Starting a Business with my L3901

[K3901]

Thanks for the input! i was thinking of charging a set price per hour then a minimum number of hours to start a job. that way if they decided they wanted more work done while i was already there it would seem cheaper to them and also i would make more money. also would make it to where if i did a small job as you described i would still make enough to make it worth it

 

[BigBoyToys]

Just remember the "Old Rule of Thumb"...Your best estimate X2!
How many projects have we all worked on and it thought it would take "X" hours/days to get it done and it turns into "X" days/weeks!!!

Don't sell yourself short. It's always easier to negotiate your price down than up.
It will be a learning process but I'm sure you'll do fine. Good luck! :thumbsup:

 

[K3901]

Thanks! i think the biggest problem im going to run into is competing with guys not running legitimet business and working under the table. thats just not me. i want to do things the right way or not at all.

 

[BigBoyToys]

There's certainly a fair amount of liability you have to be concerned with when operating a piece of equipment on someone else's property! You'll want to form an LLC and isolate all your personal property and savings!

 

[K3901]

Thanks BBT! Already ahead of you on that. Jones Lawn & Tractor LLC has been formed. just finalizing the last few details before i get operational

 

[STx]

This subject has been brought up here many times in the past. You might do some searches here for a lot of information. My 2 cents from experience is you better charge a lot more than what has been posted.
Just say for instance you have 2 acre field to cut 20 minutes away. You already have your bush hog mounted so it takes you say 20 minutes to hook up your trailer and tie your tractor down. Then your 20 minute drive to the job, 1 hour to cut the field and 20 minutes back home. That's 2 hours of your time that you charged 1 hour for. If you had to change implements on your tractor its even more time spent your not getting paid for. Its one of those things the customer dosent see but somebody has to pay for.
I always figured a minimum price of $200.00 before I did any work and I still broke even.

I have a NH TC40 and run a 6' Rhino for mowing. I bill $75/hr with a 2 hour minimum, if it takes me less than 2 hours the charge is still $150. If it's more than 10 miles away, I charge a $1.75/mile delivery/setup fee to cover fuel and drive time, plus any tolls. I've also got a disc and box blade, if they're needed in addition to mowing, the tractor stays running while the implements are changed and the customer pays for the time it takes to switch them over and to switch back to the rotary cutter before loading up and heading down the road.

Tomorrow, I have 2 jobs to do one is about 12 acres and the other is 2 - 3 acres. It'll be about 6 hours of mowing time but with the delivery/setup fees, I'll gross about $1,000 for the day. Friday I'll be on the same job all day with all the implements and will only make $600 for the day if I spend 8 hours on the tractor. Monday I've got 3 jobs, 1 is 2 acres, 1 is about 6 acres and the last one is about an acre, I'll gross a little over $1,000 Monday with the delivery/setup fees and the 2 hour minimum.

If you can stack your jobs like this, you can make decent money. All of this work is repeat customers so it makes it easier for me to schedule it so that the travel is minimized which increases profit.

Talk to commercial landscape companies about working as a sub for them on acreage mowing. Most of them have a few jobs that have detention ponds and such that need it periodically but not so much that they can really justify buying the equipment to do it themselves. Those have been a good source of work for us, 1/2 the jobs I have over the next few days are from a landscaper.

 

[Sprinklerman]

I have a NH 1925 and a bx 24 . I rarely bid by the hour , I look at the job and price it out . I am in a Maryland suburb , expensive area , so prices are reflective of our high cost of living . I base what I want to make at $ 200 per hour , thats not what I tell the customer , but how I figure the price . Travel time is also figured in . I bring what ever tractor is to my benefit and the best for the job . If someone wants an hourly price , I tell them its $ 800 for 1/2 a day port to port minimum charge . The only complaints about it were from builders , and they are cheap and slow pay anyway . I prefer to bid the job . But I write down exactly whats to be done and have the customer sign it . EXAMPLE . Guy buys a house with overgrown grass , I bush hog it , its written down , he comes back and says he thought I would rake up all the grass and debris for that price .

By the hour you will make ok money , once you know your market and how to bid , flat pricing is way more profitable .

 

[RDrancher]

Sounds like you have it down STx. There's too many beer money guys around here mowing for private land owners, so the only brush hogging we do is for developers and commercial customers. And for those jobs that come in, my FIL mows them unless it's a CTL brush cutting job. I find it too hard on a tractor (for the money) to make it worthwhile. My FIL's retired, so he looks at it from a different perspective.

When I started out with this business, I figured jobs at $50 an hour. I had quite a bit of experience and I wasn't charging enough, but you gotta start out somewhere AND establish your presence. I'd say you'd be fine starting at $65 with basic experience and no references. You can build from there. Some customers will think you're pricing is outrageous no matter what you charge, so don't worry about it and move on to the next one. Now days I don't do any hourly work and I won't say here what I charge. It is the world wide web after all, and you never know who is checking things out. I provide a set price for all projects and my prices are based on what my experience and the quality of work I provide is worth to the customer. I will say that if either my tractor or CTL leaves my property it's going to make a full days wages whether it takes two hours or eight.

I'll add...Any Joe can do the job, but a professional can do it better in less time. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Keep that in mind...and always look for ways to improve your technique AND provide a better produst. Find a niche and scratch it 'til it bleeds!

 

[roadhunter]

One thing to keep in mind would be finding some different options on attachments. Mowing and box blade work can be pretty competitive and really limits you to what work you can perform. Maybe there is a rental yard that has some tools like a planter or disc for doing food plots like you mentioned. Sometimes those Items can also be picked up at auctions. Another thing to look at might be a 3 point chipper for doing tree cleanup work, a harley rake for landscaping and seed prep, 3 point rake for storm cleanup, or other attachments that can be more profitable.

Adding a hydraulic top/side link on your box blade will make it much more useful. Keep in mind that a CUT is not a full blown piece of construction equipment so matching the work to the machine will also be crucial. I would imagine for small driveway that would work well but for larger jobs moving more material it will probably be a little small. I recently had to upgrade my CUT because I was needing to do heavier work that what it would comfortably perform.

The strength of your machine will be it's ability to work without tearing up people's yards and getting in tight places. Not trying to compete with skid steers and backhoes moving gravel and dirt or commercial mowing equipment. At face value I would see backyard landscaping and cleanup as a something that machine would do well. Moving downed branches and limbs without tearing up yards would be another good application.

 

[K3901]

thanks for all the great responses! y'all have given me a lot to think about. i do plan to pick up a few more attachments as i can. but would really like to get some work going before i invest much more money into this. top of the list is a set of disc and a grapple/root rake for the front. with those i could do a lot more than i can now. but need to line up a few jobs needing them before i make the investment without having the income to support it. i know i wont be able to compete with the guys with skid steers/backhoes and im fine with that for now. ill make those investments as the need arises. thanks again for all of the suggestions and information everyone has given me. and by all means please keep it coming. the more info i get the better!