The Grass Doctor

lawn care service??????

me and my friend are both 13 and we are planning to start doing lawn care for people in out town. what should we charge them for cuts and stuff? give me lots of answers.

Public Comments

1. I wouldn't pay more than $20.
2. I run a pretty large lawn care company. We mow about 2 million square feet a week. We give a set price per mow but we try to get $45 per man hour with a minimum charge of $45. So if the lawn would take 2 people 1 hour to complete it should be $90 but we would probably make it $100 to give us a little room for things that might make it take longer. Also we mow EVERY week. If the customer demands every 2 weeks then we charge more per mow because the grass will be longer when we cut it. You have to decide what you need to get per hour to cover your costs. Your costs are things like gas for the mower, oil changes for the mower, gas for the string trimmer, paying some one to help you. Don't forget that if you bag the clippings you need to get rid of them somewhere. You probably should be charging less than I do because your costs will be lower and per hour you will get less work done because you don't have professional equipment that mows 5 acres per hour. Our customers are OK paying $100 for an hour because we can mow 2-5 acres in that time because we have fast mowers and we are good at what we do. Nobody can really tell you what to charge. You have to figure that out. My opinion is that you should feel pretty good if you can put 10-12 dollars per hour in your pocket. At 13 years old that's pretty good money. If the lawn will take 2 people 1 hour than $25-$30 should cover costs and give you each $10 to pocket. Don't be afraid to make a "company bank account" to put away some money to cover repairs and gas and oil. If there is any money left over at the end of the year you guys can split it. Keep track of the hours you spend on each lawn each week and what you get paid and you can figure out what you are making per hour on each lawn. Use that info to raise the price on the lawns that earn you less money per hour. Have fun and feel good about having your own business. You are in control. Don't let customers make you do what you don't want to. Just say "That's not something we do. I think I know someone who does that." peace...