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• PRO

  Nick @ NM Garden Services Ltd March 5, 2011 at 2:41pm

  You should charge what the job is worth, taking into your account your own overheads and what you need to make a profit. If your overheads are too high then look at ways of reducing them (ie reduce fuel by visiting gardens close by all on the same day)

   

  A domestic garden maintenance business should be able to make more than £200 (+ Vat) per man per day and the customer doesn't even need to know an hourly cost.

   

  A better way to do business is to work out a fixed annual price for maintenance (lay out what you will include/not include etc in a specification of works). This can then be split up into 12 monthly payments. If you are not comfortable with including everything, then just include the grass cutting, weeding etc and offer to quote separately for hedge cutting for instance.

   

  The customer is also happy as it does not matter if you have to answer phone calls/stop and eat a sandwich etc and pend all day in their property without running up enormous bills as you are not being "hourly paid". It also gives you continued income throughout the winter.

   

  Hope this helps.

   

  -Nick
• PRO

  Paul @ Ashgate Garden Care March 5, 2011 at 3:23pm

  I think it's just that time of year. I expect to get a few of these calls at this time of year as the £9 - £10 per hour usually run out of cash over winter and don't come back. I can usually sniff out the customers that take this type of gardener as they ask the price before sussing out whether you are good at the job or not.
• PRO

  Gary RK March 5, 2011 at 4:00pm

  Bang on target Nick. Good response.
  
  NMGS said:

  You should charge what the job is worth, taking into your account your own overheads and what you need to make a profit. If your overheads are too high then look at ways of reducing them (ie reduce fuel by visiting gardens close by all on the same day)

   

  A domestic garden maintenance business should be able to make more than £200 (+ Vat) per man per day and the customer doesn't even need to know an hourly cost.

   

  A better way to do business is to work out a fixed annual price for maintenance (lay out what you will include/not include etc in a specification of works). This can then be split up into 12 monthly payments. If you are not comfortable with including everything, then just include the grass cutting, weeding etc and offer to quote separately for hedge cutting for instance.

   

  The customer is also happy as it does not matter if you have to answer phone calls/stop and eat a sandwich etc and pend all day in their property without running up enormous bills as you are not being "hourly paid". It also gives you continued income throughout the winter.

   

  Hope this helps.

   

  -Nick
• 

  Chris Auld March 5, 2011 at 4:54pm

  I think £15 per hour is very reasonable, thats the absolute minimum i would work for as i dont think you can really earn a profit by charging £10 per hour when you take into account insurance, adveretising, fuel, waste license, etc.,etc. For general maintenance I charge £15 per hour when im working on my own (very rarely) or £30 per hour when theres two of us. Your always going to get those idiots that browse through the yellow pages phoning multiple gardeners asking "how much do you charge?" until they eventually get to either some newbie whos just starting out and has no idea on pricing or some old geezer that has nothing better to do. I dont bother with these sort of people.
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  Richard@www.seasons-garden.co.uk March 5, 2011 at 5:40pm

  Any enquiry that starts with:

  'How much........' or 'I haven't got much money so.....' aren't going to be very promising in terms of business. 'Buy Cheap - buy twice' & 'You get what you pay for' come to mind.

  You should stick to your program there and charge out at your proper rate to clients who are serious about their garden and appreciate what's involved in managing it.

  I think someone needs to make a TV documentary about this profession and educate the public on the skill/hard work/overheads scene, as this topic is one of the most common on LJN.

   
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  GORDON March 5, 2011 at 6:52pm

  I think NMGS has it about right.  From early on work out your own plan of how the whole think could work for you.

  Because of the area I live in, large quite well off estates all close together I elected to keep my rates for lawn mowing reasonable. This has worked out very well as I have managed to pick up new customers through recommendation/word of mouth and they are concentrated in large clumps. I do not advertise at all, I do not travel very far, only a few miles a day. The business running, vehicle  maintenance and fuel cost is therefore low. 

   

  I always make a point of speaking to people as they walk pass, nice day, rotten day, whatever and it has been surprising how just that ice breaker has resulted in someone saying how much would you charge to cut my lawn, my hedge etc. Each time I am fairly confident that person lives only around the corner and that's the customer I am looking for.

   

  I have worked in both purchasing and sales and the continual drive is to reduce costs/overheads. It is so true we can all go around thinking we are earning a good rate (sales price) and completely take your eye of the ball in respect of the build cost (buying price). It can take a bit of time to get right but as you get a customer closer to home then ditch the one does not fit into a clump.  A bit hard sometimes but sentiment can cost you dear if not very careful.
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  Lawncare-4u.co.uk March 5, 2011 at 9:19pm

  my business cost me £65-£75 a day to run.............................   £10 an hr  do the maths.............

  and i dont over-spend at all.   min to be efficient/ reliable/legal/trained..

   

  if im working its £20 an hr..........  1hr or 7...              lawns can be £25-£30  and as im excellent i can do in 1hr if i choose.......

   

  like u say it works out the same cost in the end whoever you get ........ just more headaches        

   buy cheap / pay twice
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  phil smith yewtreelandscapes.com March 6, 2011 at 12:42am

  was you a little boy scout then edward, if you cant reply to a thread in a proper manner then why even bother?

  
  
  edward maul said:

  cue 'bob a job week' type answers.
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  Neil Bishop March 6, 2011 at 1:49am

  Hi Paul, 
  
  After taking your advice from reading previous threads I have started pricing a lot more jobs the way you do (fixed price etc. Which has helped me a lot, thankyou). The problem I have is with my regular weekly/fortnightly/monthly jobs (weeding/tidying/"just come round and have a sort out"). How do you go about these sort of niggly little jobs or do you not bother? 
  
  
  Paul @ PPCH Services said:

  Threads like this make me cringe. Why oh why charge by the hour, the more mecanised and efficient you are, if you charge by the hour  the more royally shafted you will be and thus the more limited and less profitable your business will be.

   

  I never give a hourly rate, my reply is always I don't work by the hour, I give a fixed price/quote having made a site visit to see the job.

   

  As a consequence I earn more than the customer would be prepared to pay if I quoted an hourly rate and the customer conversely gets good value as I am efficient. Thus the profit making potential of my business is maximised.
• 

  Neil Bishop March 6, 2011 at 12:32pm

  Good advice, i'll try and implement this in the future to get a better income per day. Thanks Paul
  
  Paul @ PPCH Services said:
  

  More difficult, you will already  know roughly what the gardens/ borders take to  maintain in terms of time when you schedule  your day, the way I handle things is to say on the phone, no problem it will be X£s to tidy it.

  Generally I prefer more formalised arangments rather than adhoc ones and always try and get the customer on a regular arangement based on fixed price.

   

  
  Neil Bishop said:

  Hi Paul, 
  
  After taking your advice from reading previous threads I have started pricing a lot more jobs the way you do (fixed price etc. Which has helped me a lot, thankyou). The problem I have is with my regular weekly/fortnightly/monthly jobs (weeding/tidying/"just come round and have a sort out"). How do you go about these sort of niggly little jobs or do you not bother? 
  
  
  Paul @ PPCH Services said:

  Threads like this make me cringe. Why oh why charge by the hour, the more mecanised and efficient you are, if you charge by the hour  the more royally shafted you will be and thus the more limited and less profitable your business will be.

   

  I never give a hourly rate, my reply is always I don't work by the hour, I give a fixed price/quote having made a site visit to see the job.

   

  As a consequence I earn more than the customer would be prepared to pay if I quoted an hourly rate and the customer conversely gets good value as I am efficient. Thus the profit making potential of my business is maximised.