Hi all, came across something the other day I just had to share. Things have been a bit quiet here since Novemeber for those of us who mainly do domestic work so I guess we are all keeping prices low. For me its more not adding on the cream but still making sure its worth loading up and going out. Was doing a quote for this guy (he had just brought this place) who wanted the first hald of his concrete driveway removed as it had a ridge in it so he bottomed out when putting the boat away. Then he wanted the back yard cleaned up, this included about 5 tonne of bricks and concrete, some timber and some green waste. No access for the truck so every bucket load from the back would have to come through the back yard around the closeline and under the carport to the road. Quick guess it would have been 10 to 12 tonnes of concrete/bricks/timber/grass and at around $70 -$80 a tonne dumping starts to look like big dollars for a little clean up. Lets even go really cheap and say $600 (was thinking more like $800 while doing the quote) Then have to add in what i would charge, was thinking 3 hours in the back yard, and then another 3 hours on the drive plus 1.5 hours going to the dump. I was going to take a longer on his drive than he was expecting as I asked a silly question, "what are you going to do after?" which resulted in agreeing that we should also dig out an extra 100mm to relay a smoother concrete drive at a latter point. So lets look at my best cost , Dumping $600 Back yard $300 (First 3 hours $300) front 3 hours $255 trip to the dump $128 Not including getting rid of any fill after as i do that on my way home. $1283, plus 10% tax. Now to be far we might want to take off 1.5 hours for the extra drive way work so call it $1,155, plus 10%tax. Please make sure you are seated. His first quote was a total of $350. Gotta love this work. Am not upset about this as it would have been a painfull little job and maybe i was a little high, but am thinking that as his total was bellow what i was expecting to pay for dumping no doubt will come across this pile on the side of the road somewhere. I know i am not to far off the mark with my quotes as the next quote i did that day was for a seconf drive way , just removing the garden (about 40 tonnes of soil) and I quoted at $400, and they said they had quotes from $300 to $800 with the $300 quote being $300 if he only took one load away or $400 or he needed to take 2 loads away, not sure what he planned to do when it runs to 3 loads.
thats a bit of a bugger. as the rba governer commented the problem of 09 is getting paid. $85ph for the 205 sounds about right, cheap if you are not charging float for a job like that. as someone once pointed out its just as easy to go broke sitting on the beach as it is operating your machine - stick to your rates imho, sharpen your selling skills. be sure to differentiate the value of the 205 but its hard when you go head to head on a job like that, i'd be looking for work where you can provide value. quoted out a wet subhire of a forestry mulcher mounted on a tak at $175ph ex gst today but then the alternative of working the place conventionally is is more expensive and will ensure a lesser finish. (for the record i don't charge commission for the subhires, i don't even get involved in the dollar flow) btw the bobcat stump grinder really needs hiflo, on std flow its a bit slow spinning tho it doesn't stall much. then again i stuck a tree lopper on it who uses dedicated grinders and he commented on the speed. I guess if you want to pay the 90k for a dedicated grinder you'd want excellent performance. done much work with a box blade? or a grader? used a laser on either?
I know its hard not to get dragged down to the level of the low ballers....but they are simply not paying for the overheads (tyres, service, insurance, breakdowns etc). I'm sticking with $80/hr for all new work and $75 for my regulars and repeat clients. The pain comes when you get home and realised that after fuel you just worked 10 1/2 hours for like $200. Tell the customer you are fully insured, you take the time to do it properly and thats what your rates are. I always carry a fees schedule from the tip so they can see the cost. It really pays to shop around with the Landfills and tips though. I can get bricks and non-deleterious building waste for $11/m3 most of the time if I just travel a few k's further to a private landfill. Ask around where other guys are tipping. Also, separating your waste can work out to an increased profit margin. At our local municipal tip, if they see a piece of timber it goes from $28/tonne to $76/tonne in a blink. One way to nail those dodgey customers is just offer them an hourly rate and then bring back the tip dockets. At least you are picking up the hourly $$
That guy's pulling your chain. He didn't get any quote - that's HIS idea of what it might have cost (and he is a dummy). Just trying to get you down, in my opinion.
I aggree,some people just dont realise the cost of doing buisnes.
Sounds like the game around here. If the customer says something like. "Now take it easy on me I am on social security." Or if they call me on the phone for pricing but dont want to meet in person, I just just turn down the job. Like it was previously stated, I can go ride my harley versus go broke running equipment. Be cool, it will come back someday.
Better yet,after you do a loball job, the customer brag's to everyone about how cheap he got you to do it.I try to stay away from them.
It's the same in the RV or trailer tow business. Folks are doing very lo-ball bids and offers just to be doing something I suppose. We can not even start our hauler for what some of the prices coming in are. It may be that those that get involved in low-buck work may suffer eventually, along with their customers.
Am pretty sure this guy had got the quote he was talking about for a couple of reasons, 1, most people arouond here are now getting between 2 to 4 quotes for jobs now where as last year they where finding it hard to get people out to quote. Thats when i was able to make some cream as people where complaining about about not being able to get anyone to even look at there job. Now we seem to falling over each other. 2, illegal dumping is a problem around here and seems very hard to stop. Seems to be those in little trucks who just pull up and dump, bit harder in a tandem with air brakes, air tailgate, PTO etc etc, but not only that its not something I want to be doing. We really only have 2 legal options for dumping anything but clean fill around here, ones the city dump who charge a fourtune, and a private company who are about 10% cheaper. This private company is also know to drive around and see where other "dump" sites are who might be taking concrete etc and threaten to contact the EPA unless they stop. This private company crushes concrete etc and sells is as recycled rubble etc. Will start another post about elsewhere as its a rip off. But bottom line is cost of dumping is so dear a number of people take the risk and dump where they can. I for one nicely told the customer that I can't get anywhere near $350, wished him a good day and went off to another quote. Not a fan of rubish work as most of the cost goes in dumping and makes it hard to make money. In saying that my first job Monday is site clean up, but customer already had a bin there and just wants me to load it for him. Mouse, Float charges arent something that gets charged for in SA, so i work on staying close to home depending on the job, the bigger the job the further I will travel but normally its not much more than 30 mins. Havent used a box blade, or grader on the 205 yet, have it set up with the controls for the laser grader however at this stage no one here has one to hire. I can hire a the grader for $150 a day but not with the laser control. Was hoping to have been a bit busier and been able to fork out the $23,000 needed for the laser controled grader but thats a long way off right now.
Hey fella I'm SA based as well and all my quoting is depot to depot I run at $100 per hr inc GST for my set up CTL,4.5Ton Exc, and 8 ton tipper, tag trailer. Auger, Breaker, Harley Rake, slasher, trencher, etc $25 an hr extra. quoting is about confidence and selling a value for money result. There are loads of clowns working for $50-60 an hr doing rubbish work but once their gear is worn out they will go broke trying to replace it, work out what you need to get an hour and stick to it. If we all work together to keep the rates up we will all be here to stay. that said you cant take the **** either you've got to be fair. John
Hey there John, where about are you? The problem I am having is was i have been based on domestic customers who dont seem to want to spend money at the moment. Have put another add out in the local paper and getting a bit of work coming through. Prices, I am still trying to work for my $85 an hour for tandem tipper and the S205, but have found myself doing a few smaller jobs. I had a minimum of $300 for the first 3 hours and $85 there after, but depending on the job am doing some smaller jobs now just to get some turn over. Things like where someone has a pile of dirt or something, that needs to leveled out and will only take an hour, and is easy on both me and the machine.
Stick to your guns, you get a low ball job and break something your making nothing
sorry I posted this, waste of time post but a newbie must post three times on a old thread to be able to ask a question on a new thread.
and here is strike three
Near Norton Summit but work all over the state how bout yourself $85 is about right for a tipper and bobcat I run 4hr minimum depot to depot
Hey there John, I am at Angle Vale, moved here about 18 months ago and started up. Things took a little while but that was expected and then middle of last year was flat out till Novemeber since then its been dead. As things have been so busy here with so much building I guess theres to many of us around and people now fighting over scraps. As I have the tandem and the 205, am trying to get hold of bigger jobs than fight for the little stuff. (my pet hate is driveway prep when its about 6 metres long by about 5 metres wide and they want 100mm of hard clay taken out with no rubble.) Will let the guys with little stuff fight over that kind of stuff. Am putting together a quote right now for a job on a market garden, where the drive is 700 metres long and then they want a pad area of 1,350 squares around there shed. I have done work for them before and sounds like on the rough numbers I will be doing this job too. Hows your work load going? Do you find it usfull having the attachments? Shaun