# Am I close?



## nicko (Dec 5, 2011)

I haven't been plowing for too long but am attempting to get more into it this upcoming season. I have the opportunity to place a bid on just under a 2 acre lot. They would like a per push price. My costs are just under $60 an hour and I was thinking of charging $300 per push... is that about right or am I way off? Thanks for the help!


----------



## cet (Oct 2, 2004)

How do you get to $60/hour costs. What's the breakdown.


----------



## nicko (Dec 5, 2011)

cet;1642549 said:


> How do you get to $60/hour costs. What's the breakdown.


I figured it this way:
Insurance-$10
Plow Replacement/Wear & Tear-$10
Wear & Tear on Truck-$10
Employee-$15
Gas-$15


----------



## cet (Oct 2, 2004)

If you know your costs how did you get to $300/push? That is the market rate, that is how much you want to push the lot? How long should it take to push of the average snowfall?


----------



## snowman55 (Nov 20, 2007)

profit?
taxes?
rent?
phones?
office supplies?
uniforms?
depreciation?
Accounting?
management?
dot health card?
time and energy for a/r, a/p, accounting, h/r?
certification?

Just some things I have to pay for out of that hourly wage


----------



## linckeil (Sep 18, 2007)

forget your expenses as part of this thread. guys will give you a laundry list of their expenses all they way down to the cost of the laces on their boots. 

find out if your proposed price is in line with what the market will bear. you know your expenses (hopefully) and then you and only you can make the call whether or not it is worth it to take on the job at that price. we all have different expense and different sized operations - yours are not the same as mine, which are not the same as the next guy's. but the fact is, customers will bid shop and 99% of the time, they don't give a damn what your expenses are, they just want to know your quoted price. 

now if you don't know your own expenses, thats a whole other can of worms. so this thread should about only one or the other - is my quote in line with the market? OR what are the typical expenses associated with a plow operation? do not mix the 2 questions into the same thread.

personally i do not plow commercial lots and I live in a different area of the country so I will be no help in assessing your bid price - which i think is the assessment you are looking for. but as soon as you mention a $60 cost per hour, that will become the focus of the thread.


----------



## nicko (Dec 5, 2011)

Thank you for the responses an help! I understand what you all are saying about how each one of our expenses will be different. I am thinking this lot will take about two hours to do(2 acres) and just wanted to see if my price was in line with this or not.


----------



## dodge2500 (Aug 20, 2009)

IMO $300 for a 2 acre lot would never fly in my market. If you can get that amount and your market is better, that is great. If you know your costs and you know what kind of profit margin you want to make, then just put together the bid and give it a shot. It takes time to learn your market and to learn efficiencies and what areas you can be more productive at and what type of jobs you want to target.


----------



## RLM (Jan 12, 2006)

linckeil;1642573 said:


> forget your expenses as part of this thread. guys will give you a laundry list of their expenses all they way down to the cost of the laces on their boots.
> 
> find out if your proposed price is in line with what the market will bear. you know your expenses (hopefully) and then you and only you can make the call whether or not it is worth it to take on the job at that price. we all have different expense and different sized operations - yours are not the same as mine, which are not the same as the next guy's. but the fact is, customers will bid shop and 99% of the time, they don't give a damn what your expenses are, they just want to know your quoted price.
> 
> ...


Best advise you have been given, I couldn't have said it better. When we started getting bigger into snow I was on here a lot, given lots of pricing....not my market based, I bid tons of work...got ZERO, the numbers were WAAAAY high for my market. Looking back it sucks too because you never get a second chance to make a first impression as the saying goes. A lot of the same people are still in the business that were back then 15+ years ago.


----------

