Quoting + Tracking

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Mar 2025

Posted at 16:02h in Blog, Money, Quoting + Tracking

I have spoken with hundreds of Landscapers over the years, and two quoting terms that are often misunderstood are Markup and Margin. Some Landscapers assume these two terms mean the same thing, however, there is a significant difference between the two! And knowing the difference between them can be a key factor in your business either making a profit or a loss. Simple Explanation Margin and Markup are both business terms related to calculating profit, but they represent different ways of looking at the same transaction: Markup represents the

Jul 2023

Posted at 09:39h in Blog, Money, Quoting + Tracking

STEP 1: Analyse Your 2023 P&L At this time of year, I analyse my clients' P&L from last year and check the critical percentages of materials costs, site wages, superannuation, and subcontractors costs. In other words, I see if their gross profit is what it should be. Similarly, we will check the maintenance and design costs, as well as the running expenses of the company. If you do this and find material costs are 10% higher than the benchmark, you may need to increase the mark-up on

Dec 2016

Posted at 06:04h in Blog, Money, Project Management, Quoting + Tracking, Sales

It is important when running a business to be able to know at any time how well your business is progressing toward your goals. Some owners may say, “if I am getting lots of enquiries or doing lots of quotes things are going well”. Others will say “if we are booked up 3 months in advance, we are going well”. But wouldn’t it be great if you had a number that could tell you more accurately if your business is on track to hit your

Jun 2015

Posted at 11:29h in Blog, Marketing, Quoting + Tracking, Sales

When was the last time you looked objectively at your business to see where you could make some simple changes to be more competitive. Truth is; most guys are so busy working in their business they forget to look where they can simply improve, so they stop struggling to be competitive. Let’s have a look at a few areas: Your Website: Your potential clients will always look at your website to develop an impression of your business. They form an impression of your business within in the

Apr 2015

Posted at 07:55h in Administration, Blog, Quoting + Tracking, Systems

When I met Steve, a landscape contractor, he said he felt that there was never enough time in the day to do everything. Work on site and instruct the guys, buy materials, see new potential clients, draw up designs, work out estimates, do invoicing and basic bookwork and then have some time with his family at night and on weekends. He needed a better way of managing his time. He said, "John, I need your help, my business is taking all my time and thoughts". So I

Jul 2014

Posted at 04:41h in Blog, Quoting + Tracking, Systems

No I am not speaking literally, I am speaking metaphorically. Let me explain.. Have you been quoting projects recently that you shouldn’t be? Have you been wasting time on quotes that will not produce much profit. The same goes for maintenance, are you quoting jobs that will be a waste of time because they won’t make much money and the client causes you too much stress. Quoting jobs that you shouldn't, waste a lot of your time or your estimators time and prevent you from quoting better jobs. And

Mar 2013

Posted at 13:20h in Blog, Marketing, Quoting + Tracking, Systems

You will have experienced most clients delaying projects, getting more comparative quotes, being more price conscious and shaving their budgets in 2012. And according to many economists, 2013 will probably be similar to 2012. So how can you outsmart and out-price your competitors so you win more jobs without decreasing your profit margin? Quote Properly After working with 60 Landscape contractors around Australia, I know that the majority of landscape contractors don’t know their numbers well enough to be able to quote to make a profit. What

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