Am I overbidding or underbidding for my first cleaning account??

[christian39]

I have a UPS Store that requested 2 proposals, one for 2 times a week and one for 3 times a week. 1600 sq ft with the only other space being a bathroom. The place is all carpet except for the bathroom which is very small. it’s not even worth taking my janitorial mop bucket inside since i’ll finish mopping the bathroom in 2 minutes (honestly I don’t think this account is worth it in general but I’m taking it because It could be my first client, I can use it to gain more experience and for reviews). Bathroom only has 1 toilet with no partition 1 sink and 1 mirror.

Front of the store is pretty open but the back is cluttered with boxes and equipment. They want basic cleaning: vacuuming, cleaning the toilet l,sink, mirror, mopping the bathroom, dusting (thinking of doing high dusting biweekly and low dusting weekly), wiping horizontal surfaces, changing trashes, sanitizing areas and equipment that are used often and clean the interior and exterior of the entrance glass only (they have another company that does their windows). They told me they only take 10 minutes to clean but I doubt that. I’m thinking it’ll take me 1.5-2 hours to clean, spending most of my time vacuuming, wiping and sanitizing.

Since it’s my first account I’m thinking of just charging a flat rate of $75 per visit for 2 times a week and $65 per visit for 3 times a week. I am in Nebraska.

They did tell me that they’re moving to a new, bigger building in March with all hard floors. So I was thinking of writing the contract until March and once they moved I could do another estimate for them (In the meantime, I’ll have to put in that work and build a solid relationship with them so they don’t go with anyone else.)

Anyways, I think that’s all the information you guys need, let me know if there’s anything else. Am I overbidding? Am I charging too low? What do ya’ll think? Im learning, give me the honest truth. Thank you!

 

[faiththeword]

@christian39 I’ll be the first person who is in this industry to answer: 1.5-2 hours is way too long. 3-4,000 sqft/hour is what can be cleaned well for office/retail/school space. 1,600 sqft should be done in 45 minutes max, and that includes filling up mop bucket, cleaning it out, etc. So yeah, they’re prob doing it in 10 minutes though with less attention to detail.

Contracts like this are difficult because the space is so small, trying to make $600-800/mo on it usually is way more than what they want to pay. They’re paying $20 to their employees in labor for their 10 minutes. The price comparison is going to be: how much to pay you vs how much they pay their employees to do this already. Add in that the customer space is a tiny section in front, so the rest of the space not looking great is inconsequential to any customer.

I’m not saying don’t try it; I’m saying be prepared to be told “thanks for the bid, we’ll get back to you” and not hearing back. I’d prob aim for the $75/visit myself, but that’s because I wouldn’t be there an hour. Also consider, one day would you want someone else to clean it? If so, don’t drop that rate to $50 just to get the contract. It won’t be worth it bc you’ll have to pay someone $30 a visit just to go there for you.

 

[kabriana]

@faiththeword Spoken like a wise sage

 

[christian39]

@faiththeword I appreciate the straight up answer. So my goal for this should be to be out of there in 45 min. And I didn’t take into account what they’re already paying their employees so you’ve really opened my eyes with that comparison.

I’m willing to not be as profitable since it could potentially be my first account but, is that something that’s advisable? I mean just to get experience, reviews maybe a referral or just to get started.

I definitely do not want to do the cleaning for too long myself. I plan to grow this business but what I’m kinda getting out of all of this, is that accounts like these aren’t really worth it. So I guess it just comes down to, is it worth it for someone who’s just getting started?

They did tell they are moving to a new building in March with wooden floors (they didn’t know the sq ft) so I was thinking of only setting up a contract for 3 months. I’d give them an estimate on their new building and sign a contract for a year.

 

[faiththeword]

@christian39 Someone else mentioned that if you start off charging too low, it’s difficult to change that perception of you, and I agree. The more likely scenario is they’ll refer you to other people with the statement “I only pay X.” So what do you think will happen when you want to charge much more because you’re trying to stop being the cheap option?

No one can answer it for you because your needs are your needs. Only you know if you have income coming in, if you need $50 this week to keep your lights on or feed your kids, etc. So ultimately you have to decide what you’re willing to take. For me, I’ve always preferred to only do with that’s worth it in payment (and every company determines that for itself). I also already had 7 years of working for others in cleaning, running contracts, and basically doing everything but owning the company. So I decided to run my own; cleaning alone until I got contracts that needed others, and so on. I don’t want to be the cheapest option, so I’m not. But I’ve been referred to others for residential and commercial, and when that referral wants a price that’s too low, I’m willing to say that I don’t think we’d work well together but I hope they find someone who will need their needs better.

 

[christian39]

@faiththeword That’s some amazing advice. I don’t want to be the cheap one lol and I’m not in desperate need of $50. I think i’ll take my chances with $75 and If I don’t hear back from them that’s okay. You’ve reminded me why I decided to start this in the first place. There are other buildings out there and I don’t want one place to dictate my reputation. I’m also going solo atm. I’m hoping to do the same, get contracts until I need help. Thank you.

 

[lovethechrist]

@christian39 I love how well most redditors take feedback- I hope you get this contract and many more.

 

[christian39]

@lovethechrist thank you that’s so nice of you

 

[rupereta]

@faiththeword You seem to be offering considerably less value than I expect from a cleaning crew.

 

[willemdafoe62]

@christian39 So 600$ monthly seems reasonable. Let us know how it goes.

 

[kabriana]

@christian39 It’s the type of store we’re customers walk in to drop off packages? Usually those get a lot of foot traffic and take a while to vacuum.

What are you sanitizing? Windows with a squeegee are pretty quick. How many are there?

Those 2-3 days a week accounts are PITA, but you gotta start some where. We used to do a min of $80 on them, but haven’t done any in a while so that’s not adjusted for inflation.

 

[christian39]

@kabriana Yes the front gets a lot of foot traffic and i’d be sanitizing the bathroom, and some of their packaging equipment. They have another window cleaning company so i’d only be cleaning the entrance door which is pure glass, inside and out.

Maybe i’m charging the wrong way, maybe I should be pricing by sq ft instead of flat rate? Honestly I just wanted to put a price on it and when I get a bigger account I’d actually price the right way. But what do you think? I appreciate your input!

 

[kabriana]

@christian39 It's, really, really, really hard to do pricing without being on site and knowing your market. It's one of those things you have to figure out yourself and I know it's the hardest part of landing contracts. You have a bit of built in cushioning though if I read right as you'll only be there till March.

Have you done commercial cleaning or cleaning in general before? It's not a knock, but wondering about your cleaning times. Something like a door with the right squeegee is like 5 minutes to knock out. They don't have to know that though . A bathroom the size that your are describing is like 10 mins.

Sanitizing packing equipment may be as simple as spray and go.

Of course 2 issues. 1 - this is owner cleaning time. Employees will stretch this out. 2 - the problem with accounts that are 2-3 days a week is they take longer to clean because of accumulation that will happen and you can't account for.

Sq' is pretty much the standard everyone goes by. You can find bid calculators from guys like Gary Clipperton. I don't use it because it doesn't take into account vertical space and having to travel back to the same area to complete another task. I use flat rate. I think someone already mentioned and its widely used in this sub, but figure out how long it will take, pad 15% or so for future employees and figure in your mark up with is usually around 20% and you have a pricing scheme. Good equipment cuts your cleaning times. Well planned out routes cuts your cleaning times.

 

[christian39]

@kabriana Yes, they said they’re getting a new building in March so, if i’m understanding these things correctly, the contract will only be for about 3 months and then I would have to bid again and write up another contract but for a year instead.

No worries! I don’t take it as a knock. I do not have experience cleaning and I know that may be looked down upon in the industry but that’s another reason why I think this account could be worth it- to gain the experience. Those seem like pretty solid times, thank you.

Okay, so for future reference I should try to get something more than 2-3 days a week.

Yes I tried some calculators but idk they seemed off to me or they didn’t look right. Thanks for the advice and taking the time to help me!

 

[kabriana]

@christian39 You don't have to have experience, but obviously it helps

It would be a great learning experience all around. Just educate yourself on the procedures and processes so you don't end up liable for damaging anything

2-3 days a week is hard when they're schedule doesn't mimic that. If they're open 5 days a week and especially if it's a area with winter you're job becomes a lot harder to maintain. When you're there everyday that they are it's easier to keep things clean and times reasonable. It's also hard to schedule employees for these kinds of account since typically they'll want a 40 hour schedule. You'll have to pay them travel time and mileage and you'll need a lot to fill up a 40 hour work week.

Yeah they aren't bulletproof. They're aren't dialed in for your area and it's dependent on a lot of variables you can't see. It's just a reference. I've heard there's some website that will help you do bidding. I haven't look into it yet.

 

[christian39]

@kabriana Yes I thought about getting a job cleaning but they all make you sign a contract where you can’t go out by yourself and clean for like a year.

Wow so there’s a lot more that goes into this then I imagined, but that’s what this is about learning. Thank you for giving me several points and perspectives , they’ll definitely help me when I estimate other accounts.

I’ll try to find that website, see what it’s about. Would you happen to know any good youtubers or some online resources that can help me prepare myself even more for future work?

 

[kabriana]

@christian39 hmm I thought those things didn't hold up in court?

lol I'm probably making it sound harder than it is, but I've been doing it for a while. It's like me reading those AI sweatystartup posts lol

I think there's more than one. There some that will get you leads too. I tried one of those and it sounds like they used an Indian call center to get you a walk through. I don't know of any youtubers. I've seen a bunch mentioned here in this sub, but the few I checked out seemed like a typical get rich fast scheme.

For resources:

https://www.jondon.com/how-to.html

There's a guy on there that has news letters/classes, Steve Toburen called Strategies for Success and they are very insightful.

https://cmmonline.com/

https://www.issa.com/

 

[west07]

@christian39 From start to finish a space that size shouldn’t take longer than 45 minutes. So it’s small enough where you shouldn’t really factor time into your budget equation but instead factor a minimum trip charge. I think $50 per visit would be competitive And Add in about $350 for cleaning supplies over the course of a year

$50 x 3x/week x 52 weeks = $7,800

$7,800 + $350 = $8,150 a year

$8,150 / 12 months = $679 per month

Definitely charge a monthly flat rate

To add - and not to contradict myself but if I were personally going to bid this I would use $75 per visit like you suggested because I wouldn’t really care to service this anyways. So i would be taking the chance at a higher rate. But if you really want to be competitive and have a high chance of getting it then $50 seems good.

Unfortunately a store like this usually has its employees clean the space and I’m surprised they’re even looking to outsource it. They are probably are assuming to see a monthly rate of like $150 lol…so I don’t doubt they will have sticker shock when they see $600-700+ bids.

 

[christian39]

@west07 So since they’re moving to a new building in March I’d only have a contract set up for about 3 months.

So bear with me lol i’m so new to this but it’d be something along the lines of this:

$50 x 3x/week x 12 weeks = $1,800

$1,800 + $87.48 supplies = $1,887.48 for 3 months

$1,887.48 / 3 = $629 / m

I don’t really have the advantage yet to charge $75 since i have no clients and I am prepared to not get a response back. Tomorrow i’m going door to door so hopefully someone else bites. But yea around $150-$200 was my initial thought but that’s like $12 - $16 a visit lol

Thank you for your input and for taking the time to do those calculations, I really appreciate it!

 

[pastorpontibus]

@christian39 Some solid advice already. Probably too much. Keep it simple. Advice is fine but EXPERIENCE is what you need. You're going to be OK with $75 per visit, right? You'll make your hourly rate goal after cost? If you get it, great. If you don't, you learned something.

Some random thoughts:

• Don't use a mop and bucket. Get a professional microfiber mop with changeable mop heads. Use spray bottles to dispense the cleaner. Faster, take up less space, and you can easily wash a bunch of mop heads in a consumer level machine.
• You factored any extra time by estimating 1.5 - 2 hours. So based on what YOU think YOU need to make, and what other here think you can get the cleaning down to, you have a built in pad. Additionally, in most cases you'll be cleaning long after some "incident" that caused stained carpet or a sticky mess. I require a heads up call for faster service. If I find it, I schedule the additional work for another visit. If it's out of scope, we charge extra for that time.
• Any recurring revenue business make it's best money over time. The goal is to go to the same place at the same time and while performing the same tasks. If you get more efficient over time, good for you. Strive for a good average margin for each job. Over time, this adds up.
• "Contracts" aren't that big of a deal especially for small offices. You don't always need to push for them. Often this and complicated pricing is a turn off. Be confident in what you need to make and provide good service. If they can justify the expense you could have great customers for years. On the flipside, a "contract" isn't going to keep you from getting fired.

Good luck, I hope you get it. You'll learn a lot.