Buck531 Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 My wife will be doing some shack cleaning here shortly. I wanted to get some input from you folks on a few things. Most cleaning companies charge and "initial" clean charge. This includes EVERYTHING. I mean. Going from the baseboards, microwave, up to the tub, crapper, and even changing the sheets on the bed. I was trying/thinking of a way to break this down. If you wanted to have your house cleaned, what are say the 5 MOST things that you would want to have cleaned. Carpets, Kitchen floor, bathroom, etc. Then, what would you want as an "ala-carte" item? Cleaning mirrors, dusting, cabinet cleaning and so on. I was planning on leaving say a checklist with the client and you checking off what you wanted to have done and have the price/cost next to that and then my wife would go through, do what you needed to have done and you would leave a check/money for her when she was done. ANY and all ideas are welcome (except the retarded ones)... No happy endings, piss off. Those are for me. NOT you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Speed S4 Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 ANY and all ideas are welcome (except the retarded ones)... No happy endings, piss off. Those are for me. NOT you. First thing I thought of when I saw the thread lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave1647545494 Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 first and foremost....even the nicest people live like Animals.... Nasty ass houses. I would say that an initial would depend on an estmate of $75-$150 for an intial cleaning depending on a few things. 1. house size...total square footage. It will give your wife a rough est of the amount of time it will take her to clean. 2. family size- including pets... You know that kids and pets can distroy a clean house in minutes. Buy a dyson it is worth every penny. I was shell shocked at the $550. price tag for the pet vac (dc 14) but we have two cats and a small boy. 3. overall condition on a walk thru. Other than that I would call around to a few of the other cleaning companies in town and get some pricing info...so she can be compeditive. As far as cleaning ala-cart I donno. I guess general cleaning should include at least. vaccume, mop, wiping baseboards and trim, dusting, cleaning of mirrors, wipe down of counter tops and sinks (kitchen and bathrooms) cleaning of toilets and general wipe down of most surfaces. as far as extra charges. wiping down of light fixtures and ceiling fans $5-10 cleaning of switch plates and outlet covers. extra $5 Any extesive dusting...exp. inside large clocks, corner hutches, showcases. and cleaning of glass. extra $5-10 depending on the task cleaning windows and glass doors. (only if there are a ton of windows and glass doors) I would go ahead and clean then if it was only six or under, and only the inside of them. ******I would say if they want the outside cleaned on all of the window then she should charge them. $15-25 depending on how many windows and the accessablity to clean the outside. aka do the windows flip in. changing bed linens and washing of anything...$5 per load.. includes wash, dry, fold, and or iron. Hell the list can go on for days... Dave can tell you I have a major OCD issue with a clean house. Bottom line. Talk to your wife and she what she thinks is reasonable as far as the services she wants to offer and the price. Set up a contract in writing with basic info on it inculding prices. Have the Ala-cart items below it. Make sure that she takes two copies of the contract with her to have signed. One she keeps one they keep. Have the customer Initial in the box next to the services they have selected including ala- cart items. Have them set up a schedule of what day, time and frequency she will becoming to clean. That way everyone has a clear understanding of what is going on when. **** most important Have the contract Always signed and initaled in BLUE ink.*** (the reason for the blue ink is that black ink is easy to duplicate with a copier... just cover your ass if you ever need to go to court to get money out of a non-payer it will stand up better for you... Blue is much harder to duplicate.) Oh and last but not least. When possible always get your money up front. If they seem questionable get paid first. I hope this helps, Meg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAOLE Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 I will give my .02 on this subject. Although I cannot comment on how to structure the fees, I will give some advice on advertising. My office has spent a few hundred thousand on advertising in the past 17 yrs. The best source of advertising is by far the coupon bags that everyone gets. I have been doing this for years. To give you an example I just put out 10,000 flyers two weeks ago, I have had 15 new patients from that. At a cost of about $500. This is the cheapest and most effective advertising that I have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 +1 on the dyson. We have the 'older' model now, the one without the ball as a wheel, it's never failed or clogged up on us, like the ads say. It would be worth it to get one. I know a woman who cleans houses and she uses that and it hasn't failed her yet, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotCarl Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Im confused, i thought you said in your initial post that your wife was cleaning your house, or is she starting a cleaning company??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAOLE Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 +1 on the dyson. We have the 'older' model now, the one without the ball as a wheel, it's never failed or clogged up on us, like the ads say. It would be worth it to get one. I know a woman who cleans houses and she uses that and it hasn't failed her yet, either. +1 for the Dyson. We have the yellow one with the ball! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokin5s Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Dyson is a great vac, but you have to keep the filters and everything cleaned ALL the time like after every use or it is no better than a 100 dollar black and decker vac IMO. honestly, as far as cleaning is concerned... do the little things (as well as the big), like mirrors, dusting off the clocks, cleaining the window sills, cleaning the ceiling fans if they have them... the little things like that, that people don't think about very often is what really counts for a clean house and will get repeat business. I dusted off my ceiling fans last weekend and cleaned the window sills and light fixtures and I can't tell you how much cleaner the house feels now. just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Im confused' date=' i thought you said in your initial post that your wife was cleaning your house, or is she starting a cleaning company???[/quote'] nothing to do with our house.. it's fine. She's looking to do something on the side cleaning houses/apartments. She doesn't need a ton of clients either. Just like a max of 5-10. She'll be doing this herself and it's only to make some $ and let her pass the time during the day. She worked at Molly Maid for a few years so she knows pretty much what to do and how they do it. Just wanted to get some ideas outside of the box so to speak. As for the vacuum cleaner. I'm pretty sure Molly maid used your own cleaner. Sometimes the owner wants the cleaning person to use their own cleaning supplies too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotCarl Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 nothing to do with our house.. it's fine. She's looking to do something on the side cleaning houses/apartments. She doesn't need a ton of clients either. Just like a max of 5-10. She'll be doing this herself and it's only to make some $ and let her pass the time during the day. She worked at Molly Maid for a few years so she knows pretty much what to do and how they do it. Just wanted to get some ideas outside of the box so to speak. As for the vacuum cleaner. I'm pretty sure Molly maid used your own cleaner. Sometimes the owner wants the cleaning person to use their own cleaning supplies too. Makes sence. I helped my sister's friend a few days last summer in her cleaning buisness in powell. Same concept as your thinking. She only had a handful of loyal customer's. Some were weekly, some monthly, etc... I believe she charged a flat rate and offered discounts if she used the customer's cleaning supplies. I THINK she used the customer's vaccum as well. while the charging was simple, she was thorough. Cleaned bathrooms top to bottom, made beds, vaccum, dusted, kitchens, floors... everything. Her best advertisment was word of mouth. She would get in good with one soccermom and she would go back to her country club friends and talk about it, she had people calling her all the time. One customer paid her 500$ to clean her empty house after she moved. Hope this helps, goodluck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Yep, that's what i"m hoping for too.. word of mouth is the cheapest advertising you can do . That's why i was going to start with here . Thanks for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rice Eater Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 There is one thing that is much more important than the brand of vacuum you use.....make sure you are bonded! It's only a couple hundred bucks a year and it will save your ass the first time someone accuses you of stealing that diamond ring she supposedly had laying on her night stand. Also, offer discounts in exchange for referrals..ie: 10% discount to referring client after new client pays for initial clean. I also saw on craigslist a couple wanting a woman to clean while they followed her room to room having sex..charge extra for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 never used a Dyson, but I don't feel they are worth the money....looks cheap in build. I'll stick to my Wind Tunnel bagless with powered brush and tons of cleaning oomph.....just knock the dust and dander off the filter or wash it up and viola, like brand new. I never knew how much babypowder like stuff could be sucked up in a vacuum until we go this one a few years back. I also like having the Hoover store right down the street. They have ever replacement part, etc. in stock and fixed mine due to kids beating on it twice already. No charge even! Dyson is a great vac, but you have to keep the filters and everything cleaned ALL the time like after every use or it is no better than a 100 dollar black and decker vac IMO. honestly, as far as cleaning is concerned... do the little things (as well as the big), like mirrors, dusting off the clocks, cleaining the window sills, cleaning the ceiling fans if they have them... the little things like that, that people don't think about very often is what really counts for a clean house and will get repeat business. I dusted off my ceiling fans last weekend and cleaned the window sills and light fixtures and I can't tell you how much cleaner the house feels now. just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Luetic Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 the way my cleaning lady did it originally was to come clean my house and see how long it takes her. Then she is $12/hr cash. From then on, that is the standard rate to clean my house. Pretty simple. She has been with me for ~10 yrs now. She is awesome. She does everything. She runs the house. Litter boxes, laundry, cleans the entire house all bath rooms windows, EVERYTHING. She rocks. It takes her two days, she comes Tuesday's and Fridays. It is really nice. Maybe she could do something like that? Set her hourly fee, and just see what they want done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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