How To Estimate Cost For Landscaping Clients

How To Estimate Cost For Landscaping Clients

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It’s essential to estimate landscaping costs to run a profitable business accurately. To win work and stay profitable, landscaping estimates must be thorough, detailed, and accurate. Anyone can mention a price, but I can guarantee you that knowing how to estimate it is what makes your business relevant.

To estimate the cost for landscaping clients, you need to begin with a visit to the site and review the proposed design. Then prepare and share an estimate with the client, factoring in the time and labor costs, subcontracting costs, material costs, overhead costs, and margin/markup.

A good landscaping cost estimate appeals to customers is lucrative for you and is competitive, but striking the correct mix can be challenging. In this article I will provide a step-by-step guide to assist you in preparing a reasonable cost estimate for your client;

Talk to the Client

How To Estimate Cost For Landscaping Clients

Firstly, discuss the client’s requirements. Before you begin your estimate, do this and ask many questions.

Make sure you inspect and measure the location personally. Plan out how you’ll finish the task and what materials, subcontractors, and extra labor you’ll need. The cost could be higher because you might need to construct walls, pathways, and other hardscaping features.

Consider the following landscaping factors:

  • · The landscaping style or design that the client prefers (Japanese etc.)
  • · Stones for pathways if needed.
  • · Plants and materials that you may need
  • · The location
  • · Need for removal or addition of soil.
  • · Seeding vs. sod/turf
  • · Graded or sloped terrains
  • · The current state of the yard
  • · Need for plants or features such as a sidewalk or patio

The Landscaping Network has a comprehensive list of landscaping prices for specific patio or fence installation services.

Estimate the time and labor cost

You’ll need to figure out and factor in how long a project will take to provide an estimate. Examining previous jobs is a fantastic method to do this. See how many subcontractors or employees you utilized on these projects and how long they took to finish.

Consider implementing GPS time monitoring for your landscape and lawn care technicians if you’re just getting started or don’t have a good handle on things.

You’ll see what they’re doing when working and how long it takes them to finish a project. Based on this information, estimate an hourly wage for your subcontractors and add roughly 20% to account for payroll taxes.

Consider how much work it will take to prepare the land for your project. For example, if you’re removing outdated landscaping, you could need an extra day or two.

You must factor this in and any other unforeseen complications by adding a few minutes to your time estimate.

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Estimating Subcontractor Costs

Establishing relationships with a list of subcontractors is essential. Despite the additional immediate expense of subcontractors, their experience or simply having an extra pair of hands can make some activities more efficient. This cost can save time and money in the long run and provide a more appealing quote that meets a customer’s budget.

Estimate Total Material Costs

List all of the items you’ll need for the task, assign a cost to each, and then add up all of the expenses for a total. The following are examples of common landscaping materials:

How To Estimate Cost For Landscaping Clients
  • · Cement
  • · Lawn Turf
  • · Compost
  • · Floodlights
  • · Mulch
  • · Gravel
  • · Boulders
  • · Landscaping
  • · Rock Timber
  • · Fertilizer Trees Plants

The resources you’ll need will vary based on the job, and the size of the yard will determine the quantity you’ll need.

Estimate Overhead Costs

To correctly estimate your cost to landscaping clients, you must factor in overhead costs. You must return the costs of vans, gas, advertising, office rent, equipment repair and maintenance, cell phones, tools, uniforms, accountants, and insurance.

You’ll need a precise figure. If you don’t, even after adding a markup, there’s a chance you won’t make a profit.

It’s much easier to overlook overhead expenditures. These expenses are an unavoidable element of doing business.

Overhead includes items such as:

  • · Rent
  • · Marketing for your company
  • · Office utilities
  • · Software subscriptions
  • · Vehicle insurance
  • · Membership dues to professional organizations

Add up everything you pay each month to make sure your jobs are profitable enough for you to cover all of your bills and yet come out ahead. Subtract that figure from the number of jobs you typically accomplish each month. That is the amount you must fund and your material and labor charges. Make sure you’re charging enough to cover your costs while still making a profit.

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Adding Profit Markups and Margins

To stay profitable in the landscape sector, you must understand your profit margins and markups. When giving estimates to clients, some business owners have a habit of eyeballing numbers or making them up out of thin air, leaving money on the table. You may stay successful and maintain a regular and healthy cash flow in your firm by including a targeted profit margin in your markup calculation, regardless of the scope or magnitude of the project or assignment.

Calculating Total Price

Now that you’ve calculated all of the costs mentioned earlier, it’s time to combine them into a single anticipated price. The more information you provide in the estimate, the more confident you can be that it is an appropriate figure for your customer’s budget and the money you and your crew can take home.

Before you congratulate yourself on a successful estimate, keep in mind that hidden costs and waste can quickly pile up. Reworks caused by human error, equipment breakdown or maintenance, and nonbillable time like travel between sites and lunch breaks eat your profit margins. For a safe and lucrative landscaping business, eliminate waste and maintain adequate processes and procedures to ensure you are prepared for unanticipated costs.

How to Quote Landscaping Jobs

It’s time to quote your client after pricing the landscaping task. Before your client hires you, a quote is a professional document that shows them the cost and pricing breakdown of their landscaping project. The services your company will deliver, your client’s details, the cost of each service, additional service notes, and essential terms and conditions are all included in landscape quotes. The client must approve the quotes.

Be sure to include the following crucial aspects when quoting:

  • · Name and logo of your landscaping business
  • · Your contact information and the procedures that the client must take to “activate” the quote
  • · The client will know the cost of the landscaping task if the service description includes a financial value.
  • · The date, the name of your client, and their contact information
  • · Date of the quote’s expiration. You’ll want to safeguard yourself from being out of money because material prices change.
  • · Mention whether the client will be required to pay a deposit. You’ll almost certainly require one to purchase the materials.

Creating Profitable Estimates with Software and Apps

Estimating errors are common, but they can significantly impact earnings and operations. These errors can be reduced or fully eliminated by using landscape estimate software and mobile estimating apps, enhancing revenues and speeding up job completion times.

Advantages of Creating Profitable Estimates with Software and Apps

  • · Estimating software is far more accurate than calculators, spreadsheets, or scratchpads for calculating material costs. For the most accurate estimates, LMN estimating software uses real-time supplier pricing.
  • · Accurate specifications: Estimating software ensures that product or material specifications are proper before the job begins.
  • · All necessary equipment and goods are included: estimating software always includes all necessary equipment and extra items for work not to be overlooked.
  • · Calculate labor hours accurately: software ensures that all labor hours for all tasks are accounted for and not overlooked.
  • · Standardize pricing: More people can make estimates with less training while still preserving profitability because software can standardize estimates.
  • · Real-time inventory tracking: software prevents salespeople from including materials that aren’t actually in stock.
  • · On-site estimating: Mobile estimating apps enable faster, more accurate estimates on-site without going to the office. Sending estimates as soon as possible usually results in more business being won.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do estimates differ from one contractor to the next?

Yes. While all estimates provide the same information, some are more precise than others. Each contractor has its favored method of preparing estimates.

A lack of specificity does not necessarily imply a sloppy estimate. Some contractors prefer to discuss details in person or over the phone/email. They offer the bare minimum of information to cut down on administrative work and devote more time to construction. This is especially true for initiatives of a lesser scale.

In addition, the actual costs indicated in an estimate differ from one contractor to the next. This is one of the reasons why it’s a good idea to be a little flexible when it comes to project budgeting.

How precise is an estimate?

An estimate’s prices and quantities are merely estimates. Although a contractor conducts site measurements to ensure the accuracy of their estimates, the quantities and estimated prices indicated in an estimate may differ from the final quantities and costs of a landscape once it is installed.

To learn more on how you can start your own landscaping business, check out my startup documents here.

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