This channel rocks! Thank you for the valuable information on setting prices! We've realized that we need to increase our rates, and thanks to this video, we now have a clear strategy to do so. Keep up the great work!
Could you do one of these videos on pricing out the commercial side, like apartment complexes, HOAs, etc.? This was a great video and really helped me finalize my residential pricing. Thank you!
I own a medium size lawn and landscape company and have been thinking of starting a pet waste business for a while. We have a difficult time finding employees and I would think this would be even harder? How do you pay employees? By the hour or by the job? I can see profits going out the door paying hourly.
Right now our scoopers make 20-25/hour depending on the location, we provide benefits, let them take a truck home, and allow a flexible M-F schedule. We have hundreds of applications on a regular basis.
Ok I think I’ve worked it out… your pricing matrix is the cost for a month with the cost breakdown for the frequency in that month. Phew! Thought I was going nuts.
I appreciate the great content! I've been looking at my service history data and I've noticed there isn't a large correlation between number of dogs and time it takes to complete a job. The amount of data I have isn't huge so maybe that's why, but it seems that the size of the yard is the most important factor. Have you tried charging extra depending on the yard size instead of charging more per dog? Or maybe a combo of the two?
You are correct, it doesn't take significantly longer for more dogs typically, and yard size is much more important. We have an extra pricing table for yard sizes, maybe I'll make a follow up video about that.
A few questions... 1) When deciding on pickup days do YOU tell them what days the pickup will be to make it line up with others you handle nearby to streamline travel expenses and drive time? (I used to use delivery software when I had a security patrol service to organize the routes etc) 2) Do you tell them the dogs must be locked up on those days? and if you arrive and their slightly aggressive dog is lose in the yard what do you do. Charge them anyway? as a way to teach them to remember to lock the dog up? That being said, do you require a first visit with the pets before you start the program so the dogs like you> lol 4) I have a very busy city park that has TONS of ducks that congregate. to the point you will step in the poop all the time. The city maintains it but they suck at the poop side. I wanna capture that location (Maybe a dedicated person to just that account) this is a VERY important park in our tourist town... Ideas on how to snag that account?
Yes, we give the client a service day, but we don't set arrival times as they change so frequently. (We use Sweep&Go for routing) We don't require a first visit with pets, but do require unsafe dogs be kept inside otherwise we will skip and still charge the customer. Dog bites are really rare, but when they do happen it's normally because the client let the dog out while we were in the middle of a clean... not when we first show up. While we do have some commercial accounts our main focus is on residential clients. I know some local government sites occasionally put our RFPs for things like that, but you'll likely need to contact your local official or whoever is in charge of that park.
I come from a landscaping background. I charge more for biweekly than weekly, and more for monthly than biweekly. I'm coming less so there's more to cut, and in this business there'll be more poo. If i come twice a week, i charge less as there's less to do. Help me make sense of this pricing arrangement that you have. Thank you
What do you do for the first visit? Do you meet the customer first to check out their yard, or do u just show up and let yourself in their yard and start scooping?
It's rare, but we will send our employee to urgent care to make sure they are safe and follow our incident procedure. Typically we will drop that client, as unsafe dogs are required to be inside during time of service.
Hey William, another great video as always! I have a question, you mentioned briefly that you can look at competitors in your area but you prefer to make your own pricing off your own cost of business. If someone is charging $16 per visit (like the company in my area), how would you go about making your business the better option if you’re target price per visit was $22 a visit? I have considered including haul away since the competitor charges for that separately but I feel I may not win a competitive edge if I just go for $22 a visit when someone else will do it for less. Please help!
You could haul away the waste as a value add, those companies charging really low amounts have hard to scaling, marketing, and hiring good people so your service quality should in theory be much higher. Also, a ton of dog owners don't even know this service exists still, so if you introduce them to the pooper scooper world they will likely just sign up with you.
Im a little confused with prices . If i have a client who needs cleaning once a month for 4 dogs, 1/2 an acre .Would i just be charging $73.13 plus the 1/4 extra?
For larger yards we charge the same additional cost as +1 dog for every +1/4 acre. So if 1 dog is $90 and 2 dogs is $100 it would be the same as.... 1/4th acre $90 and .5 acre $100
Sounds like they won't be able to scale past being an owner operator at those rates... or spend money on marketing, buying branded vehicles, or make much profit.
Would you consider charging a little more for a one time clean? Monthly and one time are pretty close. I'm trying to dial in my pricing and this part I'm stuck on. Otherwise im priced exactly like you
Great video - re. your billing cycle. I've heard you say you always bill on the 1st of the month? If a customer joins on the 15th of the month, do you charge them a prorated amount for the remaining days of that month. For example, if your monthly fee is $100, and there are 30 days in the month, do you charge $50 for the period from the 15th to the end of the month. Then on the 1st of the next month, they start with the regular full monthly payment?
That's right! If a customer signs up in the middle of the month, we will charge them a pro-rated amount on their first day of service. Then they move onto regular billing on the 1st afterwards.
@@randerson2842 it's way easier to keep track of, and our team only needs to focus on billing 1 day a month, rather then billing every single day of the month. Cut's down on office labor, and makes the cashflow much more consistent. We know exactly how much we are going to make on the 1st.
I'm interviewing some web developers right now to come up with a really low cost option to help pooper scoopers get a decent website that actually works, will be available to PSM members shortly. As for now if you're using Sweep&Go you will probably want to build a word press site. I believe there are some pooper scooper business themes right now you can buy for a few hundred bucks. That might be a good place to start!
@@Scoop-Start Great thanks I'll check into it. Appreciate your help keep me in mind please when you find your web team builders. As i am technology Challenged LOL
It depends on what type of campaign we are running. Right now we are working on pushing most of our traffic to the quote tool vs FB messages vs phone calls. Will have more data in a few months to share.
We built our first website ourselves, the one we just rolled out this month was built by Sweep&Go's Dev team so we could integrate a bunch of new features with our CRM.
@@VMart-or1gq automatic graphic changes based on seasons, dynamic location swapping, gift cards, referral program, automatic coupon insertion, and a bunch of other stuff.
@@Scoop-Start How can I tell if my town is a good market place for the business ? I've seen some sites and they have low prices. Thank you for your input.
Just seeing if I understand this correctly you charge $100 per week to clean up for 1 dog or is that $100 the monthly total & the per occasion price is $25
so just to be clear, this pricing matrix is total for the month...so if youre saying 100 for once a week cleaning..what youre saying is 25 per week, correct?
@@Scoop-Start so is this what you would show your customers..or would it be better to show them the 25 dollar per week as opposed to the monthly pricing..
It happens occasionally, but we require dogs that don't well with strangers to be left inside, and we provide customers with a 60 minute on the way text message.
I’m a little confused. You charge $100 per week for one dog but you charge less for every two weeks when it will take more time and more poop. Shouldn’t the lesser amounts be for the weekly and the more expensive for the longer period collection?
ok, whats with sweep and go. not finding any info on youtube from sweep and go. like how to set it up and from a business owner. see ton of jobber videos. +
I'll make a video on this soon! We have a full Sweep&Go setup course in the Poop Scoop Millionaire, but if you want some free information, you'll have to wait a little bit... but I will make it!
Mostly if you see multiple dogs in their yard when you're scooping. We get our customers the benefit of the doubt though and don't push on this very hard unless it's fairly obvious they have more dogs then they said.
FYI when you say bi weekly then twice a month it confuses the three of us listening. Chat gpt is telling me there’s two meaning depending. I got ya but I’m sure others won’t. Don’t think I’m being a hater cuz I’m loving your content. I’m retired from my contracting biz and starting a poop biz now. God speed to us all my friend.
Thanks for the feedback! I might end up remaking this video sometime next year and will make it more clear! This was my 2nd ever video, so lots of room for improvement on my end!
💥Join Poop Scoop Millionaire and take your business to the next level! 👇
www.skool.com/poop-scoop-millionaire/about
This channel rocks! Thank you for the valuable information on setting prices! We've realized that we need to increase our rates, and thanks to this video, we now have a clear strategy to do so. Keep up the great work!
@Sowboi1985 thanks for watching! Setting the correct prices is one of the most important things you can do for your pooper scooper business.
Thank you for telling me where you're at is Ralph listening to all these videos and nobody ever tells me what state they're in
WA & ID!
Could you do one of these videos on pricing out the commercial side, like apartment complexes, HOAs, etc.? This was a great video and really helped me finalize my residential pricing. Thank you!
@@jeremiahrbaumann I already have one!
Here you go!
ruclips.net/video/QyRr9fAUMcU/видео.htmlsi=1U4RgpmIL_k5LfFU
I own a medium size lawn and landscape company and have been thinking of starting a pet waste business for a while. We have a difficult time finding employees and I would think this would be even harder? How do you pay employees? By the hour or by the job? I can see profits going out the door paying hourly.
Right now our scoopers make 20-25/hour depending on the location, we provide benefits, let them take a truck home, and allow a flexible M-F schedule. We have hundreds of applications on a regular basis.
Ok I think I’ve worked it out… your pricing matrix is the cost for a month with the cost breakdown for the frequency in that month. Phew! Thought I was going nuts.
Sorry if that was confusing! We charge monthly, but quote the customer the per visit price because it has higher conversion rates.
What about the 5 week months? They stay at $100 or is the 5th free for the customer?
@CharlyCD93 we level bill so take the weekly price and x it by 52 weeks in the year then / by 12.
Or take your weekly price x4.333
@ thank you for the reply!
@CharlyCD93 thanks for watching!
Thank you for this!! STRAIGHT FORWARD!! CHEEEHOOO!!!
@@lahentaga thanks for watching!
What software to keep up with appointments
Sweep&Go!
I appreciate the great content! I've been looking at my service history data and I've noticed there isn't a large correlation between number of dogs and time it takes to complete a job. The amount of data I have isn't huge so maybe that's why, but it seems that the size of the yard is the most important factor. Have you tried charging extra depending on the yard size instead of charging more per dog? Or maybe a combo of the two?
You are correct, it doesn't take significantly longer for more dogs typically, and yard size is much more important.
We have an extra pricing table for yard sizes, maybe I'll make a follow up video about that.
@@Scoop-Start Got it. I'd love to see a more detailed video about that! Thank you!
@@jeffreysmith4586 I added it to the list!
A few questions...
1) When deciding on pickup days do YOU tell them what days the pickup will be to make it line up with others you handle nearby to streamline travel expenses and drive time?
(I used to use delivery software when I had a security patrol service to organize the routes etc)
2) Do you tell them the dogs must be locked up on those days? and if you arrive and their slightly aggressive dog is lose in the yard what do you do. Charge them anyway? as a way to teach them to remember to lock the dog up? That being said, do you require a first visit with the pets before you start the program so the dogs like you> lol
4) I have a very busy city park that has TONS of ducks that congregate. to the point you will step in the poop all the time. The city maintains it but they suck at the poop side. I wanna capture that location (Maybe a dedicated person to just that account) this is a VERY important park in our tourist town... Ideas on how to snag that account?
Yes, we give the client a service day, but we don't set arrival times as they change so frequently. (We use Sweep&Go for routing)
We don't require a first visit with pets, but do require unsafe dogs be kept inside otherwise we will skip and still charge the customer. Dog bites are really rare, but when they do happen it's normally because the client let the dog out while we were in the middle of a clean... not when we first show up.
While we do have some commercial accounts our main focus is on residential clients. I know some local government sites occasionally put our RFPs for things like that, but you'll likely need to contact your local official or whoever is in charge of that park.
Great Channel looking to start add to my pest company
Awesome! Those recurring revenue businesses are the place to be!
I come from a landscaping background. I charge more for biweekly than weekly, and more for monthly than biweekly. I'm coming less so there's more to cut, and in this business there'll be more poo. If i come twice a week, i charge less as there's less to do.
Help me make sense of this pricing arrangement that you have. Thank you
@@tommyperez2373 we charge more per visit for less frequent service but less per month as we don't have as much drive time.
What do you do if the client goes away on holidays for a week or more with their dog and doest need service? Do you still charge or pause it?
We would just pause the service and resume when they get back.
What do you do for the first visit? Do you meet the customer first to check out their yard, or do u just show up and let yourself in their yard and start scooping?
If they are available, the techs will introduce themselves, otherwise they get right to work.
What do you do with biting dogs?
It's rare, but we will send our employee to urgent care to make sure they are safe and follow our incident procedure.
Typically we will drop that client, as unsafe dogs are required to be inside during time of service.
Hey William, another great video as always! I have a question, you mentioned briefly that you can look at competitors in your area but you prefer to make your own pricing off your own cost of business. If someone is charging $16 per visit (like the company in my area), how would you go about making your business the better option if you’re target price per visit was $22 a visit? I have considered including haul away since the competitor charges for that separately but I feel I may not win a competitive edge if I just go for $22 a visit when someone else will do it for less. Please help!
You could haul away the waste as a value add, those companies charging really low amounts have hard to scaling, marketing, and hiring good people so your service quality should in theory be much higher. Also, a ton of dog owners don't even know this service exists still, so if you introduce them to the pooper scooper world they will likely just sign up with you.
Im a little confused with prices . If i have a client who needs cleaning once a month for 4 dogs, 1/2 an acre .Would i just be charging $73.13 plus the 1/4 extra?
For larger yards we charge the same additional cost as +1 dog for every +1/4 acre.
So if 1 dog is $90 and 2 dogs is $100 it would be the same as....
1/4th acre $90 and .5 acre $100
What is the average size yard for these rates? Do they change based on yard size?
We base the rates off 1/8th an acre for a standard size yard.
If a yard is bigger than 1/8 how do you price for each type of yard? 1/4,1/2, 1 acre??
You would just charge more for every 1/4 acre, I want to say we charge an extra $10/month for each quarter acre, but would need to double check.
Hi William, do you keep customers scheduled for the same day each week or sometimes different days?
We typically schedule them for the same day every week.
Thank you for the valuable info! Do you allow customers to pick which days they get scooped or do you just tell them when you will be out?
We will assign them a service day. But if you offer 2x weekly service it allows you to have more flexibility when they get scheduled.
I'm in fort Collins Colorado and I checked out the top five companies around me the average one dog once a week is $11
Sounds like they won't be able to scale past being an owner operator at those rates... or spend money on marketing, buying branded vehicles, or make much profit.
Does your CRM automatically account for the months that will have a fifth scooping day?
We level bill each month.
So if they were on weekly for example we would take the price x 52 then divide it by 12.
Would you consider charging a little more for a one time clean? Monthly and one time are pretty close. I'm trying to dial in my pricing and this part I'm stuck on. Otherwise im priced exactly like you
Yeah, we charge quite a bit for one time cleans depending on the time of year. In the spring we charge $150-$300+
What website hosting domain site do you use?
We had been using GoDaddy, but might be switching to a private server now.
What do you do about fhe size of yards??
We increase the price similar to the number of dogs for every 1/4th additional acre.
@@Scoop-Start are you able to break that down a little more? How much extra, per extra 1/4 acre do you typically charge?
Great video - re. your billing cycle. I've heard you say you always bill on the 1st of the month? If a customer joins on the 15th of the month, do you charge them a prorated amount for the remaining days of that month. For example, if your monthly fee is $100, and there are 30 days in the month, do you charge $50 for the period from the 15th to the end of the month. Then on the 1st of the next month, they start with the regular full monthly payment?
That's right! If a customer signs up in the middle of the month, we will charge them a pro-rated amount on their first day of service. Then they move onto regular billing on the 1st afterwards.
@@Scoop-Start thx - is there a valid reason why you dont just let customers choose thier billing date? Why the first of every month?
@@randerson2842 it's way easier to keep track of, and our team only needs to focus on billing 1 day a month, rather then billing every single day of the month. Cut's down on office labor, and makes the cashflow much more consistent. We know exactly how much we are going to make on the 1st.
@@Scoop-Start makes sense - and sweep n go calculates the pro rata difference at sign up?
💪🏻🐶🥳 love it
Thank you! 🥳
Any help with building a website with all the things needed to get started? THANKS
I'm interviewing some web developers right now to come up with a really low cost option to help pooper scoopers get a decent website that actually works, will be available to PSM members shortly.
As for now if you're using Sweep&Go you will probably want to build a word press site. I believe there are some pooper scooper business themes right now you can buy for a few hundred bucks.
That might be a good place to start!
@@Scoop-Start Great thanks I'll check into it.
Appreciate your help keep me in mind please when you find your web team builders. As i am technology Challenged LOL
I used Sweep and Go, and they were a horrible company to deal with. So glad I switched from them
Who designed your website? It looks fantastic!
What % of your new customers fill out the online form and require 0 call center/text messaging support? Curious how well the form converts
It depends on what type of campaign we are running. Right now we are working on pushing most of our traffic to the quote tool vs FB messages vs phone calls. Will have more data in a few months to share.
Which company did you use to build your online website and why did you choose them?
We built our first website ourselves, the one we just rolled out this month was built by Sweep&Go's Dev team so we could integrate a bunch of new features with our CRM.
@@Scoop-Start What types of features are you referring to?
@@VMart-or1gq automatic graphic changes based on seasons, dynamic location swapping, gift cards, referral program, automatic coupon insertion, and a bunch of other stuff.
I hated working with Sweepandgo. So many other great alternatives
How much time does the average clean up take ? And how many jobs can be done daily ?
7ish minutes. Depends on frequency, # of dogs, and yard size though.
Our employees can do 30+ in a day.
@@Scoop-Start How can I tell if my town is a good market place for the business ? I've seen some sites and they have low prices. Thank you for your input.
Wow 30 jobs a day , sweet
@jimmysaturi9245 will depend on route density, how fast you are, and average yard side so could go up or down.
These prices are before tax?
We don't have to charge sales tax in our location.
Just seeing if I understand this correctly you charge $100 per week to clean up for 1 dog or is that $100 the monthly total & the per occasion price is $25
It's around $100/month... but we have had customers that thought our monthly price was the weekly price haha
so just to be clear, this pricing matrix is total for the month...so if youre saying 100 for once a week cleaning..what youre saying is 25 per week, correct?
@FeenOh-y3x correct! But some months have more weeks then others so take the monthly and / by 4.333 to get the average weekly cost.
@@Scoop-Start so is this what you would show your customers..or would it be better to show them the 25 dollar per week as opposed to the monthly pricing..
@@Feenohh weekly pricing to the customer
Insightful -> $
Thank you! Getting your pricing right is one of the most important things any pooper scooper business can do!
What are you pricing your cost per dog for base price? Is it 17.94$ per week for 1 dog?
We increased our prices at both locations. Our lowest price location charges 22.66 per visit for 1 dog weekly.
Do you ever encounter aggressive dogs or are pets expected to be kept out of the yard while you work?
It happens occasionally, but we require dogs that don't well with strangers to be left inside, and we provide customers with a 60 minute on the way text message.
How many jobs do you aim to do in a day, as a one man opp?
@@jimmysaturi9245 as many as possible lol
Our employees do around 30/day
I’m a little confused. You charge $100 per week for one dog but you charge less for every two weeks when it will take more time and more poop. Shouldn’t the lesser amounts be for the weekly and the more expensive for the longer period collection?
Per month prices!
ok, whats with sweep and go. not finding any info on youtube from sweep and go. like how to set it up and from a business owner. see ton of jobber videos. +
I'll make a video on this soon!
We have a full Sweep&Go setup course in the Poop Scoop Millionaire, but if you want some free information, you'll have to wait a little bit... but I will make it!
If all the companies around me are charging 44$ a month for 1 dog 1 day a week would I get any business if I charge $100
Probably, a lot of people don't even know the service exists and will sign up with the first company they hear about.
Geez, I'm sounding so negative. Not my intention folks. I'm just trying to move forward since I don't have a reverse. God speed to us all.
All good! Thanks for tuning in!
how could you tell if a costomer is lying about the amount of dogs that they have
Mostly if you see multiple dogs in their yard when you're scooping. We get our customers the benefit of the doubt though and don't push on this very hard unless it's fairly obvious they have more dogs then they said.
@@Scoop-Start appreciate it
Great info. Audio sucks though lol
I think it's better for the newer videos! That was my 2nd one ever.
Thanks for tuning in!
I can't hear you bro
I know :( my newer videos should be better... I'll remake this one at some point!
I personal would not pay $100 a month for one dog one day a week
Not everyone will! We do have thousands of clients that pay that... and more sometimes.
FYI when you say bi weekly then twice a month it confuses the three of us listening. Chat gpt is telling me there’s two meaning depending. I got ya but I’m sure others won’t. Don’t think I’m being a hater cuz I’m loving your content. I’m retired from my contracting biz and starting a poop biz now. God speed to us all my friend.
Thanks for the feedback! I might end up remaking this video sometime next year and will make it more clear!
This was my 2nd ever video, so lots of room for improvement on my end!
@ Wasn’t be in a hater. I just did my Facebook biz page for and got my pooper scooper shirts in today as well. Thanks for all the help.
@robbrundrett7510 I didn't think so at all!
Happy to help!
The audio keeps fading in and out....
@vivdoolan6846 that was my 2nd ever video, hopefully the next ones are better! Sorry about that
Thanks! Solid 🪙
Glad you liked it!