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Replies

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  Adam Pilgrim March 28, 2011 at 11:46pm

  CJ - I would strongly recommend always charging more than £11.50 per hour. There was a handy rate calculator knocking around on here, some one may know where to find it - results may surprise you! If you input your vehicles, advertising, insurance costs etc it works out for you how much you should be charging... Don't forget the price of diesel!!

  Also I try to charge by the job where possible, find it makes book keeping easier.
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  CJ March 28, 2011 at 11:54pm

  Cheers for that Adam, ive been searching for the calculator will keep looking, i was thinking in terms of £11.50ph for standard lawn cuts and tidy ups then extra charges for full on tidy ups & basic hardlandscaping etc.

   

  May be I need to rethink in terms of biz plan, im trying to present financials as easyily as possible as Im trying for some minor funding.
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  CJ March 29, 2011 at 12:00am

  Found calculator, yip would be under by about £4-£5, but at early stage maybe need to aim for middle to help win cutomers.

   
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  Fenlandphil March 29, 2011 at 6:10am

  I would use the calculator price to price up your jobs based on the hourly rates you have arrived at as being profitable. £14-£15 per hour.

  When you make a mistake on a job, as you will do from time to time and have underestimated how long it will take you but are on a fixed price, your hourly rate will perhaps drop to £11 or £12 per hour or maybe less. If you have estimated your costs on £10 or £11 per hour and end up in the same situation your rate may well end up at £5 or £6 per hour. Don't forget you have got to live during the winter when there isn't much work around and you will either have to build up funds to see you through or have an alternative source of income. 
  
  CJ said:

  Found calculator, yip would be under by about £4-£5, but at early stage maybe need to aim for middle to help win cutomers.

   
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  Richard Boyd March 29, 2011 at 6:56am

  It may be worth costing on a break even basis and then adding in a profit margin, if you do this for each aspect then you can react quickly to any future changes. That way you know if a job is worth taking, you have wiggle room, easy to sub contract out...
• PRO

  Phil Voice March 29, 2011 at 7:47am

  Here's the charge-out rate page: http://www.landscapejuice.com/2008/05/understanding-c.html

   

  Here's the link to the calculator: http://www.landscapejuicenetwork.com/forum/attachment/download?id=2...
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  Mark Watson March 31, 2011 at 3:24pm

  CJ -Don't make the mistake of undercharging to get business in the initial stages,in my view it will cause you big problems later on. You should stick to £15/hour minimum for maintenance and 20-30 quid an hour for real tough "grunt work"-hard landscaping is skilled and hard work so I charge 25-30 pounds an hour, although the pricing is per job not per hour. Where are you based ?  All  the best! 
  
  CJ said:
  

  Found calculator, yip would be under by about £4-£5, but at early stage maybe need to aim for middle to help win cutomers.

   
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  Chris Auld March 31, 2011 at 6:08pm

  Cj when i started up 4 years ago i decided to charge £10 per hour which at the time i thought was great as i was only getting paid £5 an hour by my current employer. After a few months i realised i wasn't really making any money so i raisede it to £15 per hour. Dont under sell yourself, £11.50 is not a fair charge for a professional.
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  CJ March 31, 2011 at 8:34pm

  Folks thanks for your advice,

  I have come down to chargeing £12.50 per hour on general maintenance jobs as in standard lawn cut and tidy ups etc, other jobs will be priced accordingly obviously more for kerbing, clearing, fencing etc.

  I dont think Ill get any more around here for general maintenance and will only price my self out of it even in more affluent areas based in NI.
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  CJ March 31, 2011 at 9:03pm

  Points all well recieved, possibly looking at £12.50 starting point and altered dependant on job even for general maintenance jobs but for business plan side of things 12.50 works as a starter.