You've bought all your cleaning supplies and equipment, told everybody you know that you have started a cleaning company and now you are ready to start bidding on jobs and getting down to work. So your next step is to meet with possible clients and put together a bid for their cleaning services. But how do you know what to charge for cleaning your possible client's building?
Start off by remembering that you are in company to make a behalf and earn a living. Sometimes the tendency is to price our services low in order to get our foot in the door. Pricing your services too low may mean you will end up working for very minuscule per hour. And more importantly, will have minuscule left over to reinvest in the increase of your company. There are cleaning associates that charge more than others and have all the work they can cope and there are associates that have lower fees yet are struggling to find work! Don't sell yourself short or you will not be able to earn a living off your cleaning business.
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The rates for industrial cleaning vary widely depending upon the area you live. Hourly rates are in any place from to per hour depending on the type of services that you provide, either or not you're doing the work yourself, and your company's overhead and expenses. Monthly quadrate footage rates could run in any place from $.05 to $.20 per quadrate foot depending on the type of construction you are cleaning and the frequency of cleaning. You'll be able to bid a higher quadrate footage price for curative facilities versus office buildings due to more specialized cleaning needs. You'll likely bid a lower quadrate footage price for large buildings versus small buildings. For example, you may bid $.08 per quadrate foot for a 50,000 quadrate foot construction versus $.12 per quadrate foot for an 8,000 quadrate foot building.
You will most likely be charging your customers a monthly price and you will need to frame that price by estimating how long it will take to achieve the services that your client has requested. The more sufficient you or your employees are, the higher the hourly production rate. If you're able to clean 3,500 quadrate feet per hour, your behalf will be higher than if you're only able to clean 2,500 quadrate feet per hour, so adjust your price accordingly.
It's also a good idea to find out what the "going rates" are in your area. A few phone calls to competitors may be requisite to get an idea of the basic charges in your area. Use a script when you call so you can collate apples to apples. So what do you say when you call? Try something like, "Hi, I have a small company office that I would like cleaned once a week. It is 3000 quadrate feet and has two small restrooms. Can you give me a rough evaluation of what you what you charge per month?" The man may or may not give you an estimate. Most contractors will insist on walking straight through the building, but it is worth a few phone calls so you have a ballpark frame on what cleaning associates in the area are charging.
To evaluation what you should charge for cleaning a building, start by doing a walk-through with the construction owner or manager. Keep track of the following:
* Frequency of cleaning (once a week, three times a week, five times a week). If frequency is one or two times per week, it's best to evaluation your time and multiply by your hourly rate. If cleaning 3 or more times per week you can evaluation your time by the quadrate foot.
* thorough quadrate feet
* Types of floor surfaces and quadrate footage of each (carpet, vinyl flooring, ceramic tile)
* Types of rooms - general office, break room, restrooms. Also note the amount of toilets/stalls and fixtures in each restroom, as well as the types of restroom supplies used.
* Any special considerations - heavy traffic areas, elevators, unusual requests, etc.
* Make note of the definite services the client is seeking such as emptying trash, dusting, restroom cleaning, mopping and vacuuming.
The following services are specialized services and you should bid them separately, and list a per-service charge on your bid:
* Stripping and Waxing (.25¢ - .50¢ per quadrate foot)
* Buffing/Burnishing (.03¢ - .07¢ per quadrate foot)
* machine Cleaning of Ceramic Tile floors (.12¢ - .21¢ per quadrate foot)
* floor covering Cleaning (.12¢ - .25¢ per quadrate foot)
* floor covering Spotting ( - per hour)
* Cleaning appliances (microwave, refrigerator) - - per appliance
* Window Washing (.00 - .00 per pane)
Make sure you take enough notes so you can put together a realistic price that is fair to the client and one in which you will make a profit. After your first meeting with the client, go back to your office look straight through your notes and rule what it will cost you to clean the building. You may have to consult a production cleaning rate chart to rule how long it will take you and your staff to clean the building. Once you have an idea of how long it will take to clean the construction you can put your cost evaluation together:
* evaluation the time it will take by using a production cleaning rate chart or calculator.
* rule your labor cost for cleaning the construction one time.
* rule your monthly labor cost to clean the building.
* evaluation a monthly cost for supplies. This will be a fairly low figure, perhaps 1 or 2% of monthly sales.
* Be sure to add in a behalf margin!
Add up the figures and you will come up with your monthly cost. If you have entrance to a bidding calculator you will be able to put in a series of numbers and come up with a price. A bidding calculator will also show what behalf you can expect to make. It is also advisable to add a first time cleaning charge. This is commonly an hourly rate of perhaps - an hour. The first time you go straight through a construction it will take longer and you may find the old cleaning aid may have left dirt in cracks and crevices that you will have to clean the first time through.
Once you have your price established, put your bid packet together. Your bid packet should specify what you are responsible for and what the client is responsible for (buying their own trash can liners, restrooms supplies, etc.). It should also contain the monthly charge for cleaning services, how long the agreement is for, and the procedure to cancel the covenant if either party is unhappy.
It is foremost to learn how to price your cleaning services so your customers know you are providing a expert aid at a realistic price and so that you make a profit. After all, if you do not make a behalf you won't stay in company very long!
Copyright (c) 2006 The Janitorial Store
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