How to Bid on Lawn Work

Lawn care work is very competitive, but if you know how to bid lawn work, it can be a lucrative business. You must have a smart estimating and bidding system. Bid too low and you make little or no money; bid too high and the customer will go with a lower bidding company. Learn to bid lawn work so your price covers costs and provides profit.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Decide how much work is required to complete a job. Get a realistic estimate by comparing the work to similar jobs you have completed.
2. Train your staff well using methods that render quality work and maximize your production time. Time equals money, so communicate a specific job time goal to your employees.
3. Reduce time costs by setting up a checklist of time factors for all lawn work you bid. According to green industry consultant Phil Nilsson, you should keep track of the cost of time to your company, the hourly profit goals, hourly direct costs, hourly indirect costs and overhead rate per hour.
4. Determine the cost of labor by figuring the amount you pay your employees per hour, and then multiply it times the amount of hours it will reasonably take for the job to be finished. Direct costs of the job include equipment and materials it will take to complete the work.
5. Factor your indirect costs into the bidding equation. Costs include payroll taxes you are responsible for, benefits paid to employees, equipment and vehicle depreciation and anything else that affects the actual labor cost.
6. Figure the overhead costs before you submit a lawn work bid. These costs include anything that supports the business operation such as rent, insurance, property taxes, office and other expenses you will have even when no work is taking place.