Talk to me about this quote

send2den

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New to the board guys and new to the business as well (as you'll probably be able to tell). Retired, want to stay busy (and have a little side spending money to play golf on the other 6 days of my week) with just a few fairly upscale yards which I thought was just gonna be mowing, trimming, edging and blowing. Well my first customer I guess likes me and wanted to know if I would do his mulch and maybe some Weed and Feed in his yard, so I reconsidered just doing mowing. I know for a fact these guys around here are asking anywhere from $50.00 to $70.00 a cu. yd. (+ material) for mulch. Anyway, the customer had me measure his mulched area. It's easy to get to a it is just on the front of his house, no more than 80 ft. from my truck to the furthest point. We measured 1000 sq. ft. which translates to a little under 6 cu. yds at 2" depth. He has a lot of plants and I guesstemate anywhere from 66 to 75% of that total needs to be mulched at 2" depth. So that cuts it back to 4 cu. yds. and I MIGHT even be able to do 3 if stretched. So at 4 cu. yd. I will spend $120.00 for the bulk mulch and am quoting him at $260.00 which puts me at $35.00 per yard. The mulch is about 4-5 miles away to pick up which will require 2 trips in an F-150 loaded to the gills. Now on top of that, I'm gonna spread 15K Weed and Feed into his yard at $65.00. I told him I would combine both jobs and just charge him $300.00 for the whole 9 yards. My quest for you guys, and don't be too hard on me, tear this scenario apart. Is it waaaayyy off. Do the numbers not add up? Too much, too little, not considering some stuff like flower bed prep (which looks to be minimal. Part of me wants to stay low where I can secure the jobs. Get my name out and maybe secure 3 or 4 more good jobs in my neighborhood, but I still don't want to underprice myself too much if there is more money out there to be had. By comparison to what I hear around here, I don't think I am. Anyway, be gentle. I'm new to the game. Thanks and happy to be aboard.
 

mechanic mark

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Absolutely correct, do not get in over your head, enjoy your retirement. You may want to contact local contractors in the business of mulching etc. to do the time consuming heavy lifting so to speak, references would help. Alternative, hire some young bucks part time to help you out, preferably college or high school students wanting to work hard & make some extra money for education expenses.
 

Carscw

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You came up with this price after putting a lot of thinking into it. I say do the job at this price then you will know if it's worth it.
I hate doing mulch so I always bid high.

If you do the job and decide doing mulch is not for you. Find someone that does mulch and give them the mulch jobs.
 

Lawnboy18

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To give you an idea, one man can spread about 1 yard of mulch/hour. So, it would take you about 4 hours to spread the mulch. You might want to add a bit of time for cleanup. If the flowerbeds are already mulched and just need a fresh coat, 1 inch is just fine.

Yes, don't forget the flowerbed preperation. Do you have to do the edges? You could charge .50 per linear feet to redo the edges. Also, you might need to cut back perenials, trim some bushes, pull out a few weeds, etc. That can add a few hours. As for the delivery fees, I would say charge for one trip since you are not heavilly equiped to transport a lot of mulch. If you had a trailer, it could have easily taken the 4 yards.

You did a good job thinking it out. I just wanted to add some time and a few numbers for you so that it can help out. While you do the job, take the time to measure areas so that you can have an idea how much time it takes you too edge x linear feet, etc. That way, you will be able to bid the next jobs better.
 

send2den

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Thanks for the input guys. Some real good things to ponder.
 
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