How to Price Your Commercial Lawn Care and Gardening Services
One of the hardest parts of running any business is pricing the products and services. A commercial lawn care and gardening service is no different! Many business owners struggle to strike a balance between providing excellent value for money and ensuring they pay themselves a living wage.
If you’re new to the industry and struggling with your pricing, you’re in the right place. We’ve included a few helpful tips below that might help you start your operations on the right financial foot.
Learn Your Costs
You can’t hope to price your services accurately and ensure a healthy profit margin if you don’t know how much your business costs to operate. As a result, learning your everyday operational costs can be the most crucial first step.
Calculate all the costs associated with running your business, even if they seem insignificant. We’ve included a few to get you started:
Equipment
Fuel
Equipment maintenance, servicing, and repairs
Insurance
Taxes (income and GST)
Labour
Vehicle costs
If you struggle with the financial side of your business, don’t be afraid to ask an accountant for help. They’ll be more than happy to provide financial and business advice.
Research Your Competition
You likely aren’t the only person providing commercial lawn care and gardening services in your area. There are bound to be many other service providers offering many of the same services. Don’t be afraid to learn more about them if they operate similarly to you.
Find out what they charge for various lawn sizes, any package deals they provide, and any other relevant service details. While you don’t have to undercut or match them, you can at least understand the average ‘going rate’ for services in your area. This information might help you make an informed decision.
Think About Time
There’s more to consider than just your tangible expenses, like equipment and fuel. Think about how much time you put into each job and all the extras like time traveling to a property. Sometimes, the easiest way to price your services is by calculating how long it takes to attend a job, perform that job, and return home again. You might even calculate your service pricing based on an hourly rate for convenience.
Mark Up Your Materials
Just as builders and plumbers wouldn’t normally provide their materials at cost, you also don’t need to. If you use materials for various services like fuel for lawn mowing and grass seed for fixing bald patches, consider adding these to your invoice at a marked-up price. Remember, it took you extra time and resources to buy these materials, and providing them at cost is not always feasible.
Account for Business Growth
You might be a fledgling business now with few overheads, but that doesn’t mean your operations won’t grow in the future. Allow for that by pricing your services appropriately from the beginning. Pricing them too cheaply can make it harder to make necessary price increases in the future. If you set your pricing in line with your competition, making small increases to keep up with inflation can be much easier and expected.
Consider Property Sizes
Setting one pricing structure can seem like the easiest option. If you charge everyone the same, you don’t have to spend any more time than necessary taking care of your invoicing.
However, everyone’s properties are different. Some people have large, sprawling lawns that take a great deal more time to mow. Others have tiny lawns but extensive gardens to contend with. You might even turn up to mow someone’s lawn, only to find it overgrown and time-consuming to mow.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to lawn care, which means your pricing structure should reflect that. Many commercial lawn care service providers charge a set rate for properties of specific sizes. They might then add on other custom costs they make the property owner aware of at the time, like excessive growth and overgrown gardens. Having a running list of pricing might make it easier for you to provide fast and easy client quotes.
Factor In Package Options
Many property owners don’t have time to take care of their own lawns and gardens. Instead, they want someone reliable who will turn up regularly and take care of them for them. If you want to offer scheduled services and package deals, set time aside to price these separately from your one-off clients.
Loyal clients can appreciate more competitive pricing, especially when they’re providing you with business for months or years at a time. Consider adding a discount to save your clients money while ensuring you’re making a comfortable living.
Time to Launch Your New Business
Now that you know how to price your business services, it’s time to get started! You can now offer a range of lawn care and gardening services, knowing you’re providing value for money while running a profitable business at the same time.