Need help with first commercial lawn care bid.
Jumping from offering residential lawn care to commercial can seem to be a daunting task at first but nothing helps more than seeing and learning from the examples of others. Here is a great commercial lawn care bid example from a member of the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum.
He wrote us about the job “this is my first commercial lawn care bid and I need help. There really isn’t that much to mow, but a lot to trim. They would like trimming, mowing, blowing, as needed. Broadleaf weed control, fertalization 3x per year, collection and disposal of small debris, leaf removal in the fall, trimming/pruning of bushes.
How would you charge for a whole season that would include 28 mowings for each of the following? I have no idea on how much time each job will take but here is my best guess estimate of it. Does this price look possible? Total property size is 6.6 acres
- Mowing: 30-40 min = $1,600
- Trimming: 20 min
- Edging: 10 - 20 min = $840.00 (includes trimming)
- Small debris collection/disposal: 10 min = $280.00
- Weed Control: 30 min = $1,500
- Fertilization: 30 min = $2,000
- Leaf Removal: 45 - 60 min = $1,400
- Shrub Care: 20-30 min = $1,000
Total Contract Price = $8620.00
12 Monthly Payments = $718.00
In the overhead image of the jobsite, the property is the white building to the left of the map icon, just north of W Profile Parkway. The west border is the train tracks. The east border is N Curry Pike. The north border is the gravel parking lot, just past the building.”
One lawn care business owner suggested “I would estimate that job the same way you did by breaking each service down. Add up the time of each service and multiply it by your hourly rate.
I can’t comment on the prices of your bid because I can’t see the property and I don’t know your hourly rate.
My advice would be to bid this job the same way you would bid a residential. A lot of guys new to commercial lawn care think that they should charge more for a commercial mowing job than residential. If you do that, you won’t get or keep too many commercials lawn care accounts with that business strategy. You need to know your costs. Don’t low ball your services and you’ll be fine. As time goes on you will get a better feel for the time it takes to do jobs.
Also, use the lawn care business calculators here to help you refine your bidding process.”
