How To Determine What To Charge For Lawn Mowing

Does Higher Pay Equal Less Turnover

In a nutshell, higher pay can help equal less turnover, but its not guaranteed.

Here’s the thing, you dont want to be the low payer among competitors.

If you become known as the low paying employer , youll likely get poor employee candidates, decreased employee retention, less work completed, and lower quality work.

However, remember that paying employees is so much more than their take-home pay. While money in their pockets is important, it’s not the end-all be-all.

It’s important to pay what’s within the budget while still maintaining profit goals.

Also, incentives go a long way. For example, bonuses, benefits, and lunches all factor in when trying to attract the best employees.

Always remember, people want to feel appreciated. If you treat your employees like family, then chances are they’ll work hard for you and put their best foot forward.

If they get nickel-and-dimed and micromanaged, then they’ll likely look elsewhere .

Now, thats not to say employees dont have to be held accountable. Weve all seen people that take advantage.

For example, a half hour lunch turns into 45 minutes, or a job is finished and the crew drags their feet starting the next job. It happens. As the lawn care business owner, you just want to minimize it.

How Often Should You Mow Your Lawn

Healthy lawns should be mown every two weeks during Summer as it is the growing season and during the winter you should only need to mow once a month. This may vary depending on your location, if you have a longer growing season and the kind of lawn you have.

Hot TIp – Avoid cutting your grass too short as it can get sunburnt like us!

Find Out The Track Record

Ask how long a lawn care provider has been in business. What level of experience and education does the person or a providers staff have? Also, is the provider properly licensed and insured?

Unfortunately, some providers are fly-by-night operators that havent been in business very long and are interested only in taking your money, not in providing top-notch service. As noted by MarketWatch, providing lawn care requires little more than some equipment and a business license. Almost no training is required.

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Lawn Care Costs Per Acre

Just like with mowing, more significant lawn care such as seeding, weed control, fertilization, and aeration is typically priced per acre, with many companies performing more than one of these services at a time. Lawn care costs range widely due to the variety of services that may be needed, and they may include one or more services, such as seeding with fertilization or aeration. These services are usually done separately from mowing and are also billed separately from mowing.

Rates Vary A Little By Location

Much of this depends on what part of the country you live in.

For example, pricing for lawn maintenance services in warmer climates such as Florida or California are more competitive than they are as compares to cooler climates.

You might be wondering why this is?

Well, think about it. The lawn care business is more stable in climates where the grass needs cutting year-round. Naturally, in an area where grass grows for shorter seasons, lawn care services have to figure out how to make ends meet, during the wintertime.

Put another way, lawn mowing services are treated more as a commodity in warmer climates.

And more as a luxury service in Northern climates.

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What Do Other Lawn Mowing Businesses Charge

It really depends on the lawn mowing business in question every single one will vary to some extent. Some have a minimum rate, while others request a call out fee to assess the lawn and provide an accurate quote based on the work at hand. Others may simply provide an estimate that lies on experience and judgement, while others have a methodical system of factoring in all of the above factors and charges required.

If you want to compare with the market rates you can browse our state pages such as victoria, Queensland and NSW and drill down into your individual suburb to find the most recent average price charged in your area.

How Much Does Lawn Care Cost At Joshua Tree

We have no problem admitting right off the bat that we are not going to be your cheapest quote if youre exploring lawn care prices in the area. If youre shopping on price alone we arent going to be the right fit for you.

But our guess is, if youve made it this far in the article, you probably arent shopping on price alone. You probably care about the value that youre getting for your investment and are someone who wants to understand what that investment includes. We can tell you what investing in lawn care through Joshua Tree means.

For one, we believe in utilizing high-quality products applied by well-trained and certified professionals. While the labor rate turnover in our industry is high, here at Joshua Tree we have many employees who have been with us for over a decade. In fact, the first three employees that we hired when we started the business are still with us.

We also believe in creating careers for our people. That means we pay them well and we invest in ongoing training. Having long-term employees translates to benefits for the client because our technicians really get to know each property they care for.

As you consider lawn care companies in the area, we hope that youll consider investing in our program. We believe that our high-quality lawn care is worth the investment as we provide our clients with superior service and results. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for when it comes to lawn care and we want to give our clients the best.

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How Much Does Lawn Care Cost In Allentown Bethlehem And Easton Pa

If youve never worked with a lawn care company before you may have no clue what to expect to pay for services. Unfortunately there is no simple answer to the question, How much does lawn care usually cost? Even right here in the Lehigh Valley, lawn care prices can vary dramatically.

The cost of lawn care is dependent upon a variety of factors including products used, methodologies, and even what treatment options are included in a package. Comparing two companies side-by-side could be like comparing apples and oranges. There are certainly valid reasons why one company might cost more. The differences between companies and services are worth exploring.

Though we cant tell you exactly how much lawn care should cost without knowing your lawns size, our goal is to at least help you be able to line up any program or lawn care company in Allentown, Bethlehem, or Easton, PA and be able to do a fair comparison, based on whats important to you. That will be the best way to determine what is an appropriate lawn care price for what youre getting.

Cost Of Winterizing Your Lawn

Depending on where you live, you may need to winterize your lawn for the harsh winter weather. Winterizing your lawn will ensure the lawn your worked so hard to keep healthy and beautiful does not die from the first snow, and can also prevent dead spots or the unappealing brown spots that we all see too often at the beginning of spring.

The average cost for winterizing a lawn is about $400, but the price can vary drastically depending on where you live and the size of your lawn. If you have a lawn care provider you can ask them about their winterizing process and what your lawn would need, or you can find a lawn care professional today to take on the job.

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Ready To Start Your Lawn Care Business

Weve covered the basics of starting a lawn care business and the step-by-step plan that can help you get started. Now its your turn to work on it and build a lawn care business from scratch.

While it can be a lot of work, its important to start your business legally and set it up for long-term success. If you want help registering your business, feel free to contact us.

Do you have questions about starting a lawn care business? Leave them in the comments below.

Get free business tips, resources, and articles straight to your news feed.

Finally Keep Up With Market Changes

Every year, or even every quarter, look into how much other companies charge for similar services. Once you build your client base, you can also ask how they feel about your services. Youll want to know if they think your prices are fair and reasonable, and how much theyre willing to pay.

If a few customers decide to leave you, ask them why. Take note if its because your prices are too high. You may want to make a change. Alternatively, you can also offer a seasonal deal or package.

When it comes to how to price your lawn care, do what you can to serve your clients, offer them great quality, and stay profitable. And above all, remember prices can change. Keep up with the market and you’ll keep your business going strong.

*Monthly payment calculations do not include initial premium down payment and may vary by state, insurance provider, and nature of your business. Averages based on January – December 2020 data of 10% of our total policies sold.

Emily Thompson

I earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin at Madison . After realizing my first job might involve carrying a police scanner at 2 am in pursuit of newsworthy crimes, I decided I was better suited for freelance blogging and marketing writing. Since 2010, Ive owned my freelance writing business, EST Creative. When Im not penning, doodling ideas, or chatting with clients, youll find me hiking with my husband, baby boy, and 2 mischievous mutts.

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How Does Lawn Condition Impact How Much To Charge For Lawn Mowing

The relative quality of the lawn itself will naturally affect costing given the time and effort required. Here are a few variables to take into consideration.

• Size of the lawn. A tiny front lawn is obviously going to cost a lot less than a sprawling back yard due to the smaller amount of energy required. Many lawn mowing companies scale their prices based on size as a result.
• Height of the grass. Tall grass requires more energy than shorter grass to tame, and may also require a whipper snipper beforehand. Other lawns require multiple efforts with a lawnmower which takes additional time.
• Density of the grass. Tough, durable grass may require multiple efforts with a lawn mower. A dense area of grass also means increased clippings to collect, and therefore more time is required.
• Lawn terrain. Terrain needs to be considered, as a flat lawn without obstacles is much easier to mow than a steep lawn broken into segments. Any additional effort required will need to be charged for appropriately.
• Obstacles on the lawn. Additional variables that add to the difficulty of lawn mowing include obstacles such as trees or garden features that make mowing less simple. Anything that adds extra time and attention will need to be factored into the price.

Pssst: to find customers local to you who are looking for lawn mowing services.

Average Mowing Cost Per Square Foot

Mowing costs are sometimes calculated by the square foot, especially for smaller yards. Keep in mind that as your lawn approaches a full acre, your costs may switch to acreage to make the estimates more accurate. On average, the price per square foot is around $0.009 to $0.015 for weekly mowing and $0.015 to $0.020 for biweekly mowing.

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Lawn Care Cost Factors

Many factors determine the final cost of your lawn care. These include not only the size of your lawn but also your location, grass type, number of fences, how many sidewalks to edge, required maintenance like aeration or fertilization, and number of trees. Many services provide discounts if neighbors have their lawns done at the same time.

If your lawn is in poor health, your starting costs may be higher than if your lawn only needs maintenance. Costs for residential areas may differ from costs for commercial properties.

Climate also plays a role. For example, wet, rainy climates have different needs than dry climates.

Lawn Mowing Service Pricing And Installation Cost Checklist

• Expect the Lawn Mowing Service prices to fluctuate between various companies each and every company have different operation expenses and over-head.
• Try to get prices in late Fall, early winter you should expect aggressive pricing discounts by waiting for a contractors down season.
• Try to budget and additional 7-15% more on top of what our calculator gives out for Lawn Mowing Service costs.
• Visit every supply house that sell your particular brand of Lawn Fertilization Service tools and try to negotiate a better price with each supplier I save on average 20%.
• Lawn Mowing Service isnt an easy task to perform and can leave you with a sore back. You might find it more cost effective to hire a landscaping company to perform the work for you. Landscaping companies will most always get better prices on Lawn Mowing Service saving your back and additional costs of Lawn Mowing Service, so shop around, ask your neighbors if they can recommend someone.

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Consider Special Services And Materials

Image credit: LawnCare via Pixabay

Lawn care isnt just mowing grass. As you know, a lot goes into maintaining a lawn, and therefore, a variety of services that your business could offer.

Additional lawn services include:

• Aeration.
• Winterization.

You should price each of these additional services separately instead of putting them together in one lump sum. This ensures that you account for all elements of the job.

Not only do these services require different types of labor, but they also require different materials that affect the total price of the job.

Discuss these special services with your customer beforehand to ensure that youre both on the same page.

Determining What You Want To Pay For Lawn Care

We know that everyone has a different level of expectation for their lawn. Some people just want to get rid of the bulk of the weeds fast and arent really thinking about long-term solutions. Instead theyre focused more on treating major symptoms as they arise. Folks with this mentality could be the same ones shopping for the cheapest lawn care price. The problem with this way of thinking is that by failing to ever get to the root of the issue, the same symptoms return again and again.

Other homeowners may care about a higher level lawn maintenance program and they want most issues taken care of, but theyre also on a tight budget. These folks are the ones who may want a higher quality company and service but may take on their basic level package, getting most of the big issues addressed and possibly choosing to add on services later.

Finally, some want the best and they dont want to compromise results. They know that paying for value often means they have less headaches and will get the lawn theyve been dreaming of a lot faster. They also know they are paying for a long-term solution . Theyre willing to pay a higherlawn care cost per year because they know their investment will pay off with the results they really want.

Sometimes the homeowner that invests more at the onset saves more in the long run as they prevent costly problems down the line.

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Making Adjustments To Limit Mistakes

As Ive mentioned before and will again youre going to make some mistakes, especially in the beginning. But there are ways to limit the number of mistakes you make and ways to learn from them so that you tighten down your bidding system.

Its one thing to screw up a bid or two, but its another to lose money on an ongoing and regular basis. The first and best way to figure out if this is happening is to do a day in review. When you get home after a long day of mowing, look back on that days activities and do some quick math.

For example let’s suppose that its 6pm and you just finished up a long 10 hour day.

Based on the man hour figure we came up with, you should’ve earned $520 for that day

But what if you didn’t?

Suppose you grossed only $480.

On the surface of it, you might say, oh well, close enough. But not acknowledging this factor and not figuring out where the leak is the #1 cause of the utter failure of many lawn care businesses.

As you review your day, you realize that you spent an hour and a half at Mr. Squinchmeyer’s house but in your bid, you quoted him $39, or about 45 minutes.

What’s more.. It turns out that you screwed the pooch here and way under bid this job. Sure, one job once per week isn’t going to kill you, but think of it this way

If you waste $40 once per week every week that comes out to over $2,000 that you’re simply pissing away!

Doesn’t seem so small now, does it?

And what if you have 3 or 4 Mr. Squinchmeyers?

Will he stick with you?

How To Use The Mowing Calculator

Our calculator can be used for two different things. So, to start, you need to . You have two options to choose from:

or,2. How long it would take to mow your lawn with your own mower.

If you pick the first option, all you need to do is to:

• Pick whether your chosen company charges per unit ofarea or perhour of work
• If they charge by area, input the price per unit and how big is your lawn and
• If they do it by the hour, you’ll need to know how much an hour of work costs, how many hours mowing your lawn should take – roughly. If you’re not sure, don’t worry – you can use the other part of our lawn mowing cost calculator to find out!

If you want to calculate mowing time and efficiency, you should pick the second option and follow these instructions:

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