You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Export thread
Pricing
#1
A
A&DProperty maintaince
A
A&DProperty maintaince
Hi I'm just starting out in the snow removal bussiness and I wanna start snowblowing in neighbor hoods but I don't know how to price a seasonal contract and I have a couple customers waiting on a price please help!!
#2
lawn mower fanatic
WELCOME TO LMF!
You could do a set price for how large the area is that needs snowblown (I don't know what the prices could be), but the thing with that is you can make out really good if it only snows once but if it snows every other day you can get ripped off.
lawn mower fanatic
Hi I'm just starting out in the snow removal bussiness and I wanna start snowblowing in neighbor hoods but I don't know how to price a seasonal contract and I have a couple customers waiting on a price please help!!
WELCOME TO LMF!
You could do a set price for how large the area is that needs snowblown (I don't know what the prices could be), but the thing with that is you can make out really good if it only snows once but if it snows every other day you can get ripped off.
#3
D2hornets58
I like charging by storm rather then one price for the whole season. That way if it snows a lot you make out good. You could either have a set prce for each storm or charge a certain price per inch.
D2hornets58
WELCOME TO LMF!
You could do a set price for how large the area is that needs snowblown (I don't know what the prices could be), but the thing with that is you can make out really good if it only snows once but if it snows every other day you can get ripped off.
I like charging by storm rather then one price for the whole season. That way if it snows a lot you make out good. You could either have a set prce for each storm or charge a certain price per inch.
#4
A
A&DProperty maintaince
How do u price per the storm tho I just want a quick way to get a couple contracts in one neighborhood and still price them where it's fair for me and my customer I was thinking of gaurenteeing a lower price than other snow plow drivers in the area but that's harder cause I'm snow blowing but the driveways aren't that big in these neighborhoods so its not that hard to do
A
A&DProperty maintaince
D2hornets58 said:I like charging by storm rather then one price for the whole season. That way if it snows a lot you make out good. You could either have a set prce for each storm or charge a certain price per inch.
How do u price per the storm tho I just want a quick way to get a couple contracts in one neighborhood and still price them where it's fair for me and my customer I was thinking of gaurenteeing a lower price than other snow plow drivers in the area but that's harder cause I'm snow blowing but the driveways aren't that big in these neighborhoods so its not that hard to do
#5
D2hornets58
I uasually charge between 30-40 dollars for each storm. This includes the driveway and walkay/stairs. I plow the driveway a couple times each storm and try to keep up with the snow. A lot of times if theres a big storm people will give me more but i charge between 30 and 40 dollars. You could also set something up so they pay you depending on how many inches you get. Or by how many times you do the driveway.
D2hornets58
How do u price per the storm tho I just want a quick way to get a couple contracts in one neighborhood and still price them where it's fair for me and my customer I was thinking of gaurenteeing a lower price than other snow plow drivers in the area but that's harder cause I'm snow blowing but the driveways aren't that big in these neighborhoods so its not that hard to do
I uasually charge between 30-40 dollars for each storm. This includes the driveway and walkay/stairs. I plow the driveway a couple times each storm and try to keep up with the snow. A lot of times if theres a big storm people will give me more but i charge between 30 and 40 dollars. You could also set something up so they pay you depending on how many inches you get. Or by how many times you do the driveway.
#6
A
A&DProperty maintaince
A
A&DProperty maintaince
The only thing is that I'm snowblowing so do u think 30-40 is still fair and what do u mean by charge by the inch
#7
lawn mower fanatic
I would still say that is a fair price. When he says charge by the inch he means that you would have a set price for each inch. Like maybe $10 per inch...just an example. If you got 6 inches.......it would be 10x6=$60.
lawn mower fanatic
The only thing is that I'm snowblowing so do u think 30-40 is still fair and what do u mean by charge by the inch
I would still say that is a fair price. When he says charge by the inch he means that you would have a set price for each inch. Like maybe $10 per inch...just an example. If you got 6 inches.......it would be 10x6=$60.
#8
D2hornets58
Not sure what would be a good price for snowblowing. Depends what people charge around your area. Try to find out what others are charging. By the inch I mean you could figure something out so if theres up to a certain amount of inches you charge one price and if its over that amount you charge a little more. You should talk to the customers and see what they think is a fair price then work from there. Also ask them how they want you to do it. Most of my customers just want me to plow their driveway whenever it snows and plow it often to keep the driveway clear throughout the storm. I have a couple other customers that like to wait untill theres a foot of snow on their driveway then call me. I like just keeping up with the driveways better because ti is much easier to plow 2-3 inches then 12 inches.
D2hornets58
The only thing is that I'm snowblowing so do u think 30-40 is still fair and what do u mean by charge by the inch
Not sure what would be a good price for snowblowing. Depends what people charge around your area. Try to find out what others are charging. By the inch I mean you could figure something out so if theres up to a certain amount of inches you charge one price and if its over that amount you charge a little more. You should talk to the customers and see what they think is a fair price then work from there. Also ask them how they want you to do it. Most of my customers just want me to plow their driveway whenever it snows and plow it often to keep the driveway clear throughout the storm. I have a couple other customers that like to wait untill theres a foot of snow on their driveway then call me. I like just keeping up with the driveways better because ti is much easier to plow 2-3 inches then 12 inches.
#9
lawn mower fanatic
lawn mower fanatic
Also, you can charge them a little more to shovel extra things. These are the things that should probably come standard with the price, and the things that they should pay extra for.
STANDARD:
PAY EXTRA:
STANDARD:
- Driveway
- Sidewalk
- Walkway to Front Door
PAY EXTRA:
- Back patio/deck
- Brush off car
- Anything else
#10
D2hornets58
Yeah i agree with that. Sometimes I also put down ice melt at the end of the storm on the walkway and stairs. Alot of times i Brush off their car at the end of the storm for free. It makes them happy and I can get the snow off the driveway instead of the customer just clearing off their car and leaving all the snow on the driveway.
D2hornets58
Also, you can charge them a little more to shovel extra things. These are the things that should probably come standard with the price, and the things that they should pay extra for.
STANDARD:
- Driveway
- Sidewalk
- Walkway to Front Door
PAY EXTRA:
- Back patio/deck
- Brush off car
- Anything else
Yeah i agree with that. Sometimes I also put down ice melt at the end of the storm on the walkway and stairs. Alot of times i Brush off their car at the end of the storm for free. It makes them happy and I can get the snow off the driveway instead of the customer just clearing off their car and leaving all the snow on the driveway.
#11
lawn mower fanatic
Yeah that is a good thing to do!
lawn mower fanatic
Yeah i agree with that. Sometimes I also put down ice melt at the end of the storm on the walkway and stairs. Alot of times i Brush off their car at the end of the storm for free. It makes them happy and I can get the snow off the driveway instead of the customer just clearing off their car and leaving all the snow on the driveway.
Yeah that is a good thing to do!
#12
A
A&DProperty maintaince
So clear up what you would consider one storm is that a day of snow or is that a couple days of snow
A
A&DProperty maintaince
D2hornets58 said:I uasually charge between 30-40 dollars for each storm. This includes the driveway and walkay/stairs. I plow the driveway a couple times each storm and try to keep up with the snow. A lot of times if theres a big storm people will give me more but i charge between 30 and 40 dollars. You could also set something up so they pay you depending on how many inches you get. Or by how many times you do the driveway.
So clear up what you would consider one storm is that a day of snow or is that a couple days of snow
#13
lawn mower fanatic
It is A STORM. It could be either. If it snows from 8:30am to 1:00pm, that would be one storm, but it could also snow starting right now until Monday morning and that would also be one storm. But obviously he would charge a lot more for the longer snow than the 4.5 hour one.
lawn mower fanatic
So clear up what you would consider one storm is that a day of snow or is that a couple days of snow
It is A STORM. It could be either. If it snows from 8:30am to 1:00pm, that would be one storm, but it could also snow starting right now until Monday morning and that would also be one storm. But obviously he would charge a lot more for the longer snow than the 4.5 hour one.
#14
A
A&DProperty maintaince
So I gotta give one if my customer a seasonal estimate should I just tell her that I'm gonna charge 30$ a storm for snow fall under six inches then for every inch over that I will charge xtra I'm thinking 2 dollars a inch is fair... The problem is I live in buffalo so either will have a easy winter or a hard one
A
A&DProperty maintaince
lawn mower fanatic said:It is A STORM. It could be either. If it snows from 8:30am to 1:00pm, that would be one storm, but it could also snow starting right now until Monday morning and that would also be one storm. But obviously he would charge a lot more for the longer snow than the 4.5 hour one.
So I gotta give one if my customer a seasonal estimate should I just tell her that I'm gonna charge 30$ a storm for snow fall under six inches then for every inch over that I will charge xtra I'm thinking 2 dollars a inch is fair... The problem is I live in buffalo so either will have a easy winter or a hard one
#15
lawn mower fanatic
I think that would be fair.
lawn mower fanatic
So I gotta give one if my customer a seasonal estimate should I just tell her that I'm gonna charge 30$ a storm for snow fall under six inches then for every inch over that I will charge xtra I'm thinking 2 dollars a inch is fair... The problem is I live in buffalo so either will have a easy winter or a hard one
I think that would be fair.
#16
A
A&DProperty maintaince
A
A&DProperty maintaince
Well I made the estimate and she thinks she wants to go thru her old contract but I'm gonna be passing out flyers today to try and get new customers so thank you all for the help I know understand how to do this an will definatly keep posting on this forum!
#17
lawn mower fanatic
OK, I hope you have a successful season! :smile::thumbsup:
lawn mower fanatic
Well I made the estimate and she thinks she wants to go thru her old contract but I'm gonna be passing out flyers today to try and get new customers so thank you all for the help I know understand how to do this an will definatly keep posting on this forum!
OK, I hope you have a successful season! :smile::thumbsup:
#18
D2hornets58
If you find that a lot of people are not wanting to pay that you may want to change it up a bit. Maybe over 8 inches or ten inches is when you start to add money. For most storms i Just charge 30 unless the storm is a very long one. Also earlier you asked what i consider a storm. Two years ago it snowed all day one day untill around 6 or 7 at night. Then the next morning it started to snow again at like 7 and it snowed all day. For that I charged for 2 storms.
D2hornets58
Well I made the estimate and she thinks she wants to go thru her old contract but I'm gonna be passing out flyers today to try and get new customers so thank you all for the help I know understand how to do this an will definatly keep posting on this forum!
If you find that a lot of people are not wanting to pay that you may want to change it up a bit. Maybe over 8 inches or ten inches is when you start to add money. For most storms i Just charge 30 unless the storm is a very long one. Also earlier you asked what i consider a storm. Two years ago it snowed all day one day untill around 6 or 7 at night. Then the next morning it started to snow again at like 7 and it snowed all day. For that I charged for 2 storms.
#19
lawn mower fanatic
Since you (A&DProperty maintaince) live in New York, you can probably expect a lot of snow, so maybe doing what D2hornets58 said wouldn't be a bad idea. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to snow, since I am guessing he gets a lot of it!
lawn mower fanatic
If you find that a lot of people are not wanting to pay that you may want to change it up a bit. Maybe over 8 inches or ten inches is when you start to add money.
Since you (A&DProperty maintaince) live in New York, you can probably expect a lot of snow, so maybe doing what D2hornets58 said wouldn't be a bad idea. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to snow, since I am guessing he gets a lot of it!
#20
GentlemanFahmah
GentlemanFahmah
I've been in the commercial snow management business for almost 40 years. Three snow facts that you can take to the bank: 1) It is impossible to predict the amount of snow you can expect in any given storm, let alone a full season, 2) Nothing is as easy as it looks, and, 3) Someone will always offer to do it cheaper.
I have a friend who plows driveways and during a heavy storm a couple years ago, he was plowing a driveway and each time he backed up he noticed a guy across the street shoveling, but mostly leaning on the shovel just looking at him plow. The guy started trudging through the snow towards the street and Jeff knew the inevitable "flag down" was coming.
Sure enough the guy was at his driver's window in no time inquiring "how much to plow my driveway". Jeff had already surveyed the driveway from his truck figured $40 was about right so he said "$40" and they guy laughed and held up a $20 and said "How about $20". Jeff said "Gee mister, is that a real $20 bill? ... No thanks" The guy persisted that $20 was more than fair because it was only a few minutes of work. Jeff said "Look, it's $40 if you want me to do the driveway" and the guy continued to argue. Jeff said "OK, tell you what; get in your car and you can follow me along my plowing route and write down every address I plow - most are paying $40. Then you can go and offer them all a plow from you for only $20. Once you get them all lined up, go buy a $30,000.00 truck, hang a $4k plow on it, buy the proper but necessary insurance for about $2k/year, load up all the spare parts you'll need because plowing breaks equipment constantly, and then you can take all of my customers and I'll even have you plow my driveway for $20!" The guy walked away indignant and Jeff continued to clean up the driveway he was working on. A few minutes later as he backed out to leave, he saw the guy coming back down his driveway with what were clearly two $20 bills in his hand. Jeff avoided eye contact and backed on to the street as he did the guy was waving the 2 20's and trying to get his attention and as he drove off Jeff feigned to catch him out of the corner of his eye and gave a wave back as if the guy was waving good bye. As he went up the street the last image he saw was of the guy standing in the street with his shovel, the two 20's, and a bewildered look on his face.
The moral of the story is that professional snow removal is not easy, it is frequently under-priced for the work involved, and there are plenty of hidden costs that are not appreciated by the uninitiated.
Typically, residential removal contracts are per storm per visit. So the first plow is $40 but if it keeps snowing and you have to go back, the second visit in the same storm is at a lower rate such as $20 because it's usually only a clean up. All additional things such as salting, sanding, having to push back piles in a heavy winter, doing the sidewalk, etc, are all normally priced on an "a la carte" basis.
If you are doing this with a snow-blower, that's full exposure in the weather. If the snow comes at night and you have to clear 5 driveways between 3AM and 6AM, you might not be able to do that with a snow blower due to the engine noise and potential complaints. People generally don't like to hear small engines running for hours on end in the middle of the night.
Doing commercial snow removal with only a snow blower is hard work that has the provider totally exposed to the elements for hours and that is grueling. If the snow-blower breaks down, you must have a back-up plan in place. You also must have a good inventory of consumable parts like shear pins for when you find yesterday's newspaper or the dog's toy under the snow as you are clearing. Stuff happens and you need to be prepared.
That's my two cents after making my living in snow removal for the past 38 years.
I have a friend who plows driveways and during a heavy storm a couple years ago, he was plowing a driveway and each time he backed up he noticed a guy across the street shoveling, but mostly leaning on the shovel just looking at him plow. The guy started trudging through the snow towards the street and Jeff knew the inevitable "flag down" was coming.
Sure enough the guy was at his driver's window in no time inquiring "how much to plow my driveway". Jeff had already surveyed the driveway from his truck figured $40 was about right so he said "$40" and they guy laughed and held up a $20 and said "How about $20". Jeff said "Gee mister, is that a real $20 bill? ... No thanks" The guy persisted that $20 was more than fair because it was only a few minutes of work. Jeff said "Look, it's $40 if you want me to do the driveway" and the guy continued to argue. Jeff said "OK, tell you what; get in your car and you can follow me along my plowing route and write down every address I plow - most are paying $40. Then you can go and offer them all a plow from you for only $20. Once you get them all lined up, go buy a $30,000.00 truck, hang a $4k plow on it, buy the proper but necessary insurance for about $2k/year, load up all the spare parts you'll need because plowing breaks equipment constantly, and then you can take all of my customers and I'll even have you plow my driveway for $20!" The guy walked away indignant and Jeff continued to clean up the driveway he was working on. A few minutes later as he backed out to leave, he saw the guy coming back down his driveway with what were clearly two $20 bills in his hand. Jeff avoided eye contact and backed on to the street as he did the guy was waving the 2 20's and trying to get his attention and as he drove off Jeff feigned to catch him out of the corner of his eye and gave a wave back as if the guy was waving good bye. As he went up the street the last image he saw was of the guy standing in the street with his shovel, the two 20's, and a bewildered look on his face.
The moral of the story is that professional snow removal is not easy, it is frequently under-priced for the work involved, and there are plenty of hidden costs that are not appreciated by the uninitiated.
Typically, residential removal contracts are per storm per visit. So the first plow is $40 but if it keeps snowing and you have to go back, the second visit in the same storm is at a lower rate such as $20 because it's usually only a clean up. All additional things such as salting, sanding, having to push back piles in a heavy winter, doing the sidewalk, etc, are all normally priced on an "a la carte" basis.
If you are doing this with a snow-blower, that's full exposure in the weather. If the snow comes at night and you have to clear 5 driveways between 3AM and 6AM, you might not be able to do that with a snow blower due to the engine noise and potential complaints. People generally don't like to hear small engines running for hours on end in the middle of the night.
Doing commercial snow removal with only a snow blower is hard work that has the provider totally exposed to the elements for hours and that is grueling. If the snow-blower breaks down, you must have a back-up plan in place. You also must have a good inventory of consumable parts like shear pins for when you find yesterday's newspaper or the dog's toy under the snow as you are clearing. Stuff happens and you need to be prepared.
That's my two cents after making my living in snow removal for the past 38 years.
#21
slammed
slammed
:thumbsup:
BEST SAID !!:thumbsup:
I've been in the commercial snow management business for almost 40 years. Three snow facts that you can take to the bank: 1) It is impossible to predict the amount of snow you can expect in any given storm, let alone a full season, 2) Nothing is as easy as it looks, and, 3) Someone will always offer to do it cheaper.
I have a friend who plows driveways and during a heavy storm a couple years ago, he was plowing a driveway and each time he backed up he noticed a guy across the street shoveling, but mostly leaning on the shovel just looking at him plow. The guy started trudging through the snow towards the street and Jeff knew the inevitable "flag down" was coming.
Sure enough the guy was at his driver's window in no time inquiring "how much to plow my driveway". Jeff had already surveyed the driveway from his truck figured $40 was about right so he said "$40" and they guy laughed and held up a $20 and said "How about $20". Jeff said "Gee mister, is that a real $20 bill? ... No thanks" The guy persisted that $20 was more than fair because it was only a few minutes of work. Jeff said "Look, it's $40 if you want me to do the driveway" and the guy continued to argue. Jeff said "OK, tell you what; get in your car and you can follow me along my plowing route and write down every address I plow - most are paying $40. Then you can go and offer them all a plow from you for only $20. Once you get them all lined up, go buy a $30,000.00 truck, hang a $4k plow on it, buy the proper but necessary insurance for about $2k/year, load up all the spare parts you'll need because plowing breaks equipment constantly, and then you can take all of my customers and I'll even have you plow my driveway for $20!" The guy walked away indignant and Jeff continued to clean up the driveway he was working on. A few minutes later as he backed out to leave, he saw the guy coming back down his driveway with what were clearly two $20 bills in his hand. Jeff avoided eye contact and backed on to the street as he did the guy was waving the 2 20's and trying to get his attention and as he drove off Jeff feigned to catch him out of the corner of his eye and gave a wave back as if the guy was waving good bye. As he went up the street the last image he saw was of the guy standing in the street with his shovel, the two 20's, and a bewildered look on his face.
The moral of the story is that professional snow removal is not easy, it is frequently under-priced for the work involved, and there are plenty of hidden costs that are not appreciated by the uninitiated.
Typically, residential removal contracts are per storm per visit. So the first plow is $40 but if it keeps snowing and you have to go back, the second visit in the same storm is at a lower rate such as $20 because it's usually only a clean up. All additional things such as salting, sanding, having to push back piles in a heavy winter, doing the sidewalk, etc, are all normally priced on an "a la carte" basis.
If you are doing this with a snow-blower, that's full exposure in the weather. If the snow comes at night and you have to clear 5 driveways between 3AM and 6AM, you might not be able to do that with a snow blower due to the engine noise and potential complaints. People generally don't like to hear small engines running for hours on end in the middle of the night.
Doing commercial snow removal with only a snow blower is hard work that has the provider totally exposed to the elements for hours and that is grueling. If the snow-blower breaks down, you must have a back-up plan in place. You also must have a good inventory of consumable parts like shear pins for when you find yesterday's newspaper or the dog's toy under the snow as you are clearing. Stuff happens and you need to be prepared.
That's my two cents after making my living in snow removal for the past 38 years.
BEST SAID !!:thumbsup:
#22
D2hornets58
I agree with that also. I definatly recommend having backup equipment. If your equipment breaks down in the middle of a storm it would not be fun to have to shovel all of your customers driveways. I always have at least 1 backup but usually have 2 or 3. And there ave been a couple of times that if I didnt have a backup I would have been in a bad situation. So if its possible try to have someone or something as a backup.
D2hornets58
I've been in the commercial snow management business for almost 40 years. Three snow facts that you can take to the bank: 1) It is impossible to predict the amount of snow you can expect in any given storm, let alone a full season, 2) Nothing is as easy as it looks, and, 3) Someone will always offer to do it cheaper.
I have a friend who plows driveways and during a heavy storm a couple years ago, he was plowing a driveway and each time he backed up he noticed a guy across the street shoveling, but mostly leaning on the shovel just looking at him plow. The guy started trudging through the snow towards the street and Jeff knew the inevitable "flag down" was coming.
Sure enough the guy was at his driver's window in no time inquiring "how much to plow my driveway". Jeff had already surveyed the driveway from his truck figured $40 was about right so he said "$40" and they guy laughed and held up a $20 and said "How about $20". Jeff said "Gee mister, is that a real $20 bill? ... No thanks" The guy persisted that $20 was more than fair because it was only a few minutes of work. Jeff said "Look, it's $40 if you want me to do the driveway" and the guy continued to argue. Jeff said "OK, tell you what; get in your car and you can follow me along my plowing route and write down every address I plow - most are paying $40. Then you can go and offer them all a plow from you for only $20. Once you get them all lined up, go buy a $30,000.00 truck, hang a $4k plow on it, buy the proper but necessary insurance for about $2k/year, load up all the spare parts you'll need because plowing breaks equipment constantly, and then you can take all of my customers and I'll even have you plow my driveway for $20!" The guy walked away indignant and Jeff continued to clean up the driveway he was working on. A few minutes later as he backed out to leave, he saw the guy coming back down his driveway with what were clearly two $20 bills in his hand. Jeff avoided eye contact and backed on to the street as he did the guy was waving the 2 20's and trying to get his attention and as he drove off Jeff feigned to catch him out of the corner of his eye and gave a wave back as if the guy was waving good bye. As he went up the street the last image he saw was of the guy standing in the street with his shovel, the two 20's, and a bewildered look on his face.
The moral of the story is that professional snow removal is not easy, it is frequently under-priced for the work involved, and there are plenty of hidden costs that are not appreciated by the uninitiated.
Typically, residential removal contracts are per storm per visit. So the first plow is $40 but if it keeps snowing and you have to go back, the second visit in the same storm is at a lower rate such as $20 because it's usually only a clean up. All additional things such as salting, sanding, having to push back piles in a heavy winter, doing the sidewalk, etc, are all normally priced on an "a la carte" basis.
If you are doing this with a snow-blower, that's full exposure in the weather. If the snow comes at night and you have to clear 5 driveways between 3AM and 6AM, you might not be able to do that with a snow blower due to the engine noise and potential complaints. People generally don't like to hear small engines running for hours on end in the middle of the night.
Doing commercial snow removal with only a snow blower is hard work that has the provider totally exposed to the elements for hours and that is grueling. If the snow-blower breaks down, you must have a back-up plan in place. You also must have a good inventory of consumable parts like shear pins for when you find yesterday's newspaper or the dog's toy under the snow as you are clearing. Stuff happens and you need to be prepared.
That's my two cents after making my living in snow removal for the past 38 years.
I agree with that also. I definatly recommend having backup equipment. If your equipment breaks down in the middle of a storm it would not be fun to have to shovel all of your customers driveways. I always have at least 1 backup but usually have 2 or 3. And there ave been a couple of times that if I didnt have a backup I would have been in a bad situation. So if its possible try to have someone or something as a backup.
#23
A
Acculawnsystems.com
A
Acculawnsystems.com
Over the last 16 years we charged between $30 and $40 per man hour for sidewalks and driveways. The real money is in the plowing.
#24
lawn mower fanatic
Yeah, I agree! Companies will pay big bucks to have their parking lots plowed....because if it is not plowed, there will be no customers at their store!
lawn mower fanatic
Over the last 16 years we charged between $30 and $40 per man hour for sidewalks and driveways. The real money is in the plowing.
Yeah, I agree! Companies will pay big bucks to have their parking lots plowed....because if it is not plowed, there will be no customers at their store!