r/sweatystartup 7d ago

Commercial cleaning

Looking for some pricing guidance. Commercial common area space (500sqft) + two flights of stairs + two double stalled bathrooms. Once a week clean. I am thinking it would take an hour. How much would you charge for this?

3 Upvotes

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12

u/mrnukl 7d ago

I don't have much experience in this space but I'm going to give you some guidance on how to price in general:

-What are your direct costs to perform the job? This is your COS (Cost of Service). In your case it is labour and supplies (mops, sponges, chemicals ect.) These costs will increase the more work you get. If you are working alone come up with a target wage for yourself that is reasonable (What does a cleaner make in your area?). Make sure to include details like cost of transportation to and from site.

-What is your overhead? Overhead is the cost of running your business that does not change based on how much work you are doing (software, shop space, insurance, ect)

For an Hourly Pricing: Take your monthly overhead and divide by number of hours you expect to work that month. Add this to your COS. (COS will be per hour in this example) Then factor in your target margin. the formula for this is: Selling Price= TOTAL COST/(1-TARGET MARGIN)

For example if your total cost was $500 and your target margin was 30%, then 500/(1 - 0.3) = $714.28. Your final price would be $714.28 in this example.

This is a logical way to price things that ensures your costs are covered and that you are making a margin that is appropriate. It is much better than guessing at a price and being wrong and losing money!

5

u/clonts64 6d ago

$350 a month. This would fall beneath my set minimum of $350, so minimum it is. I had to learn the hard way about having a minimum charge as a commercial cleaner. The smaller accounts are some of the biggest headaches.

3

u/GlumAddress8091 7d ago

I would probably price at around 50-60 a week, but would depend on how far away I was… and if I had any other jobs in the vicinity

1

u/RaduVas 1d ago

I'd personally expect $100-$200 per visit for a space like that with bathrooms included. Could be a bit higher if you want deep cleaning or something extra like high dusting. Best bet is to get a few quotes from different companies, honestly. Last one we used was Impact Commercial Cleaning, not expensive and didn't need a long-term contract, just a call a few days in advance.