Ironport Capital Group, a small-business funding service in Logan, Utah, looks at how Cache Valley landscapers win commercial lawn care and maintenance contracts: who the buyers are, what a bid package contains, how to price it, and how to fund the crew and equipment a new contract needs. Cache County had 64 landscaping employer establishments in 2023 (CBP).
The local field
County Business Patterns counted 64 landscaping service establishments with employees in Cache County in 2023, 78.1% of them with fewer than five employees, and Nonemployer Statistics counted 143 landscaping businesses with no paid staff in 2024. Most Cache County landscaping employers are small (78.1% had fewer than five employees, CBP 2023), so a bid that documents crew capacity and backup equipment gives a property manager something concrete to compare.
Who buys commercial lawn care in Cache Valley, UT
Commercial buyers are property managers, homeowners associations, business parks, retail centers, medical offices, churches and schools. Cache County had 75 employer establishments in activities related to real estate in 2023, mostly property managers and appraisers, and 287 in real estate and rental and leasing overall (CBP). A property manager may look after several sites, so one contract done well can lead to a second bid.
How to get commercial lawn care contracts: the bid package
- Proof of liability insurance, and workers' compensation if you have employees
- A crew and equipment list showing you can handle the site
- References from current commercial or larger residential clients
- A scope of work by visit: mowing, edging, trimming, blowing, and any extras
- A clear price per visit or per month, with what is excluded
How to get commercial landscaping contracts beyond mowing, such as planting, irrigation repair and snow removal, follows the same pattern with a broader scope.
How to get commercial landscape maintenance contracts priced right
Price from time, not from a competitor's number. Walk the site, estimate crew-hours per visit, multiply by visits per season and your loaded labor cost, add fuel, equipment wear, materials and overhead, then margin. A bid that wins but loses money on every visit makes the cash gap worse, not better.
Funding the crew a new contract needs
Illustration only, with invented figures. A two-crew company wins a business park contract at $4,800 a month. It needs a third crew: one truck it already owns, a $12,500 zero-turn and an $8,500 trailer, and two workers at about $1,500 a week combined. The first invoice goes out at the end of month one and is paid 30 days later.
Financing the $21,000 of equipment with $2,000 down over 48 months at an assumed 10 percent a year is about $482 a month, a fraction of the contract. The cash gap is the wages: about eight to nine weeks of payroll, roughly $12,000 to $13,500, before the first payment arrives. That part fits a line of credit or short working capital.
Run the equipment side on your own numbers with the equipment trailer financing calculator. Loans, leases and EFAs for mowers and trailers are compared on equipment financing.
The first 90 days of a new commercial contract
Illustration only, with invented figures, for a contract billed at $3,800 a month on net-30 terms:
- Day 1: service starts; a second crew member starts the same week at about $2,900 a month in wages.
- Day 10: a used commercial mower is delivered on an equipment agreement; the first payment is due in 30 days.
- Day 30: the first invoice goes out; wages and fuel for the month have already been paid.
- Day 60: the first payment of $3,800 arrives while the second month's wages are paid.
- Day 90: the contract is now paying for itself each month, with one month of costs still carried from the start.
The money to find is that first month's wages, fuel and the first equipment payment, about $3,500 to $4,000 in this example. That is the working capital the contract needs, far smaller than the contract's annual value.
Lawn care equipment financing: buying for the contract you have
Buy for the contract you have signed, not the one you hope to win. A partner reviewing lawn care equipment financing will look at signed contracts and current deposits. If the new contract ends, the payment continues, so match the term to how long you expect the equipment to keep earning.
More on the trade is on the landscaping business page, county figures are on the Logan, UT business page, and other articles are on the blog.
