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  Colin Hunt April 30, 2015 at 10:51am

  Your hourly rate should reflect what you need to do the job at a profit. When we were landscaping and garden maintenance, I charged myself at the same rate, weather I was bricklaying, paving or walking behind a mower. Keep it simple - there's enough complications in running a business as it is!!
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  Stuart April 30, 2015 at 12:08pm

  It's not just about how much you want to charge depending on the difficulty of the job. You also need to consider that some jobs cost you more to complete. For example, if you are using expensive machinery you should be charging more than if you are simply using a pair of secateurs. 

  From a marketing perspective, you should also consider what the going rate is for a particular task. If you are charging your garden maintenance rate of £25 per hour, whilst doing fencing that you could be charging £40 per hour for, you are leaving 15 quid per hour 'on the table'.
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    Colin Hunt > Stuart April 30, 2015 at 2:28pm

    I think Danny was asking about flat labour costs. Machinery would be charged at it's own rate.  

    It is an interesting topic, though - do we charge extra for our skills?  I couldn't warrant charging 'brickies rates' when I build a wall or indeed 'fencer's rates' when erecting a fence. Yes I can match and better their quality, but unless I could work at their speed - which I can't, I would be over pricing the work.  

    If in doubt, dip your toe in and see what the market can handle - you will soon find out where the limits are!
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      Stuart > Colin Hunt April 30, 2015 at 2:58pm

      Good point Colin. I took it to mean that we were discussing an 'all in' hourly rate, but I see your point. 

      You should certainly be charging extra for jobs that require more skill, IMO.

      I'm very much a fan of gauging the market rates as you mention. The beauty of fencing and other such work is that it's so easy to market those services that you can afford to gradually increase your prices to find out where the 'ceiling' is, without risking running out of work. 
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  David Brain @ CGS April 30, 2015 at 11:29pm

  Hi.

  This is a very interesting question.

  Honestly, in my opinion, I don't think there is a definitive answer due to the fact of there being too many variables to each job.

  Would you charge a client who lives five miles away and only wants 1 hour's work done the same as you would charge another, who wants the same type of work carried out, that lives only two streets away who wants 8 hours work done?

  Each job is different, and is based largely on the skills of someone who can price them accordingly.

  For what my advice is worth, I think it's best to stay flexible. For me this means pricing a job on an hourly rate when necessary (taking travel time/length of job time etc into consideration), and on a fixed day rate if applicable.
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  David Cox May 1, 2015 at 9:38am

  Have you considered giving up hourly pricing? IMO its bad business and suicide in the long - run - your limiting your ability to be efficient - No point in investing in a Toro Turfmaster if your hourly rate... your spending £1200 to loose money as you'l cut lawns 3x faster.... whereas if you go FIXED priceing per job, you can invest in faster more effective tools and working methods to get the job done faster - potentially doubling the amount you earn in a day, while not increasing your customers cost either.
  Everyone wins - It also means your only disclosing a price to the customer, not a rate - so they can compare total cost - after all, what does it matter if you take 1 hour to do a job and the next person takes 1:45? They can both charge the same.... the customer will see no difference but the first operator makes more...
  
  
  
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  mark harris May 1, 2015 at 7:24pm

  never charge by the hour, you cant make money doing that, every job has a price. you may as well work for someone charging by the hour
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    Eugene Baston > mark harris May 1, 2015 at 7:40pm

    Yes......and no.  And an interesting question in the first place with a simple answer imo.  Charge what you want but not an overt hourly rate for a one off project.  Hourly rates are internal stuff, the stuff you (only) know to make the business work.

    So that's the 'yes' - charge what you want, the market will determine whether you win or not (along with your own internal calculations!).

    The 'no'? Well, I openly charge hourly rates on a pro rata basis to my VIP clients - those that receive our services week in and week out regardless of the time of year.  There's no annualisation of the contract with 12 x equal payments made throughout the year, just a totting up of time spent per man per client per weekly visit, invoiced on a monthly basis.

    Today was an exemplar day in that regard.  We visited only three clients, the first for 150 minutes, the second for 60 minutes and the third for 210 minutes, T/O on the day = £420.00.

    All three were booked for 90, 45 & 90 minutes respectively but at client consultation stage (when we get there ;->) there's more to do beyond the list of tasks I have.  They are relaxed that my list is correct and that there's is additional.  Everyone wins because the work gets done and the business/garden moves forward.

    Eugene
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  mark jenkinson May 2, 2015 at 8:51am

  I only ever charge per the job, however that was not always the case. When I first started out it was more per the hour, for anything other than mowing and then the tip fee on top. Its been per the job for sometime, at the start some jobs were woefully under quoted and some over quoted, but you learn from experience and move on.

  Now everything is per the job and if it means a visit to the tip i explain fully how I came to the cost if need be including the time taken to get to the tip and the time to off load etc, nearly every client accepts the cost when its put to them this way.

  I agree about the mowing the bigger the machine the quicker you go, usually and I explain that the machine costs a lot and is a major investment in my business and costs to maintain, if ever there is a grumble about time taken over cost.
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  Keith May 2, 2015 at 10:44am

  With my domestic customers who i am seeing for say nine months then basic maintenance I charge hourly.....lawns per job ..if there is a lot of hedge cutting I would charge extra. I would have to take into consideration distance travelled if i haven't another customer near them and then how many hours they wanted..maybe charging extra for the first hour.

  All my contracts with managing agents and plain grass cutting/hedge cutting are per job.

  I am happy with the mix but definitely couldn't operate with just charging hourly.