Hello Plowsite! Great forum. I've been reading up on the what to and not to do's all over this site. Very informative. Thank you.
With that being said, I unfortunately am running out of time on a commercial bid that is a bit jumbled so I need to get straight to question and answer time.
Background: My friend and I work for a commercial outfit that does many, many local commercial properties. My crew boss lets us borrow equipment as necessary (blowers, salters, etc) when the snow accumulation requires it for our after work side jobs of domestic drive/walk ways etc. Well we were recently contacted to bid on a 7 property job that involves mainly walk ways and entrances, with three properties needing a drive cleared, two of which are storage unit lots.
Here's what I'm thinking:
We estimate each individual property based on a 0.1" - 4" and so on scale. We tell them the price of each with that scale + price of salting for the ones they want salted. The question here is what about the fact that we don't have a plow for the 3 that could use it? Do we eat it on the price since someone with a plow could easily get it done faster (it still requires the clearance up to garages and pedestrian walk ways etc)?
Secondly, since we are only doing small time domestic drives etc, we dont have insurance. My only real concern would be shooting out a window of a car with the blower, but there is also someone busting their ass at the salted properties to think about. How do I state that yes I will salt them, but I'm not liable for an injury (we can just be really careful about the windows)?
Lastly, if I were to go the hourly route, and used a plowing time rate basically on those that don't necessarily require it but could benefit from a plow, does the clock start when I leave the house or show up at the site?
I'll take some google map pics of the two that concern me most and post them shortly.
Thank you in advance and be safe.
With that being said, I unfortunately am running out of time on a commercial bid that is a bit jumbled so I need to get straight to question and answer time.
Background: My friend and I work for a commercial outfit that does many, many local commercial properties. My crew boss lets us borrow equipment as necessary (blowers, salters, etc) when the snow accumulation requires it for our after work side jobs of domestic drive/walk ways etc. Well we were recently contacted to bid on a 7 property job that involves mainly walk ways and entrances, with three properties needing a drive cleared, two of which are storage unit lots.
Here's what I'm thinking:
We estimate each individual property based on a 0.1" - 4" and so on scale. We tell them the price of each with that scale + price of salting for the ones they want salted. The question here is what about the fact that we don't have a plow for the 3 that could use it? Do we eat it on the price since someone with a plow could easily get it done faster (it still requires the clearance up to garages and pedestrian walk ways etc)?
Secondly, since we are only doing small time domestic drives etc, we dont have insurance. My only real concern would be shooting out a window of a car with the blower, but there is also someone busting their ass at the salted properties to think about. How do I state that yes I will salt them, but I'm not liable for an injury (we can just be really careful about the windows)?
Lastly, if I were to go the hourly route, and used a plowing time rate basically on those that don't necessarily require it but could benefit from a plow, does the clock start when I leave the house or show up at the site?
I'll take some google map pics of the two that concern me most and post them shortly.
Thank you in advance and be safe.