Hone your landscaping bids: price the crew, win the margin
Labor is most of the bid. Get the crew hours right and the rest follows.
Landscape jobs are roughly eighty percent labor, so eyeballing the hours low sinks the whole bid. Here is where it leaks, and where the margin is.
Where the margin leaks
The pricing traps that quietly cost contractors money.
Under-pricing crew hours
Labor is the bulk of most landscape jobs. Eyeball it low and the whole bid is low.
Forgetting haul and disposal
Spoils, old sod, and demo debris have to go somewhere, and that is time and fees.
Pricing plants, forgetting the prep
Grading, soil, edging, irrigation. The dirt work under the pretty part is where the hours are.
Where the money is
The levers that actually move your take-home.
Hardscape over softscape
Patios and walls carry more margin than mulch and plants. Steer the high-value work.
Maintenance contracts
Recurring upkeep is the steady cash between installs.
Phase the project
Selling in phases keeps the crew booked and the client's budget moving.
What to track
The few numbers worth watching.
Crew hours per job
The dominant cost. Bid versus actual.
Dollars per crew hour
What the crew earns. The profitability number.
Disposal and equipment time
The hidden lines that get left off.
Set Anvil up for it
How to make Anvil price your trade the honest way.
Bid bottom-up by scope
Softscape, hardscape, and prep, each at real material and crew rates.
Save your rates
Default overhead, profit, and equipment on Business.
Use the area takeoff
Measure the area, price the work, send a clean bid.
Know your trade.
The cost engine is free. Put your real numbers in and see what to charge.