Per-Cut vs Monthly Contracts

The problem with per-cut

Per-cut pricing hands the weather your paycheck. A rainy week means zero revenue against the same truck payment, the same insurance, and a crew you'd like to keep. It also invites the worst customer behavior in the industry — "skip this week, it doesn't need it" — which converts your route's best margin weeks into holes. You carry all the variance; the customer carries none. That's backwards, because you're the one with payroll.

The conversion math

In-season weekly service is about 4.3 visits a month. Three honest ways to structure it:

The 5% discount buys you something worth far more than 5%: committed revenue you can hire against. The 12-month spread goes further — it turns a seasonal business into one with winter cash flow, which is the difference between keeping a good crew and re-hiring every April.

The clauses that keep contracts honest

1. Define the season and the visit count. "Weekly April–October, biweekly November" beats "as needed" every time.
2. No per-skip credits for weather. Rain weeks are why the monthly price is fair to both sides — you also don't charge extra for double-growth weeks in May.
3. Cleanups and mulch are separate line items. Bundling them "free" into a monthly price is how contracts go underwater by June.
4. Annual escalator. 3–5% each season, in the contract, so raises happen without a conversation.
5. 30-day out for both sides. Makes the commitment easy to sign and easy to enforce.

When per-cut still makes sense

One-off cuts for real estate listings, overgrown-lot rescues, and trial customers you're not sure you want on the route. Price those above your contract rate — they carry full drive time, no commitment, and usually taller grass. Per-cut is the premium product, not the discount one.