Floral design and bidding

[DuRandDesign]

Hi, I am i my fifth season, however I still do not have a tried and true method to my bidding of floral pot/windowboxes. I have doubled my cost and have charged hourly....tooo cheap! I have charged what High end nurseries charge...The business is still coming in. Does anyone have any advice on this...also bidding for bedding plants install. Thank you

[agla]

Record keeping. The best way to start to price anything is to know what it costs you to produce. Then you have to add what you need for a minimum profit. That is the absolute minimum you can work for. If you can get enough work under that formula, you can continue to up the price until it begins to negatively impact your business.

There really is no "going rate" because there are so many variables to price. Not the least of which is how many people are seeking and finding YOU in order to give you a chance to get the work. It sounds like you are doing well at that. Then comes the balance between composition, materials, quality of instalation, and service. Then it all hinges on the values of those people who are contacting you for this service. If low price trumps everything else, you won't have much work if you go up. If the results are valued more than pinching nickels, you'll be able to do better.

It sounds like you already have a following which is the first thing you need in order to start edging your prices up. People buy real results in landscape related stuff rather than potential. It sounds like you have known results.