Has anyone ever had a grass mowing _side_ business??

Question

I am looking to make extra money, how do you go about charging people for your services, meaning like an hourly rate, a set rate, and so on!! Does anyone know an easy way. The size of yard?? What is it!!

Answer 1

Honey it's the real deal here !!!!.

I do it for a living and it's brutal out here.

1) small $30

2) med  $40

3) Large $ 50 plus

You may go into starvation but hold your ground.Get the extra bucks for bagging and disposal.Yard work set an hourly rate your comfortable with.

It's a living and a hard task at that,snow removal has helped carry me through the winters.I really wished homeowners/property managers understood.The added costs are making it unbearable.So I really could care less what people think,small business today is going down the tubes.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Not a side business - the real thing 20 yrs. and counting.

There's no easy way to learn what to charge - it's trial by experience. Figure out what you need to make an hr. and then figure out how long it's going to take you to do the job. Sometimes you'll be right, sometimes not. You'll eventually develop the knack to just look at a yard and figure it out. I never tell the customer I'm charging by the hour - that only leads to trouble - I figure out how long it's going to take and set the price.

Don't forget to figure in ALL of your expenses when deciding what you need to make. You can short sell yourself fast - gas isn't cheap.

Also - I know you said this is a side business - cash I assume - but unless you're  working for friends and family, you should consider becoming a "real" business - even if it's just part-time. Taxes, bookkeeping, insurance and all that is a drag I know, but the first time you throw a rock through the neighbors bay window, or wipe out somebody's sprinkler system pipes, you won't be crying while writing out the check - or worse yet asking them not to sue you.

I'm not trying to scare you away from doing this - if you enjoy being outdoors and being the one in charge (lots of responsibility), it's a great way to make a living.

Here's a good site you may want to check into -

http://www.lawnsite.com/