I hadn’t considered which will help me as I transition to my stander here soon. Thank you sir!!
Very true!
Great video and useful information! Only thing I'm confused about is adding the new equipment. If you're purchasing better mowers that increase your efficiency, and don't use push mowers anymore, How do you know what to charge the client? I guess what I mean is, do you essentially cut the time in half with a better mower?Assumibg it would take you double the time with a push mower?
Jonathan, I started my journey and predominantly watching you, Brian, Spencer, Andes, and Jason Creel in January 2019. Rhetorical question: How are you still at 26.6k? Anyway, 5:43 “feverishly to improve efficiency”… that advice had me realize that my minute-counting OCD all along has inadvertently led to my success. Thank you for five years of invaluable videos.
Thanks, I'm glad the videos have helped you out!
Great example. There is a deep dive into these details in your teaching course isn’t there? At this stage in my business I think I need to make sure I’m doing what I need to do. Thanks again for answering my questions. Randy
I do not do a deep dive on these types of numbers in the course... I've found it's just too much to get people up and going. I would consider these topics more like 201 type stuff that I may put out in the future.
Thanks for the video. Makes great sense. A couple of questions: 1. How does competition enter into the pricing equation? Here are my rough numbers: I think we are toward the top end of our market (suburbs of KC), we charge approx $52/mow. Yard sizes are generally around 0.25 acre. Two man crews usually take about 35 minutes total (17.5 minutes x 2 guys). So that gives us $89/man hour *when the crew is working*. But they have down time and drive time, which is not a part of the equation. 2. To build route density and efficiency, do you reduce your price in order to win more business (i.e., charge $49 instead of $52)? If so, was it successful? Thanks.
No, do not reduce your price to achieve route density. You need to target existing clients neighbors through 5 arounds and occasionally door knocking. Once you add a home that improves your route density, get rid of the home that is the furthest out of your service area (if you have a full schedule). Every time I would get one or two new lawns in the same neighborhoods I was working in, I would get rid of the lawn or lawns that were furthest away. I did this over time, and it is why we have such little drive time.
This is a great explanation! Do you have examples of how to work out an overhead recovery calculation? I hear a lot of guys say you need to know your numbers but don’t really say how to go about getting your actual rate.
I do. I will do a video on that and break even point.
It depends on the area, the person youre quoting, ect...
Seniors in lower income areas are on s.s..
Indians in rich areas will not pay, say no, call you back a month later, n pay the city fone out of spite if you charge an extra fee for knee high grass.
Houses with small gates most companies wont do. Early in the year companies are a dime a dozen. Mid year many smaller companies have filled their routes n people cant get a company....
Great video you mentioned that you want both to grow the company and the dividends. In the beginning if you invest in the company that are growing and dividends, then later on down the road the company is slacking off like AT&T do you continue to hold on and to continue to buy, or would you sell off the company and invest somewhere else, that is growing both the company and dividends? Thanks
hey i started my lawn care business at the age of 12 and i never knew how much i should charge back then. so i would charge 25$ to 20$ and i would weed wack do the edging pay for my gas and everything but now im 15 and after i watched this video i finally know what to do with my business. ty so much also im curious on how am i gonna tell my clients that im gonna charge more than usual with per hour rate can you help me out.
I'm near Navarre and have lawn and ornamental pco license if you want to add lawn programs and mosquito control.
That is awesome you guys can get that high of a man hr rate. In my market the top end is $75.
What is your market and size of lawns? I am trying to figure out what my market rate is in South Carolina.
I am in southeast Missouri. We have the second cheapest gas prices in the country. Size of lawns vary. Have some that would take 30 minutes to mow and some that would take a couple of hours to mow.
@@stevenglazier5981 thank you. I have been trying to get a business going for awhile, but family commitments have stopped it. We have good prices on gas and feel $50 - 60 is the norm for us as we have similar sized yards here.
@stevenglazier5981 I'm in St charles county. 80 to 100hr. Minimum 75. That's my route. I've raised prices a lot since bidenflation. From 60hr to now 90hr is my goal this year. Everything is still going up. Trucks will be going up more with the new contracts too. Mowers never been so expensive.
@@speed_demon420wow, and we’ve been charging $20-25/hr here in Northern AZ. Cost of living is high here. Lot size is generally 2 acres and consist of grass and foxtails. I try to avoid pulling weeds by tool, so I just use my good weed whacker with .130 string. Should I raise my price per hour? My 15 yr old son mainly does the work. He keeps the $ minus equipment and gas. (And lunch). What do you think? Thank you sir
love this but in some areas i have seen so many people watching how long you take and then its the why am i paying x when you only took x amount of time. And some areas its hard to get the higher price per service.
Yes, every market is different, I would just suggest to test and raise prices until you get push back from a large number of clients.
Great video, want to get the 32 or 36 stander. 17k up here in Ontario. 🥴
Wow, that's steep!
Makes you want to charge 120 a man hour with those prices. Not to mention the truck and trailers now 😅
You seem quite profitable. I’m curious how many recurring customers you have and how many mowing crews? Or what is the percentage of revenue your recurring services bring in?
I own a lawn care company south of where he’s located here in Florida so I can give you my answers. I am a solo operator (for now) I have 74-80 customers (all recurring) . I have a full schedule and turn down 95% of new calls for weekly maintenance. I only accept lawns that are on a street that I already have people.
thanks!
Stupid question but what do you mean by overhead recovery calculation? Is that your cost to operate including labor, building, utilities, insurance, fuel etc…?
Kinda... It's more like this: There are two types of costs in your business... variable costs and fixed costs. Direct labor is a variable cost... the more work you do, the more it costs you in labor... Fuel is a variable cost... the more work you do the more it costs you in fuel... edger blades and oil supplies... all those costs are examples of variable costs, they go up and down depending on the amount of work you do.... whereas fixed costs remain the same no matter how much work you do; overhead rent at a storage facility, a crm subscription, insurance, mower payments, truck payments, etc. Fixed costs are your true overhead. They are expenses that put you in the hole every month no matter if you mow a lawn or not. Fixed costs are used for your overhead recovery calculation and finding your break even point. I may do a video on this.
When charging customers based on the size of the lawn, do you only measure the front/back lawns? Or the entire property when giving estimates? I don’t want to over/under charge when giving estimates.
Entire property. I've found people want to nickle and dime when they add a pool or a flowerbed or add a deck... they want a reduced price on lawn. We just use overall property dimensions for ease.
@@FloridaTurfPros Thanks John, that totally makes sense!
Question, do you text your customers a day before showing to their properties or just show up the day they’re scheduled?
We mow on the same day each week, so I don't send special texts prior to service.
@@FloridaTurfPros that’s including biweekly too? No special text?
Thank you. Big fan of your channel and a great help for us that we don’t have much knowledge in this industry.
Doesn't make sence to charge $50 for 20 minutes yard if it takes you another 15 minutes to drive to that location
What would the rate be for me on my own?
Everyone’s overhead an area is different, but it should never be less than a dollar a minute and you should have a solid minimum. Personally I’m at a $40 minimum and shoot for $80/hr+ as a smaller solo operation.
$120 per hour per employee? So if your billing 2 employees on one property $240!? If it takes 2 people 1 hour
Yes, your math is correct, but you have to take this example with a grain of salt. Smaller properties yield a higher per man hr rate than larger properties... meaning it would be very difficult to get someone to pay $240 for a property that took 2 guys an hour to service... however.... folks have a much easier time paying $60 for a 15 minute service with 2 guys... the math is still the same in both examples... each $240/hr. These are just examples to form a perspective/critical thinking.
Jonathan I have a yard that I need to raise my price by $30 or $40 because it's hard to mow. Started off doing pricing wrong. Do you have any tips to have to give a big price increase?
here is the letter I use for my rate increases... hope this helps: www.turfprosacademy.com/rate-increase-letter
Additionally, if you need just a big one time increase, I would just have an honest conversation with the homeonwer. Tell them the lawn takes way longer than you expected and need to adjust rate to keep providing service. No biggie.
@@FloridaTurfPros I have used the letter you gave me with 2 customers that I needed to raise it a little with if they wanted a hard part of their yard done.Neither person had a problem with it at all. You giving me that letter looks a great idea and thanks for it
I've gone from 30 to 40 as well over two years. From 30 to 37. And then 37 to 40. Some from 40 to 42 this year. The 40s are now 55 to 60. My old 55 is now 75, probably should be 80 85 but family friend and big easy lawn.
Hourly rate
May I ask what your hourly rate is? I quoted a lady $20 because my 15 year old son did it. It was a 2 acre lot that included tall grass and then extensive weeding right around the house. Homes in this area have flood control mounds that have weeds and rocks which made it complex. All in all, we came out to $300 after picking at it for 2.5 days. So, I guess about 15 hours. What do you think? Thanks
Ok, but if I know I charge 100 an hour and the lawn takes 30 mins=$50. Why all the extra math
If you are charging $100 an hr, and you could do a lawn in 15 mins, would you only charge $25 to get your $100 an hr rate? Probably not. That’s why there’s extra math… it provides perspective on the why’s of what we need to charge to capture max profits.