Small Jobs

I have learned that it's hardly ever as tiny as it seems, and I charge more than I used to. I always tell them that if they want to ask for a lower price, I can work that out if it's just cut and drop and absolutely zero cleanup. How small is this job that seemed to require 17 emails?
 
levi r said:
How do you folks approach tiny jobs? Do you have a minimum charge? How do you handle scheduling? It seems like often the small jobs are the most p.i.t.a.

I'm doing a job for less then the typical minimum on Thursday, about which I have emailed the client 17 times.
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I do a half day minimum. If they really want me it can be profitable to do 3-4 half day min jobs in a day. More so if I can leave piles and have the crew follow my footsteps on a 3/4 day for them.
Or I’ll load the brush and we will chip it the following day.
It takes a lot of organizing but I’ve nearly doubled my daily target when it works out.
 
levi r said:
How do you folks approach tiny jobs? Do you have a minimum charge? How do you handle scheduling? It seems like often the small jobs are the most p.i.t.a.

I'm doing a job for less then the typical minimum on Thursday, about which I have emailed the client 17 times.
Click to expand...
And that is frequently the way it is. I try to hold to a $400 minimum on small jobs and make it clear that it will have to work in with some other days job.

And I notice that people rarely do not have other work that should be done and could be done at the same time. Upsell? For people that are good at that?
 
I have a minimum charge, but for some regulars I'll go lower if I'm in the neighborhood. Because yah, doing a bid, then scheduling, driving, billing all takes as long on a small job as a big one. Sometimes they lead to more work or bigger jobs, sometimes putting together 3-4 can make up a solid day.
 
Small jobs are great. Filling in the end of the day. Getting something done on a rain day if there are breaks or not a heavy rain. Keep in contact with an existing client. Add a new client. Get into a new neighborhood, or expand into a neighborhood where you already have some clients. Etc...

Low overhead. Usually low risk. Smaller crew.

Small jobs with lots and lots of communication are not great!

I'll let folks know "This is a small thing...if we can just fill in the end of the day with it, or run over in the morning when rain is coming. As long as you don't need advance notice, we'll just show up and take care of it in the next couple of weeks."

Depending on how far from everything else it is, I don't have a problem with $100 jobs. Not gonna feed the beast with those, but if its in and out, why not be the guy who can help for a reasonable price. That 30 -45 minutes is more about building a reputation/gaining a client than it is growing the bottom line for this quarter.
 
Daily quota is daily quota
If 3k is what you need to make daily and if you do 1 job and you drive there and back and working all day.
If you do five jobs then you’re only working maybe 1/2 the day and driving the rest.
All makes same amount of money but one way is a lot less work.
I love small jobs!
Far as minimum to show up we dive the most jobs we can do on one day and divide it up.
Example our daily minimum quota is 3k a day so smaller jobs we can do 7-8 so $400 is our minimum
 
ATH said:
Small jobs are great. Filling in the end of the day. Getting something done on a rain day if there are breaks or not a heavy rain. Keep in contact with an existing client. Add a new client. Get into a new neighborhood, or expand into a neighborhood where you already have some clients. Etc...

Low overhead. Usually low risk. Smaller crew.

Small jobs with lots and lots of communication are not great!

I'll let folks know "This is a small thing...if we can just fill in the end of the day with it, or run over in the morning when rain is coming. As long as you don't need advance notice, we'll just show up and take care of it in the next couple of weeks."

Depending on how far from everything else it is, I don't have a problem with $100 jobs. Not gonna feed the beast with those, but if its in and out, why not be the guy who can help for a reasonable price. That 30 -45 minutes is more about building a reputation/gaining a client than it is growing the bottom line for this quarter.
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I think this is a major point about small jobs. If they want it done asap and you have to stuff it into an already good schedule, then the min. charge should reflect the inconvenience, but if they don't mind you popping in whenever and knockin' it out, then you can maximize the value of the work for you and for them.
 
Small jobs fill spots and earn longterm customers.

Minimum fee covering mobilization and possible a little hauling.

3 hour minimum can be really good if bringing a chipper or loader.

$3-400 usually.

Occasionally less for a regular, or small without cleanup, no bid trip and return to work. Show-up, do the work, give an invoice.


When on the phone with a new customer, while pre-qualifying, I'll let them know that the cheapest way for a small job is a one- trip scenario.
 
Maybe just me but haven't really had a "small job" (esp. stuff like pruning out black knot for example) in the last ten years that has taken me less than 1/2 to maybe even 2/3 of a day when you count travel, cleaning tools etc. so $400.00 is about it for me. Otherwise it's charity work, which has its place too sometimes. If you're mobilizing a bunch of equipment/ trucks with air brakes etc. it's another ball game and that's got to be in the price. Everything costs these days even a quarter tank of gas for running around. Just my two cents though.
As an aside, I got caught couple weeks ago when having a "quick look" at a yard on Google maps - HO said the trees/ shrubs were not too big and that's the way they looked on screen, till I noticed the street shots were taken in 2019. When we got there the "shrubs" were more than double the size! After all these years still can get caught out sometimes . . . twas a long "half day".
 
We have minimums based on the area (higher for adjacent towns) that makes the process more simple. We have 30% lower minimums for in town work if the job can be done with a pickup/trailer/small machine by a groundie. That gives us some flexibility when bidding and removes the decision making aspect on little jobs and makes sure customer expectations are inline with our model.

Yesterday we did 2 regular jobs and 3 little jobs.

We are geared for and focus on removals. With some flexibility our minimums go from $700, $1k, $2k, and $3k. $200 for stump grinding.
 
Wow, I'm really glad I made this post. So many good insights here. My minimum was $180 for many years, just put it up to $240 in the last few. But after reading this I'm going to $400! :ROFLMAO:

I had kinda forgotten about days with lots of small jobs. I used to line those up when I first started, definitely can be very profitable.

I think I've had a bad run of fussy clients and cheap peeps recently. I need to switch up my clientele somehow and get with some better vibes for 25. :rock:

Thanks everyone for taking the time to type out some feedback, much appreciated.
 
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