Mike AndesFounder, Augusta Lawn Care and Homeworks · Founder of Homeworks and Augusta Lawn Care

🛑 STOP Losing $$$ on Jobs ✋ #businessturnaround #mikeandes #landscapingbusiness

10 Sept 2024 · 1 min

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0:33

A short conversational clip from a Mike Andes YouTube video about pricing and labor costs in the landscaping business. The speakers discuss common hourly rates quoted online versus local reality, specific employee pay rates (start $20/hr, top $32/hr), low earlier bids (e.g., $45 per acre), and Andes’ claim that charging customers $50/hr on-site will not be profitable. Andes introduces a “25% rule”: base pay as a share of revenue should be under 25% (he estimates current base pay at ~40% in the example).

Questions this video answers

Start at $20 per hour; highest paid employees at $32 per hour.

Charging customers $50 per hour on the job site.

$45 an acre for commercial mowing.

The “25% rule”: base pay should be under 25% of revenue (example had base pay at ~40%).

Chapters

You know, I hear everybody talk about online about, oh, $60aman hour for mowing, $85aman hour mowing. You can't get it in this area. I mean, I know we were bidding stuff at like, $45 an acre for commercial mowing, which is way too low of what I've learned now. What are you paying per hour? We start at 20, and our highest people are paid at 32. Oh, man.
Charging customers $50 per hour on the job site, we will never make money. If you look at $20 per hour that he's paying his employees on base pay, 40% is going to base pay, in my opinion. I want that to be under 25%. I call this the 25% rule.