Grounds ToolkitBusiness Profitability
At What Point Does a Full Second Crew Pay for Itself?
Enter the new crew's size, hours, wage, and any additional fixed costs. This shows the revenue required to cover the new crew at your target margin.
How this is calculated
Annual crew-hours is new crew size times hours per week times operating weeks, priced at the loaded labor rate (see Loaded Labor Rate). Any additional fixed costs (a new truck, mowers) are added to get total annual cost. Required revenue divides that by one minus the target margin.
Worked example
A 2-person crew at $22/hr (28.60 loaded), 40 hours a week for 40 weeks, is 3,200 crew-hours costing $91,520 in labor. With $8,000 in additional equipment cost, total annual cost is $99,520, requiring $153,107.69 in annual revenue at a 35% target margin.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from What Will It Take to Support Another Employee?
That calculator covers a single hire. This one scales to a whole new crew (2 or more people) and adds a place for that crew's own equipment or vehicle cost, not just labor.
What should I include in additional annual fixed costs?
Costs unique to standing up this crew, a second truck, mowers, or trailer. Do not include costs the business already pays for regardless of crew count.
Does this tell me if I have enough demand for a second crew?
No, it tells you the revenue required, it does not forecast whether that demand exists. That judgment call is yours to make.
Should hours per week be the same as my existing crew?
Use whatever schedule the new crew would actually work, it does not need to match the existing crew.