legbuh
Silver Member
Hello all!
I live in a small subdivision outside of any major city. There are about 50 houses in total in this subdivision/coop.
Each house is on about an acre or more of land, and most driveways are two/three car width and anywhere from 30-200 feet long (mine's the longest at about 350 feet).
For the past few winters a construction firm with bobcats cleared a lot of driveways. I personally used an ATV and plow on my own and to be a good neighbor did a couple others driveways.
Two years ago we had just TOOOO much snow for my plow, and I told my friends I simply couldn't do that anymore. But then I also bought a 52" rear mount blower for my Kubota BX1860 (and of course no snow last year... haha)
The construction firm that used to plow now moved out of the area and I'm all of a sudden getting calls asking if I will take over. 2 people asking now and I know there will be more because its "so in so said you might do theirs, will you do ours too?"
The first time I was asked it was "will you plow for the same price as Joe (the construction guy) did?" When I asked how much Joe charged she said "about 20 bucks a time". I kind of laughed because I knew it was more than that.
I'm torn if I should accept the jobs. I don't want to have to deal with liability, payments/collections/taxes/etc. I also would probably want to charge 40-50 bucks a time at least. And if it's a storm that requires 2-3 separate removals count those each as a single removal, not combine them all 3 into 1 (like I can see some of these people asking me to do).
One of them is a county board member and I can see her requiring a 1099 or something for tax reasons when I'd want it simple, cash only, and no liability on my part.
I do run my own computer/software business out of my house, so it's not that big of a deal to get out to do it, and I do enjoy the work, but I just don't want to run into these older/grumpy people and have to worry about collecting. I've done other work for some (such as stump grinding) and I tell them "whatever you think is fair" and normally end up getting $20 for grinding 10 15" stumps. I just laugh and walk away thinking "you did that to yourself... you're too nice"...
Wow, that was a ramble... but I'd be curious to hear any input from anyone in a similar situation, and if I choose to do it what's the best way to price things, and also let them know I'm not liable for damage that may occur? Thanks!
I live in a small subdivision outside of any major city. There are about 50 houses in total in this subdivision/coop.
Each house is on about an acre or more of land, and most driveways are two/three car width and anywhere from 30-200 feet long (mine's the longest at about 350 feet).
For the past few winters a construction firm with bobcats cleared a lot of driveways. I personally used an ATV and plow on my own and to be a good neighbor did a couple others driveways.
Two years ago we had just TOOOO much snow for my plow, and I told my friends I simply couldn't do that anymore. But then I also bought a 52" rear mount blower for my Kubota BX1860 (and of course no snow last year... haha)
The construction firm that used to plow now moved out of the area and I'm all of a sudden getting calls asking if I will take over. 2 people asking now and I know there will be more because its "so in so said you might do theirs, will you do ours too?"
The first time I was asked it was "will you plow for the same price as Joe (the construction guy) did?" When I asked how much Joe charged she said "about 20 bucks a time". I kind of laughed because I knew it was more than that.
I'm torn if I should accept the jobs. I don't want to have to deal with liability, payments/collections/taxes/etc. I also would probably want to charge 40-50 bucks a time at least. And if it's a storm that requires 2-3 separate removals count those each as a single removal, not combine them all 3 into 1 (like I can see some of these people asking me to do).
One of them is a county board member and I can see her requiring a 1099 or something for tax reasons when I'd want it simple, cash only, and no liability on my part.
I do run my own computer/software business out of my house, so it's not that big of a deal to get out to do it, and I do enjoy the work, but I just don't want to run into these older/grumpy people and have to worry about collecting. I've done other work for some (such as stump grinding) and I tell them "whatever you think is fair" and normally end up getting $20 for grinding 10 15" stumps. I just laugh and walk away thinking "you did that to yourself... you're too nice"...
Wow, that was a ramble... but I'd be curious to hear any input from anyone in a similar situation, and if I choose to do it what's the best way to price things, and also let them know I'm not liable for damage that may occur? Thanks!