Greetings,

I realize that each business and company and situation is different, but hopefully you more experienced people can give me some ideas.

I have started a new commercial cleaning business and have two estimates I need to give some prospective customers.

I have been to both locations to do a walk through but I am struggling to decide how much to charge.

Neither company would tell me what they currently pay so I cannot use that as some kins of guideline.

Here are some details:

First, I am an owner operator so I would be doing all the cleaning on my own.

I figure my time is worth between $25-$35 per hour.

My problem is I am not sure how long places like I will detail below should take me to clean as one person.

I do not want to make them a crazy high offer and I don't want to be stupid low where I am hurting myself.

First location is a real estate office, about 2500 sqft. The floors are tile, hardwood, and laminate.

There are 3 bathrooms (toilet, sink only) a kitchen/break room area, reception area, consultation area, and 5 office areas. (3 offices house multiple agent desks, 2 are for the broker and office manager).

They want typical stuff like dusting, wiping, vacuuming, mopping and taking out trash.

They want to be cleaned 2x per week. One time will be thorough and the second time will be a "Freshen up" (take trash out, spot clean). They want separate prices for each.

Second location is a dentist office, about 2000 sqft. The floors are carpet and tile.

There are 2 bathrooms (toilet, sink only) a kitchen/break room area, reception area, 2 consultation areas, 9 cleaning areas, 2 administrative office areas (1 area for 5 admin ladies the other for the dentist).

They want to be cleaned 2x per week.

They want typical stuff like dusting, wiping, vacuuming, mopping and taking out trash.

My initial thought is to try $650/month for the dentist and $425/month for the real estate office.

Any and all advice would be appreciated. I know figuring out your pricing can be challenging at first so I am hoping for some ideas.

Thanks so much for your time!

I think you are right on with your pricing. We clean similar sized real estate offices 2 x per week, full cleanings for $550.00 per month. The dental office might be a little too high but we like to start out high and work down if necessary. I like your thinking!
Good luck.
Peter Weiss
Total Maintenance Services
www.totalservices.org

I agree with Peter. Your estimate sounds about right to me. Good luck to you!

HELP NEEDED: DAYCARE PRICING

Hi, i just started my cleaning business,(licensed, insured and bonded) and i got a prospect (daycare center) who is dissatisfied with their current cleaning service, the day care floor area is 14,066 sq ft, they have several rugs totaling an area of 1,787 sq ft. We will clean it 5 times a week, dusting, sweeping and mopping every night.

My questions are the following:

We live in Tampa, FL to give you more information.

How much should we charge per square foot (vinyl floors)?
How much should we charge per square foot for cleaning the carpets ?
Should we charge hourly also on top of the price for square footage? ( we are 2 employees/owners)
How much should we charge for stripping and waxing?, they want the vinyl floors stripped and waxed twice a year.

What formula should i use to take into account the frequency of the cleaning...3 times a week for example?

Thank you so much for your assistance, i definitely don't want to loose or come up high with my very first customer!, any help would be much appreciated.

Honestly your prices seem to be where they should be. You'll get a feel for what you want to charge as you go. It's an interesting concept to grasp, but you slowly figure it out.

Good luck! Your gunna do great.