How to Price a House Cleaning Job

If you are looking for how to price a house cleaning job fast, then you are at the right place.

Profit- it is what every business owner desires, and if you price your cleaning service accurately, it will attract more of the right customers, which will in turn grow your revenues.

Here is the thing, you can spend heavily on fancy equipment, marketing, and branding but if you price your cleaning service wrong, chances are, it will negatively affect your sales.

Pricing your service right, is both an art and a science, and it is a concept that you should master before you open your cleaning service.

It isn’t too hard of a puzzle to solve, but there are several things to keep in mind while pricing a house cleaning job effectively.
In this article, we will teach you all the essentials so you can get your service price right the first time, in just as little as 10 minutes.

The problem with Underpricing

In the initial phase of your business, you might think of keeping your prices cheap to get more clients. This is, however, faulty thinking, and chances are that it might backfire in three possible ways:-

1. By undercharging, you will find yourself not motivated enough to give your best performance, which will cost you that client.
2. By undercharging, you will find that your client might not trust you, or they might think you are inexperienced, which will also cost you that client.
3. By undercharging, you will find yourself in a ditch when the time comes to hire new employees. Because then you will find yourself increasing your current prices to afford their wages, along with keeping a healthy profits for yourself. When this happens, those clients who hired you for a low price will most likely let you go to find another cheaper option.

The problem with Overpricing

The main reason why you don’t want to set your prices too high is because, simply put, you won’t get any business.

This is especially true if you live in an area which is already populated with highly efficient cleaning services at affordable prices. Furthermore, here is the biggest kicker.

If you price yourself too high, and your target market is residential homes, the owner of the property will just decide to do it themselves.

Now that we have gotten those two points out of the way, here are some crucial elements to keep in mind to price your house cleaning service correctly:-

How much does labor and materials cost?- This is the culmination of the wages of your employees, along with all the materials needed to finish the cleaning of that house. This may include things like gloves, cleaning equipment and solutions.

Overhead charges- There are a lot of things that go into running a successful house cleaning service. Along with the workers that are actually doing the cleaning, there might be other employees, along with resources that are being used to indirectly keep everything running smoothly.

This may include, but is not limited to, the rent of the office space, phone bills, clerical expenses, payment software price, advertising expenses, fuel charges, insurance, taxes, wages of the other employees.

Rather than paying out of pocket for these, since that is not a viable business strategy, it is smarter to add a portion of this amount to each of service you provide.

You want all the expenses to pay for itself, so that you are left with profits.

Once you are in business for a few months or years, you might your expenses increase due to company expansion, inflation or other outside factors.

Make sure the prices reflect these changes, or you will soon find yourself at a loss.

Note: Unless you have experience with running a cleaning service before, chances are you might be playing with an estimated price on a lot of the fields mentioned about. It’s okay.

Just make sure that your estimation is an educated one. Also, with experience, you will be able to zero down on correct rate that works for you.

Assessing the profit margin

For this, take into consideration the going price of your competitors, because they will be the one you want to outbid. Another point to take into account is your market.

Not every cleaning service in your county is your competitor.

Focus on finding your customer base.

Are you providing your service to an upscale neighborhood, apartments, or single family homes?

Your target market should be able to afford your prices.

Keeping that in mind, along with the expenses, come up with a percentage for your profit before taxes, and test it out. It is all about testing and tweaking for the first couple of months.

Try your best to find clients who will need your service on a weekly or monthly basis, so that you have continuous cash flow.

Price Models: Hourly or flat fee

Each model has its own pros and cons.

With new clients, you can start on an hourly basis. This will give you time to know the location, and eventually you can switch to a flat rale model.

Now, you might find that some homes only need an hour or two worth of work. If this happens, then you have to decide if it’s worth your time, or would you rather market your services to a household that might hire you for a bigger block of time.

You can have a minimum hour requirement already set out, where you tell your clients that you are only available for hire for at least 4 hours or more worth of work.

The mean hourly rate for maids and housekeepers, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, is $10.82, with some earning up to $15.74. This amount will change depending on your target market, and the cost of living in your area.

Charging a flat rate will be more appropriate once your client become regular, and you know the location well, along with your required duties, and how long it takes you to perform those duties. Cleaning a house monthly will take longer than a weekly schedule. So price your package accordingly.

You also have the option to charge on a per room or per square foot basis. Per room will be appropriate in cases where one room takes longer to clean than the other, and per square foot will be more fitting if the location is a very large house.

All the factors mentioned above should help you settle on a price. Once you start working, you will know whether to increase or decrease the price.

By providing value, and excellent customer service, you will find your brand image becoming reputable and stronger. Then you can increase your prices, and still attract a lucrative market without complaints.