https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3gaU9YK4kM If you'd rather listen to someone watch this guy he knows the crack. Credit to Robbie, Premier Lawns.
Seems most people won't tell you what to charge or what they charge. Here's a breakdown for any new or existing business owners.
How many hour you work a week, 35 hours + 15 un-billable so 50.
How much are your overheads? £10-15k pa
So how much should you charge and more importantly how should you charge;
Fixed rate is best in most cases, it gives you the option of investing in new equitment to become more efficient. I could mow a lawn with a flymo and electric strimmer and it would take me 1 hour, or I could invest in a top of the range mower, strimmer and blower and leave a much better result in 15 minutes, this is why fixed rates are best.
Hourly rate, some people this 'works' for but ultimately it's the least desirable option. Why hourly rates don't work, the client is going to pay you from arrival to departure so you've lost your travel time for a start. Different jobs require different skills and tools. Try exsplaining this to your average Joe, they simply don't care or understand, and why should they?
Now, the numbers, what us brits hate talking about. In the North East of England you should be making at least £25 an hour. Preferably above £30 and ultimately £40-60. I think you can work out how much you should be charging in relation to this by the price of milk, It's £1.19 for 4 pints here, adjust accordingly. Is your mortgage £300,000 for a 3 bed semi, well mines only £120,00 for the same. take this into account as futher south it's a lot more to live.
Why so much some people seem to be saying, you need a degree to charge such prices. Unfortunately people drag us down with low rates, either because they can't do the basic math, or they simple don't need the money. As LHL lawncare says, 'Anyone can do gardening' and he's right, and that's the problem, however not everyone can run a successful busineess.
The bottom line, If you're charging £20 and hour you'll be making less than you would working in McDonalds with none of the benifits, £25 is a good starting point, £30 is reasonable for most simple jobs £40 is a good goal, £50+ is achievable.
My pricing policy;
- Lawns £1 per minute
- Hedges £40-60 an hour + Waste fee if not just mulching it on site
- Weed killer (Selective) £30 for 100sqm lawn, takes aprox 5 minutes to spray 5 minutes to get in and out of protective equitment
- Weed killer (Non-Selective) £20. Never more than 5 minutes + 5 minutes to get in and out of protective equitment
- Jet Washing £40 per hour
Just to give a rough guide on how much you should be making. I do not charge these at an hourly rate to the client I work it out and give them the fixed price.
Best of luck to everyone.
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Replies
Great post. Though do speak to some specialist jet washing firms and reevaluate that price somewhat!
I will thank you, I know a local lad who does it, don't know why I haven't asked the question yet. I will update the post.
Who knew that a gardener was classified by the 5 jobs above -- maybe they should include that in the curriculum - certainly make training easier for the relevant colleges.
Also thanks for the positive classification that : , ''Anyone can do gardening' and he's right, and that's the problem, however not everyone can run a successful busineess.''
That kind of sums up your opinion of the trade -your opinions of the clients - your opinion of those who work in it - and your opinion of those that actually studied to do this.
Its a bit like the endless pro facebook pages -- constantly blagging about the biggest quotes - yet not actually having much of a horticultural clue what you are doing -
This is to give a broad idea of what you should be looking to charge, I'm not going to list every service I provide.
I think a lot of people would find this very helpful, I certainly struggled to find any prices when I first started.
If you studied to be a, what I'd class as a proper gardener I have no idea what you should be charging, but I'd certainly demand a high rate for such skills.
My opinion of the trade is as followed, I absolutly love it, the sense of satisfaction when I've completed a job is immeasurable. I truely think I've found my calling in garden maintenance, and to continue doing it I need to be 100% focused on price, profit and loss is so important. If I want to grow I need to be getting this right, my work speaks for its self but I need to keep more books right and earn a decent living. After all who is going to replace my equitment? The buck stops with me so I have to make every decision based on money at the end of the day.
Agreed lewis - all information is power and fair play for anyone that helps others understand their value.
Out of interest -- how long have you been in business ? Your facebook page lists since August this year ? As in 3 months ?
I registered my business on the 15th of july 2019, I'd be going prior to the but not officially.
Prior to this I ran a cleaning company, end of tenancy mainly, before that cafes which is where I got my diploma in businesss.
ok -- excellent -- at least you have almost 6 months experience in your business :)
I don't mind, as I've stated it's business I'm not offended by remakes like this. It shows a basic lack of understanding of business. Yes I've been the gardening business a short time but I've been working for myself for 4 years and running other peoples business for 5 years prior to that, which i also got my degree whist doing.
I started early 2018, but this year it snowballed massively. Since then I've spent hours everyday researching techniques, equitment, rates ect. 100's of hours of my own time invested in research alone. I've since put this into practice and through trail and error have got it right, for the most part.
I've more than a years experience in business, I managed cafes at 18 (9 years ago) then owned my first business in 2015.
Business is business though, the numbers never change.
Hi Lewis
Thanks for credit, that's my video you are referring too
You have been posting some interesting stuff on here the last few days. I will look forward to reading more
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