Hi guys I'm a new member to this site. I would like to know what your thoughts are on my hourly rates for one of commercial customers also any suggestions or recommendations that you might have. I'm from Minnesota I have 1 commercial account I mainly service seasonal residential customers within a 6 mile radius of my house. I picked up a 5.5 acre yard with a parking lot and about 300' of private drive that is located outside of the 5.5 acre yard. I charge them $150 per hour they have a lot of material/hazards within the yard and it usually takes me about 4 hours to push 1"-3". How does my pricing compare to the current pricing within the industry? I have not pushed anything over 3" this year and when I do should my pricing go up per hour or should I leave it at $150? Thank guys
You should base your rate on snow fall totals or a seasonal rate because as you get to know the place your time will decrease for plowing.
There are no standards for snow plowing, each state and within each state pricing is different.
In my neck of the woods, a 1/2 acre lot for a 3 inch storm that takes a half hour to plow I can get say $100
Same state say in the capitol, same lot they can get say $200
Same place say in New Jersey they can get $300.
Another state they may get $75.
So f your getting $150 an hour and the client is happy to pay that and your making a profit, then stick with it.
If your overprice for your area, then your best bet is to look at your operating costs to get a base price for charging and then bump it up to make a profit.
And as OldDog said, your hourly rate remains the same no matter if you push 3 inches or 10 inches of snow.
Everything is based on hourly but as you grow more proficient in plowing the area your time will decrease and then you make less money but if you charge the client based on inches or seasonal then you will still make the same amount of money.
Example, I had a 2 acre lot, the first year it took me 2.5 hours to plow the first few storms -(3 inches)
When I learned it I got that time down to 2 hours.
Then when I bought a V plow I got that time down to 1.5 hours
If I was charging by the hour, I would have lost 1 hours pay.
Have a great season.