Hi all, Haven't been on in a while but have a huge question. I have been offered a contract for a corporate office. One floor, fairly large building. I haven't seen it yet. 4 bathrooms, 4/5 carpet, 1/5 wood floors. They want someone there 8 to 4 mon thru friday and then 2 cleaners at night to get the heavy work done. 7 days a week. The wood floors are to be buffed once a month. He offered me $8000 and then when I started asking questions said maybe $9000. My head is swimming at the possibilities. I was trying to figure it all out hourly times $40 and that figure is way more than $9000. Help!! Thank you, Lori

Holy cow. I spent the last quarter of last year cleaning a medical office with 12 exam rooms, six bathrooms, three offices, a full kitchen, a waiting room, a lab, a pharmacy and a secretary/reception suite four nights a week by myself for $16 a night. Mostly carpet with a little ceramic and linoleum tile.

Came across an invoice that showed my (now ex) boss billed them $1,800 for the short month of December.

Please be sure to post more details! Square feet, population, type of business, how much you pay your people, etc. needed before you can figure this one out.

Just off the top of my head .... and the "per hour" charge is REALLY off the top of my head. But with volume like this, I think $40 per hour is way too much.

Day cleaner (one?) - 8 hours a day x 30 days a month x $20 per hour = $4800

2 night employees x how many hours? x 30 nights x $20 per hour = ????

Be sure you value this thing "honestly". In other words, it's worth what your calculations say it's worth. There's an inherent value in the fact that you have to manage two separate crews, 7 days a week. Build in enough profit to make the 7-day thing worth it. I have suggestions for your cover letter you include with your bid, more on that when you post more details.

Looking forward to hearing more about this.

Kit

p.s. I like the fact that you told him it was probably worth more than $8k. I'm betting he knows that, too. You did the right thing, so keep that posture, it's VERY important. Don't blink.

My "side" business

(My unhelpful response was half-serious and quoting for a 4-6 hour, two person job that I was doing by myself for a cut-rate, employee-screwing tax dodger.)

My question about the original post is, what kind of business would need an on-site person daily, plus night cleaners? The only thing I can imagine would be a school or a hospital.

My ridiculous gig was for a busy allergy practice, meaning the building had to be sparkling and dust free every day. Never heard of a non-institutional client needing more cleaning than that.

But if the work and money is indeed there, don't undersell yourself!

I worked it out in my bid just as you have it, the day person =4800 and the 2 night people 4 hours per night 7 nights a week times $20 per hour 4800 , $9600, I turned it in to them in February, They asked me could I go any lower, I went to $8500, I didn't get the contract. I could not in good concience go any lower and pay my employees less money and still make a profit. I would have been doing most of the work. They would not give me a square footage amount, but the building was huge. Thank you for all your help. I do feel more confident in the bidding and know that I am not going to compromise my reputation and bid low just to get the job. I want my employees to be happy as well. It's hard work, as we all know. Lori

Lori, sorry you didn't get the bid, but when someone won't even tell you the size of the building ... they might have been hard to work with in other ways as well. That's strange, I've never had anyone not tell me the square footage. Did they tell you the population?

Hello again, sorry I didn't get back on here, life problems and school. This place was a Timeshare/Resort Conference center. Huge! it went on and on, lol. There were huge groups of people coming through for the sales pitch. They wanted a day concierge 7 days a week to clean and keep up. Then 2 people at night for the heavy work. I think the people cleaning it were charging more than $8000 a month and they were doing a terrible job. I could see so many dusty and missed areas during my walk through. I would have had to hire extra people to make it work. I am now working on getting an office to clean at night.

I don't think $9,000 is too much for what you described. of course my cleaning expertise is based on what I was doing in Australia, and New Zealand, but I targeted "high end" clients, and I made a point of pointing out the areas of the contract that needed lifting, as I was doing a walk around. I made a further point of saying that in no way would I be satisfied if my cleaning crew left the premises in the state they were currently being left in.

My most exclusive and valuable contract was a top end function center that catered to weddings, bah mitzvahs, anniversaries, etc. They would hold approximately 180 functions a year between the three function rooms, and after 300 people had been through the venue, it would take a crew of 3 people, 5 hours to clean from tip to toe. Then I would inspect the following morning. In the slower months the average number of services would have been 3 a week, and over the Summer (Christmas) period, that would increase to 6 services a week.

I also handled all security and maintenance for the venue, services which were added after I started to clean the place, and only when I explained how it would be far cheaper for the venue to contract all services to me, as opposed to having three companies handling various aspects of the center.

I am not sure of the size of the place now, but the contract (cleaning only) was returning $40 an hour, and I held the contract for almost 6 years, until I decided to sell it, and move back to New Zealand. Don't undersell yourself. Pick a market and stick with it, specializing in what that market expects.