Commersail Bidding Veres Homer Biding

[a_lopa]

I'd heard it as "I can stay home and not make any money".

For commercial work, part of the discount is an incentive to pay quickly.  Maybe knock off a little for consideration of quick access to the next tree (i.e. less travel time overall), and for the bill, make it 2%-10, net-30.  Usually they'll opt for the 2% discount and pay you within the 10 days.

Glen

thats a very good point glen,one of my main cash flow problems stems from bigger clients taking anywhere to 90 days

 

[xander9727]

They also mentioned that if I was close to the other bid I would get the job,

This statement means your price is already good and they don't like the other bidder or they just like you better. Hold your ground.

I work for a builder who always trys to beat up his subs on their bids. He'll often say "We only have $1500 in the budget", when my bid was $1650. I lowered my price once. The next time he tried that I told him to consult me before making a budget for tree work. I only gave him a break the first time because he was a friend of my brothers. I talk to the other subs and they all complain about him cutting down their bids. I won't budge a dime for him now. If he tries to get me down (and he still does) I give him the name of another tree co that does cheap work. He has yet to give them a call and he always calls me back for more work. This has gone on for 3 years. If you have already discounted your price DON'T GO ANY LOWER. Let there be an unseen snag and you'll lose your butt. Low balling to stay busy in the winter is a bad idea as well. You still get wear and tear on your equipment and expose yourself to liability without the added profit margin to account for it. Budget during the summer and enjoy the time off to catch up on maintenance, family and fun.

 

[trzz]

xander is on the right line of thinking. More gets more done faster.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Low balling in a slow period is not abad thing if you are not established and need the work. You still need to make sure you make all operating expences, which is why I stated having a marginal proffit (after you yourself gets paid).

Positive chash flow is just that, so if you know how you work and can afford to come down to secure a job you want. That's part of doing buisness. Once they know the quality of your work, it may convince them to pay for it llater.

What's the old saying about a bird in the hand?

But then if you've got enough work that you're not going to streach your way through the slow period...

Another way off looking at it is the financail plan of making the money in the buisy period, then the 2-3 months of slow time is where your're just paying for the crew and equipment.

 

[trzz]

The key is to find out how many other contestants they are looking into. If its just 3 total ok. If its 4 or more they are looking for the cheapest price. Some for good reason(no money) some to see how much they can screwdriver or hammer you for. I tell them at this point I donot have the time and thank them(hoping they never call me again) or if I am really hard up (almost never) I let them do the work. I tell them to give me the lowest bid and Ill beat it when I show up to do the work. The latter I have used only once and I feel it was a competitor because he claimed to be a salesman who this happens to. I refused to look at it and pickeled him off. I wouldn't allow him to WASTE MY TIME which is what pickeled him off ;-)

 

[Can-Do-It]

Re-bid job at higher hourly rate

I want to think everyone here who responded for there input. I've learned over the years that reinventing the wheel, is not very productive. And that listing to other professionals in the same business is worth is weight in gold.

I submitted my rebid for part of the work yesterday and because of everyones input raised my hourly rate.

Thanks again for your input.

 

[alott]

looks like my reply got lost in the eather,

As far as discounting from residential, one should look at what the added expences are for a client who you visit once every few years and one you will visit several times in one year.

Where are the cost savings, or are you dropping the price just to get work?

can you bill it as you go or is it all due on final completion? Large jobs can cause cashflow problems for micro companies.

do you have a single contact/boss for the job, or are you going to have to listen to several people onm the baord or whatever?

There should not be any hard and fast rule for bidding work, other then you are bale to make expences and show a profit (do you pay yourself beforte profit? some people dont!?!?!?)

What are the benefits to working on this project, is there high visibility for your truck/logo/phone number?

The question you need to ask yoursdelf is what will I be getting from reducing my price and how much I want to do the job.

Sometimes a marginal profit cna work for you in the long run.

i agree we work alot around the lake here each little ara is like a small town . first job in each is usualy discounted 5-10% due to so mutch exposer. will end up with a lot of other business in same little area just from being there

 

[xander9727]

5% I could understand if the purpose was to generate more work. But 50%......Not on your life.