How to Price Apartment Lawn Care

If you’re thinking about getting into apartment lawn care, then it’s important to know how to properly price services for maximum profitability.

Even though apartment lawn care can be highly profitable, it’s important to understand how to bid on these types of lots.

In this article, we’ll show you how to price apartment lawn care so you can begin tapping into this lucrative revenue source.

Should YOU Bid on Apartment Lawn Care?

It might be tempting to view apartment lawn care the same as residential lots. However, there’s more than meets the eye with apartment lawn care.

These are the types of businesses that should consider bidding on apartment lawn care:

• Completely staffed
• Commercial business insurance
• Sustainably profitable and scaling
• Fully equipped with commercial-grade equipment
• Established, experienced lawn care businesses with happy clients

Keep in mind, knowing how to price apartment lawn care all starts with knowing your numbers. Based on your average times, you can accurately price apartment contracts for maximum profit.

Plus, did you know you can quickly view average job times using Service Autopilot?

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Present the Proposal as if the Property Is Already in Shape

Are you bidding on an overgrown apartment complex?

Many lawn care businesses make the mistake of calculating initial property cleanup into the annual contract. 

This is a mistake as your client might find someone else that’s “drastically cheaper” the next year.

In reality, the competition isn’t that much cheaper because you’ve already cleaned up the property for them.

Start off by looking at the apartment complex as if it’s already cleaned up, and you’re simply maintaining it.

Then, later on, you can determine how much it’ll cost to clean the property up, and you’ll be able to charge your client separately for the cleanup.

Even though this may not seem like a necessary distinction, it matters to the apartment manager.

This way, when they look at how much you charged them next year, they’ll be able to easily distinguish the actual cost of upkeep at a glance.

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Break Down the Apartment Complex into Small Sections

If you’re bidding on apartment lawn care, then you already have enough experience to know your average job completion times.

Estimate the Service Time

To estimate the service time, walk the apartments and start calculating your average service times based on property sizes like you normally would.

In other words, break down the apartment complex into smaller sections, which is much easier than trying to calculate for one large property.

Based on your previous experience with each bite-sized piece, jot down how much time you think it’ll take to do each section.

Then, add them up to estimate how long it’ll take you to service the entire apartment complex.

Estimate the Apartment Lawn Care Price

Now, you know how long it’ll take you to service the entire apartment complex, you’re ready to see how much you should charge for it.

Base your prices on how much you’ve charged for property sizes like this in the past. Although, be sure to build in a safety net. Typically, 10-20% is considered a good cushion.

You’ll use this safety net in case you accidentally miscalculate anything. In turn, this can save you from losing money on the entire annual contract.

Unlike residential accounts, with commercial accounts, you’re going to be locked into whatever price you give the apartments for the next year.

This extra buffer can prepare you for other things like:

• New employees
• Gas price fluctuations

Equipment, overhead, and other inflations

Pro Tip: Fast Track Your Estimation Process for More Accuracy

Quickly refer back to your average job times and prices for specific property sizes with Service Autopilot.

When you sign up for Service Autopilot you can look at numbers at a glance and:

• Track assets and chemicals
• Schedule jobs in a few clicks
• Automatically optimize routes
• Measure properties from anywhere
• Access same-day, automated payments
• Instantly bulk invoice multiple jobs at once
• Automate your daily tasks with automations
• Find and fix your profit holes with business reports

Plus, you can win more jobs using Service Autopilot because you can create and send estimates from anywhere in less than 5 minutes!

Simply build out your estimate using an existing template, automatically price jobs based on your best numbers, and send it out.

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Maximize Profits With Apartment Lawn Care

As you bid for apartment lawn care, it’s important to remember to base your estimate on what you already know to be successful for your business.

Don’t try to estimate everything at once, or you can end up miscalculating.

Look at your apartment lawn care bid in small, bite-sized pieces, so you can ensure the most profitable pricing.

Now, you have everything you need to start bidding on apartment lawn care like a pro!

Related: How to Bid Your Next Commercial Lawn Care Contract

Originally published Feb 4, 2021 1:15 PM updated on June 9, 2023 8:17 AM