Hello,

My name is Mike, I'm new to the site.

Reading through the posts it seems like many people have questions about floor care, starting a business, and what to charge per square foot.

In this economy, businesses seem to be cutting back on cleaning in general. They may be cutting back on routine maintenance of floors and going longer between procedures. Because most floor care companies rely on this repeat work, it is no doubt affecting revenues.

There are obviously a lot of floors out there, and most facilities are unwilling to just do nothing when it comes to maintaining their floors. Fortunately, they know that if they don't maintain them, they will have bigger and more expensive problems.

Floor care is competitive. There are a lot of people out there willing to do it for very little profit. It's labor intensive and costly to make multiple trips for routine maintenance. And, it is often the first thing that business will try to negotiate on when it comes to price.

I know of many floor care specialists who have turned to alternative products as a way to specialize and differentiate themselves from their local competition. Many have turned to various finish products and applications such as water-based urethanes, UV-cured finishes and epoxy coatings that are far more durable than acrylics and do not require costly routine maintenance. Many have also turned to things that make them "greener" which is often appealing to the customer. The general idea is to find a way to make your services different from the competition so that you can charge a premium.

I encourage you to do some research, or I would be happy to share more information with anyone who is interested. [email protected] or 320-258-2266