You Need To Charge More, NOW.
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Hello You Tube, it’s Rob from Maxwells Grass Cutting Services, based in the North East of England.
In today’s video I want to talk about the need to increase our prices, for the services that we offer in 2024.
If we don’t do this, we will be left behind.
What do you think.
I look forward to reading your comments and feedback.
Thanks for watching. Please like and subscribe.
Remember, when the green gold is growing, keep mowing.
All the best.
Rob.
Honestly so good to have someone who’s open about discussing money etc !! Thank you
You’re welcome. Thank you .
I literally raised everyone's prices two weeks ago and let them know via WhatsApp. I was expecting to lose a few customers at least. Guess what? Every single customer agreed to the higher charges. What you said is identical with me too. All us gardeners should remind ourselves we are NOT charities when it comes to our charges for our service.
Brilliant. Pleased for you .👍🏻
Many years ago I heard a very successful business man say " if ten percent of your customers aren't complaining your charges are too high then you are not charging enough ".
I still think the best way to permanently solve this problem is to put up rates once a year in line with inflation.
The fairest system for all.
Keep up the good work...
Chris.
You’re probably right Chris. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Hi Chris. I put my prices up to combat inflation. Generally every other year. But I understand why people may want to do it yearly. I'm happy with my current earnings and putting prices up to stop the erosion of profits is sensible and should be encouraged .
But I'd never start a season with a business model that excludes up to 40% of potential new customers.
Mathematics will always beat hard work. Charge what makes your business work for you. Any fool can work for small rewards. Thanks for sharing 👍
Great point!
Its a different world cost wise from a few years ago unfortunately and we have to keep up 👍 luckily enough plenty of people who'd rather pay someone to do the garden and use their time for something else
You’re so right Nathan. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Totally agree mate.
Ill be increasing my rates as of March on all jobs carried out.
Ive been on £30 p.h now for too long and grass jobs have hardly gone up each year.
Excellent advice.
That is brilliant, good luck going forward.
Be interesting to do a video on gardeners and van insurance. My original insurer went from around 300 to 560 or 626 if monthly (22 to 24!) and no claims. Went to a broker and got 354! And better conditions. Be good to put a spotlight on this area and see who are the good the bad and the ugly insurers. Be interesting to see others comments. All best and great videos.
Thank you for sharing your experience. 👍🏻
Max, it's good that you are expanding your lawn care business. Recurring businesses are the best businesses. I think you should definitely do more lawns than gardening projects because with lawns, you will be guaranteed work every other week, weather permitting like you say, for 8 months of the year. But gardening projects you will get more money for but there one of job's. A lot of people will take on gardening projects because they just see the £ sign, but they don't look ahead of the game. You're not always guaranteed gardening project after project, but lawn care you are!!
Very wise William, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
as someone who gets his pension in 24 days, nobody in busines that I know ever said they wish I never put their prices up, and everyone I know curses themself for always being too cheap and leaving all that money on the table, me included. not charging enough will haunt you as one of the biggest regrets of your busines life.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
Iam a Traditional Window 30 yrs always worry about putting up prices but cheap compared to many my way. Agree with you my car insurance gone up keep up the great work Sir 👏👏👏👍
Thank you, good luck with your business going forward.
If costs go up in the shops we moan but pay more, why should service industry professionals be expect to keep the same rates. The cost of living crisis doesn’t discriminate it hit every business the same….keep up the great work Mr Max
Thank you . All the best.
Spot on Rob my prices are definitely going up and I think I will lose between 5 & 10% and if I had a pen & paper in front of me I bet could name them all. Once we get into March (in my case) I know the email’s will start & the phone will start ringing. I have customers that I have had for over 10 years and I know they would never go anywhere else, because they value my work & they are the type of customers you want
All the very best for the coming season.
Michael
The Really Useful Gardening Co Based in Essex
Thank you Michael. Good luck with your business.
iam getting to the point now where i dont want to go into garden for regular maintenance unless its £45 - 50 or i feel like a busy fool 🤔
I know exactly what you mean. Put your prices up and let fate decide.
Im not putting my prices up this year because ,A ,people are struggling.B in the area i live there are so many people doing garden maintenance we are struggling to get the jobs in.my average lawn cut is staying at £12
I wish you well.
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices thanks in a area about 3 miles long there are at least 17 gardeners that i know of,plus the people doing it as no questions asked.its now impossible to get the new jobs for starts let alone try compete with those that do it for the price of a pint.its a nightmare where i live
I'm on the glass and mine will be going up in February. To be honest this "Cost of Living Crisis" is a bit of a myth. Restaurants, pubs, airports, concert venues are all busy. There's still quite a lot of money sloshing about and I'm confident I'll get the increase I want.
Good luck as ever to you Rob.
Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom.👍🏻
Sounds an excellent Plan👍, I've done one so far £45 to £50 which they agreed to straight away. Onto the next few with hopefully the same results. Gives you a little buzz🤣
I agree. The hustle of running a business.
Hello Rob, out of curtesy, I would send your message a month before the first cut, not a week. I would at least give them time to think about it and if they say no, you have more time to add in new customers.
I agree. Better to give a bit more notice for them and for yourself.
I did say that I will give notice on the 14 th of February. The grass cutting season starts mid march. Isn’t that a month.
I am giving them a month.
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices You certainly did Rob. Forgive us.
Thank you . 🙏
Hi Rob, I'm glad you are seeing the light and putting on some extra for your business, I did it years ago and nobody said a thing... Horticultural wages have been to low for a long time. As you say we are professionals👍.. There is loads of work out there ..
Thank you Andrew. Appreciate your support.
Love this Rob. You really fire me up, but when I get there I will turn to jelly.😩😩
Go for it .
Can always be worrying and stressful but you do feel better when they accept can give you that extra push when you need it
You’re spot on. Thank you .
I put mine up last year and a few used to say. Oh the lawns ok this week to think they were getting one over me and next time the grass would be a foot high. So they have gone.
Totally understand what you mean about customers trying to have one up.I get this as well and you have to let them go otherwise your mentality takes a hit.
We don’t need to associate with bad people. Congratulations.
Well said.👍🏻
Nice one mate 👍
Thanks for the visit
Fantastic video Rob. Prices have to go up to maintain the business. Great marking plan for new work.
You’re so right Adam, thank you .
Some great comments coming in Rob. Its great to see others experiences regarding pricing. Always enjoy your videos Rob. Thanks, Paudie 👍
Thanks Paudie, appreciate your kind words.
Hi Rob, are you putting all your prices up by £5 a visit?
Also what’s that mower you mention is it the HRX 537
Great advise and info Rob.
I'm putting my hourly rate customers price up in March, But i'm not sure how to word what to say to them?
Good stuff! Due the the increase in business running costs I am having to increase my hourly rate from….. to …..
Spot on mate , as you've said in the past .....don't stand still with your business
We need to keep moving forward. 👍🏻
I am always listening to the words that customers say to find out if they are wasting my time or if they are going to be trouble.I have had a couple my way and the first words I here is "Do you charge a hourly rate" I will get my friends to do it" can you extend to 2-3 months but for the same price rather than one month.
I’ve had similar, I call them the ‘no thanks questions’. My stock answer is: ‘thanks for giving me the opportunity to quote but unfortunately I’m not in a position to take on your garden at the current time’. Then walk away.
A brilliant reply.
It’s the same nation wide. All the best.
Hi Rob we will be raising ours this year.. Not been done for about 5 years
It’s time Shaun. All the best to you .
How did price rises go with the customers
Hey Rob, your videos are so inspirational.....sometimes I fail to stop and think about the formatting of my company.....then you throw a video like this up!!! And it gets me thinking.....I am doing a price increase this year, but it wasn't going to be by much.....I.e. £2.50 - £5.00 over 90 lawns, but I'm thinking maybe to have a rethink. Keep up the good work, mate.
£2.50 x 90 lawns x 16 cuts per season = £3600.
That’s brilliant.
hi Rob hope you are well and yes put your price up i put 50% of job up each year and if some say no and go its a bit easier for us ive put my prices up any one off jobs i put a high price in (in my eyes) and i still get a lot of the work a lot is word of mouth and i have as we all do in our areas it all works for me and on a lot of jobs i had extra and i had people booking me up twelve months in advance some hedge work garden clean ups etc i have a lot book me in for grass this season from the end of last season i would say we as gardeners are the best value for money trade there is as we have said as a number £20 for a lawn washer on the tap £80 and anyone coming to the house will see the lawn who will see the washer?? all the best mate
Thank you Shane, I agree we offer good value. Increase lots of customers by a small amount means more profit.
Technically fuel costs have decreased so you shouldn't really use that as a factor. But all others yes
You’re so wrong. £1.10 per litre 2020.
£1.49 2024. Eh.
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices yes & in 2015 it was £1.10 that makes no sense going back 4 years does it!! Last year's prices we're much higher than today's prices I was referring too
Thanks Rob, you're not wrong mate 👍
Appreciated John.
Agree rob, been tempted to put mine up for a while but don’t want to scare away current customers.
I totally understand what you mean.You could test the waters as in all your customers put your price up some will say yes some will say no.Just go with the flow with the customers that say no.
@@realsteellawncare8167 that’s true. Maybe find a half way point somewhere. I’ve had the same price for years now. May try it this year.
If you have a good customer base there shouldn’t be a problem as long as you’re not taking the p. People aren’t stupid they know costs across the board are rising daily, just look at you food shopping bill and fuel costs, massively above inflation. I’ve found customers prefer someone who will turn up and do what’s been agreed for a fair price rather than a £10 cut merchant who only turns up when they can be bothered..
We need to charge our worth.
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices totally agree
Spot on Rob 👍
Thank you . 🙏
Thanks Rob
I’ve been really bad at putting prices up! Probably why I’m so busy😅
I’ve realised over the past year that I’m way to cheap and need to increase. I admit I get very nervous telling people 😬👍
You can do it! We all feel the same. Go for it.
Regarding waste, it’s £80 a ton here!. I’ve researched what others do and I’ve come up with a cunning plan. I’ve got a dewalt 8 inch chainsaw and electric secateurs for clearance work so I don’t have to break out the chainsaw. Anything over an inch comes home with me and gets processed for next years kindling and logs. Everything under and inch goes through the shredder for compost. Any wood or compost that is surplus will be sold on which equals no waste, am I carbon neutral? 😂😂😂😂😂
Just leave the backdoor on the van open on the way home and let it disperse into nature hahaha ;)
@@james787324 why didn’t I think of that!
Brilliant, good luck with your plan
Spot on. Looking at shredders, chippers for exactly that.
I always inform the customer that you are hiring my skills, my tools, my insurance, and the investment in my qualifications such as spraying, chainsaw tickets, etc.
The tools required to maintain a standard garden are easily £2000, before consumables.
The customer has to be clear, do you want to spend that big capital outlay and have the workload, or do they want to pay a fair fee?
A great comment, very true.
Cutting grass down on the south coast here today
Brilliant 👍🏻
Hi Rob, a different topic than your video but I totally agree with you, raise your prices, your not charity.
Have you seen the new 30" Weibang commercial shaft driven mower? I'd imagine it would be very useful to you cutting large gardens. As far as I know the hondas are going in the European market now aswell 😢
I do like the Weibang mowers. The weight puts me off. All the best.
💯 Rod on everything started it all last year.
Thank you Simon. 👍🏻
Some of my favourite customers put their own prices up last year which was nice of them. I've kept the £20-£25 lawns the same for 4 years as I can get through 15 a day although it's rushing around it's somewhat of a good earner! I'm going to look for more landscpaing work this season though. As last year's weather really got me down having to stop and unclog the mower every few yards.. even in summer.
Thanks for sharing your experience. All the best.
Just don't buy them. Do not go lower than a quarter oz or full Soverighn anything less and the premiums kill you both when buying and both when selling. Save up and have the patience to get bigger amounts.
Great video also 👊
Thanks for the visit, all the best.
I'm not able to convince my employer to consider a reasonable increase to cover the vast increase in the cost of living so technically, like many others, I'm getting poorer!!
Sorry to hear that.
Rob don't forget you suggested the smaller jobs are better for you, so even just adding £2 to a £20 job should be fine. As you said you didn't put prices up last year! Inflation was 8.6% from 2022 to 2023, we are now in 2024.
Very wise, thank you .
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices I guess most pay by bank transfer so it's not like they are looking for £1 coins to pay you. Go on you know you want a few quid more :-)
Majority of my customers are the elderly so I send a letter out, they appreciate it. New work will be on new rate, last years new customers no change, previous years new customers inflation rate rise previous to that a bit of a price hike. I questioned why my vehicle insurance has doubled, this years excuse is EV’s, the parts are scarce and expensive so it’s costing more with replacement vehicles due to length of time to repair, apparently 🙄
That's what I'm also planning. New jobs and old customers go up. Last year's new intake remains the same, unless they're on the "shit list", they can go up or jog on! 😂
@@alex_n8863 ah you have a shit list too? I thought I was the only 1 😂😂
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts and experience. A great comment.
We all have one.
@stanionmowing I'm doing quite well at the moment, unusually I have no one on my shit list
If the customer under values your time then they are under valuing their own time.
To quote you Mr and Mrs Cannybody with the £50 Argos will take twice as long to do the job as you will.
So by hiring you for an hour they are freeing up 2 hours of their own time to go and do more pleasurable or profitable things.
Nothing in this world should have a greater value than time as it is a finite resource for every one of us.
Thank you .
I'm putting mine up but not sure how much maybe between £2.50-£5 ph?
A step in the right direction. 👍🏻
Nobody likes disclosing their hourly rate- and i know many say ditch the hourly and price per job. However for those who charge hourly, what's your rate for hedge cutting and also for general weeding, etc. ? Ideally hedge cutting should be £30, although I'm currently £25.. and £23. Gonna up it once i get last years jobs done
. Probably to £26 and £25. Unless i stop being a chicken sh!t and £30/£25..
Good luck going forward. I wish you all the best.
You have to make a living Rob
We certainly do Wayne.👍🏻
Take care of yourself won't you Rob and have a good end to your week
Dishwasher was broke? Hope she's okay now 😂
I've never subscribed to this " don't be a busy fool" notion. If I've gone to the time and expense of going to quote for a job, I want that job. Not 60% of the time. 100% of the time! I think it's foolish to be sitting at home whilst someone else is out working / earning doing the job i could have been doing and getting paid for.
Regarding prices. Prices will go up this year to combat inflation. But I'll still remain competitive. Not in comparison to the increasing number who buy themselves a second hand mower off Facebook marketplace and walk the streets hoping for work.
But competitive for the professional service I provide.
We need to disagree on this Gary. Why run around all day charging £25 per lawn. When the next guy is charging £35 per lawn. Do the maths.
All the best.
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices No worries. How boring would it be if we agreed all the time?
What I would say is the £35 man might be sitting at home skint because the £25 has taken all his customers. So after just five jobs. (three and a half hours work) the £25 man has £125 in his pocket and the rest of his day free. Whereas the £35 man has more time to count the money in his empty wallet because he's sat at home all day.
No no , there is so much work out there for a professional who markets themselves correctly.
@@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices As you say. Agree to disagree. All the best Rob. 👍
I disagree, doing that just drives down the perceived value of our services. Does nobody any good in the long run.
Hi Rob. No expense spared what ride on mower would you recommend for a one and half acre field . Cannot get rid of grass waste so what would be best. Cheers rob. Also rob how can I send you a few quid.?
I am not an expert when it comes to ride on mowers . Speak to your local dealer and see what they advise.
I personally like the John Deere range.
Good luck.