HOURLY VS. FLAT FEE
We generally base everything on some kind of hourly concept. But we never tell the customers what the formula is.
For myself, the range is $50 to $125 per hour. And less on any subordinate help.
The man that climbs for me gets $60 per hour.
The nature of the job determines the price.
Last month, I bid a Photinia hedge at $290. It took me and a laborer 2 hours to do it. With $20 worth of debris and $30 for the laborer, that provided me with $240. Considering my bid time, that was a little over $100 per hour.
That job in our area was worth maybe $350. But I figured some migrant from California would do it for $200, so I came down.
2 years ago, I pruned one of these yards that is sort of oriental like, where the pines are to be kept contained. My bid was $600 and it took 5 hours by myself (did my own clean-up).
The previous pruning was done there by 2 men for 2 full days at $1100. And those guys only cut back, they did not thin.
So those guys were basing there bid supposedly on about $35 per hour per man. But they were doing a worse job, and the landscape was getting out of control.
Actually, I'd have to say that that was "THE" one and certain job location that showed me not to disclose to a customer what I clear per hour. Not that there was a problem with these customers.
But so many people get wrapped up in how much someone is making per hour, instead of what they are getting for a certain price.
Today, I did one hedge for 2 hours and make just $80.
A few weeks back, I contracted taking down a big Maple for $1700 and cleared $900 for the day.
All in all, it boiled down to:
There is a bottom limit to what I will work for.
I am glad to be able to have work.
What is the job worth - how much ingenuity does it rely upon.
If I "read" that the customer really is short on funds, I'd rather make something than nothing - they are a reference that will send work.
We turn down virtually nothing.
Never bid our way out of a pitiful scenario - either say no, or make a price that fits.
The Photinia hedge I mentioned at $290, the other bid (and I was given the actual copy) was $1200 from a Highlander Tree Service here in Portland. Their bid would have yielded about $400 to $600 per hour.
A landscaper in Beaverton either read a book or attended a seminar. The speaker ellaborated on a few disasterous techniques in business. One was where a company decides they don't really like a job. So they bid it really, really high - figuring that either the people will not call them, or, if they get the job, it will pay so high as to immunize the pain of the job or the embarassment for doing menial tasks.
Bidding on the high side is one thing. But bidding extremely high is dangerous. The result is that the person is so shocked, there will be little else they can think of sharing for a few days. They will tell the neighbor next door, the one over there, the one behind, etc.. how high such-and-such a company is. As well as their friends, co-workers and so on.
Extremely high bids, according to the seminar or book man, result not in one job avoided, but several to several dozen people knowing how outrageous the prices are.
Mario Vaden
Landscape Designer / Arborist
M.D. Vaden - Trees & Landscapes
Beaverton, Oregon
