What to charge for a job
Start from what the job costs you, not from what someone else charges. Your hours, at what an hour really costs you, plus materials: that is your cost. Pick a price above it, then divide by the size of the job to get your price for an acre, a yard or an inch.
The two sums under every price
Charge by something that grows with the job
An acre, a cubic yard, a foot, an inch, an hour. A bigger job has more of them, so a price for each one rises when the work does, and you do not have to remember to raise it.
If you quote per visit or per push, work the price out from the size of the job first. Two jobs can look alike from the road and one can take twice the hours. A flat price is the same for both; your cost is not.
Why there is no going rate here
TailGateBid has no price data of its own, so no page here says what anyone charges. A going rate would not tell you much anyway: it is somebody else's truck, somebody else's insurance and somebody else's drive.
What these pages give you is the sum, the sources for any figure that is not yours, and a calculator that runs on your numbers. Every price in an example is made up, and says so.
Worked through, one kind of job at a time
Each page below takes one kind of job, starts from its size, a field, a bed, a lawn or a row of stumps, and ends at a price for each acre, yard or inch. They are examples of one method, not a list of what it works for.
Then put the price on paper, and set it once on your Rates page, where it is offered on every quote you build.
- Brush hoggingA 5 acre field worked through, from the width of the cutter to a price for each acre.
- Mulch installationFrom a bed's length, width and depth to the yards to order and a price for each yard installed.
- Stump grindingAdd up the inches across each stump, then see what the job costs you and what a price for each inch leaves.
- Lawn mowingFrom a lot's length and width to the hours on the mower and a price for each 1,000 square feet.
None of this is tied to one trade. TailGateBid works for any trade, and Bid Partner is built to price a job in any of them: how it works for your trade.
Related
- Free toolsAn estimate maker, a look at your website, and calculators for your hour, a job, tax and deposit, and what you keep. All free.
- Rates and pricesWhat you charge an hour and for each service, and what you keep of it.
- Any tradeThere is no list of trades to be on. You describe your work in your own words.
- How to write an estimateWhat goes on an estimate, in order, on one that is filled in line by line.
Put your own hours and materials in, and see what each price would leave you.
Job price