Bid this property weekly at $45 for two seasons. Felt fine. Customer paid every Friday. Cash flow was steady, so I never looked closer. Decided to actually run the math down to the line item this week:
Bid this property weekly at $45 for the last two seasons. Decided to actually run the math down to the line item:
Drive time: 15 min each way, $0.18/min equipment burn + truck = $10
Cutting: 25 min on-site
Loaded labor 55 min: $23
Blade wear + trimmer line + mower depreciation per cut: $4
True cost: $37. I made $8. Before insurance, truck payment, phone, software, taxes. After all that I probably made nothing.
The point isn't the $45. The point is most of us are running on gut numbers and the gut doesn't account for the silent costs. Drive time, equipment wear, the overhead share. Run the actual numbers on your top three services and tell me you don't find one that's bleeding.
Posting from Waukesha WI. Curious if the math changes much in other markets.