[jason9696]

First off, hi everybody! Great site, I have never seen so much landscaping information in one place.

A little background, I've always mowed my parents, and my lawn, and somewhat enjoy it. I like treetrimming and all the other lawn chores. This year I decided to register a trade name, get insurance, and try it as a supplement to my full-time job. I get out of work at 3:30 pm and have the weekends off so it will give me some time to pick up 10 or so clients.

So, bla bla bla, my problem being my first year is I have no idea how to judge how long a job will take me. I have a John Deere x500 48" that is not quite designed for commercial lawn mowing, but it's fast and does a good job. How should I estimate how long each job will take? Do you guys estimate the size of the lawn or do it once and see how long it takes you?

Using the guidance of this site I've figured out my hourly rate that includes my overhead for the year. Should I call around to ask what other landscapers in the area are charging for their hourly rate?

Thanks in advance!

[TrickyDick]

Welcome Jason. There's really no good way to estimate how long a mowing job will take other than experience. You can measure a property and use the acres per hour estimate for your machine as a starting point but that is really only helpful if you're doing wide open spaces. You can either guess and hope you're right or do the work by the hour. Most people will at least want an estimate though. Hourly probably is the way to go until you feel you can estimate pretty accurately at which point you will want to start charging a lump sum as soon as possible.

Most people on this site will say "it doesn't matter what other people charge, it only matters what YOUR numbers are". I personally think that's a bunch of crap and that knowing your market is as important in landscaping as it is in selling coffee or cars or houses. Your over head is probably very very low which, if you base your price solely on that will make your price very very low compared to others. That is bad for you because you can probably charge more and make more money and it is bad for everybody in the industry because it undercuts more established contractors AND in the long run devalues the service we provide in the eyes of consumers which is bad for everybody. So I think that you as a newby should try to find out where prices range and you should be charging near the low end of that range. Doing that research can be easier said than done but I think it's important. That's my opinion.

Good Luck.

[jason9696]

TrickyDick - I agree that maybe for the first year I should estimate first, and then charge by the actual time that it takes me to do the job.
I also feel that it is important to know what your competitors are charging, because like you said you don't want to undercut or overcharge.
I spoke to a semi-friend that is in the landscaping business and he charges $25 an hour for mowing. He then went on to say that he thinks the larger landscaping company in town charges $35.
First, I don't think he is making ANY money charging $25 an hour. He's even got a company vehicle that he is making payments on, along with a commercial mower.
Second I don't think the other company is charging $35, because that is all they do, mowing.
Does this sound right to you?

[Bowers]

My first year I started out part time after work and weekends like you are doing. I am still operating that way and have had success estimating mowing jobs by figuring how long it would take with a push mower * your hourly rate * local rental rate for a riding mower. Usually I come in a litttle high but with only 10 or so clients you won't want low prices to attract customers if you sell your self on quality and customer service.

[yardguy]

Experience is the best way.... But until you get enough experience start by "comparing" new yards to yours or your parents. The reason for this is because you know how long it takes to do both of those yards, therefor you should have a pretty good idea as to how long the new ones will take. The first time you do each new yard will take the longest as you become more efficient as you go. Hope that helps some?!

[jason9696]

^ Some interesting ideas, I will have to try them.