How Much Does DIY Lawn Care Really Cost?

We just celebrated Labor Day and got to thinking not so much about our labor, but yours.

You work hard for a lawn care company called DIY Lawn Care, Inc. It only has one customer: you. No benefits, no vacation time (you probably had to work on Labor Day), but you can work at your own pace and there’s practically 100% job security, right?

Let’s take a closer look at this DIY business.

What is your employee’s time worth? Your first thought might be, you know, $1,000,000 per hour sound right. Unfortunately, when you are your own employer you’re just pulling money out of one pocket and putting it in the other. You might want to be a little more conservative with your hourly rate.

Got that number? Great. Now you’ve monetized your time. How much value, in dollars, are you providing yourself throughout the year? Let’s run the numbers:

1. How many times per year do you mow? # of mows X hours per mow X hourly rate = dollar value of your time. (Don’t forget to add on the cost of gasoline and oil!)
2. How many lawn treatments? You need a least a couple per year to maintain healthy, green yards. Same formula as above. Punch on those numbers, add product cost. On to #3.
3. How long does it take you to clean up the yard in the spring? Hours X hourly rate.
4. How many times do you weed and edge the flower beds? Days throughout the year X hours each time X hourly rate. Maybe give yourself a bonus for chiropractor fees.
5. Do you spend some time pruning your trees back each year? Hours X hourly rate. It’s really adding up now …
6. How much time to do you spend raking up the sticks and leaves in the fall? Two or three times out in the yard X hours each time X hourly rate.

By now the first pocket has to be getting pretty light while you stuff cash into the other one. The trouble is, we haven’t even gotten into the time and cost of mulching, aerating, and maintaining all your equipment and tools.

Add it up and DIY Lawn Care, Inc. probably spends a lot more than you thought on employing you to take care of your property.
Now for the big question: how much value do you place on that time?

How much would you spend to buy those hours back? What’s your return on investment putting a few of them into the job you’re actually passionate about? Or how much is that extra time with the family worth to you and your spouse?

This might be the best way to explain why Clean Cut Lawn & Landscape has been in business for over 30 years. We don’t talk so much about the value of our services, we focus on the value of your time. That’s what it’s always been about for us: providing the means for you to live a better life without sacrificing the beauty, peace, and comfort of a well-tended home.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help provide you with a better quality of life at rates not so far above the cost of DIY as you might think.