[Crystal-clear]

so she wants to get in action she has found it hard to get a job and she wants to give self employment a go.

so she wants to know about house cleaning

i was thinking for her maybe 3 hour minium blocks for say £45? worth of 3 hours of cleaning is that reasonable?

how often is it? more regular then window cleaning as house cleaning is deemed important once every 2 weeks?

also what would she need to do when its your own house its easy but other houses where do you start is there somesort of must do list ie floors dishes hoving bathroom cleaning,  


a bit of advice on marketing and maybe what cleaning she should focus on would be helpfull maybe you also offer house cleaning as well as window cleaning any comments welcome would like to know so i can give her the heads up!

[Perfect Windows]

In Southampton, the going rate is £12 an hour, but every single good cleaner is full to the brim and turning people down.  That suggests to me that good cleaners are too cheap.  I tested it when a friend of ours who cleans (£12 an hour) had a customer die.  A custy of mine was looking so I told her of availability of our friend at £16 an hour (my call not our friend's). 

"Is she good?" was the question.

"Yes, excellent".

"Bit more than I used to pay but that's fine with me - get her to call me"

Happy customer, happy friend.

So, the usual lesson, do not underprice.

Vin

[Perfect Windows]

FWIW, she has a great system.  She tells the customer she'll do the first clean and get paid then if the customer wants her back they have to call and ask her.

Customers love it because they are all terrified of ever having to tell someone not to come, so that method leaves them knowing they can just not call if they are not happy the first time.

Vin

[David Lingard]

I have seen a few at £15 per hour (thats what i would be happy to pay) but dont have minium blocks. Set it up like a window cleaning round, get the houses close together so she dowsnt spend too much time travelling.

If you are feeling particularly generous you could advertise her on the back of your windy leaflets then splt the cost of manufacture &distribution)

David

[Crystal-clear]

cheers vin thats interesting

what would you say is the best method of gaining leaflets canvassing like we do?
how often you think she should aim for? and do you think my 3 hour minuim tactic is reasonable?

[Crystal-clear]

I have seen a few at £15 per hour (thats what i would be happy to pay) but dont have minium blocks. Set it up like a window cleaning round, get the houses close together so she dowsnt spend too much time travelling.

If you are feeling particularly generous you could advertise her on the back of your windy leaflets then splt the cost of manufacture &distribution)

David

cheers david thought about that but i think ill keep it totally seperate!

oh gosh 1 thing im not thinking about is ACCESS i can clean just the front or jump over the gate, but now somone will need to be in how much managment is involved  

should they all give her keys? what if they start dictating say if she is in jones street one is fine for 9 am till 12 other wants it at 11 but refuses to leave a key!

[David Lingard]

Screw the whole idea

Tell her to start a window cleaning round. But make sure she keeps out of your damn areas!

[Crystal-clear]

Screw the whole idea

Tell her to start a window cleaning round. But make sure she keeps out of your damn areas!

lol i told her that but she doesnt want to do window cleaning even thou she would earn mroe money!

so more advice plzz!

[David Lingard]

my dad has a gardener and he leaves him the key under the mat. I dont think everyone would be ok with that though...

I would say thatshe needsto take a key off of them or itl be forever "Ill be in at 4 on thursday, oh thats no good for you? how about 2 next Wednesday... " and so on.

The key (im guessing) would be to be able to do it whenever the hell you want to, like window cleaning. Dont arrange your lives around your customers!!

But give them a day at least so they can tidy up before she arrives

[Granny]

Hi Crystal
Nicky my wife started out with the same.
We canvassed a quite affluent area (cos they can afford it) and a recurring question was "Are you insured?"
Also it is hard to cold start without a referral or recommondation - cold canvassing for house cleaning is different for canvassing for windows, people are particular about who they let into their homes.
It is one of those situations where advertising in quality sites comes into play but it costs to get started.
Here in Huddersfield there are local house cleaners advertising £10.50 per hour with a minimum 2 hours per week if that helps.
Granny

[brynley]

customers would either have to give her a key or have one of those keysafe's on the wall and give her code

[SPE]

I know someone with a removals company who has a website with a live diary so customers can see and book available slots a couple of weeks in advance. Maybe a similar idea can be used e.g. diary shows the areas and days worked and available time slots ? 

[Crystal-clear]

I know someone with a removals company who has a website with a live diary so customers can see and book available slots a couple of weeks in advance. Maybe a similar idea can be used e.g. diary shows the areas and days worked and available time slots ? 

yes im sure it would work however i know she wont make as much money if she did it that way i guess it has to be a bit like window cleaning where we run a route no point house cleaning say in x street to go back to it say in 3 hours when she was already there i think the key thing is a good idea , i guess all she needs to do is get insured and gain trust to her customers.?

[Helen]

I have seen a few at £15 per hour (thats what i would be happy to pay) but dont have minium blocks. Set it up like a window cleaning round, get the houses close together so she dowsnt spend too much time travelling.

If you are feeling particularly generous you could advertise her on the back of your windy leaflets then splt the cost of manufacture &distribution)

David

cheers david thought about that but i think ill keep it totally seperate!

How much would it cost you to print on the back of your leaflet or leave a separate leaflet everywhere you call, it doesn't have to be paid for and is just an overhead off your own business
She has a ready made database in your custies, what a good starting point that is.
It would only take one to take her on and then word would soon spread


oh gosh 1 thing im not thinking about is ACCESS i can clean just the front or jump over the gate, but now somone will need to be in how much managment is involved  

should they all give her keys? what if they start dictating say if she is in jones street one is fine for 9 am till 12 other wants it at 11 but refuses to leave a key!

you are thinking too much about it, and as a typical man making a simple task seem very difficult without even starting........ !!!!let your better half set it up and run it

n

[robertphil]

firm near me doesnt do inside cupboards ,state it beforehand or you get snarled up doing it

[A & J Owen Window Cleaning]

Personally, I would link the two businesses together, if the customers know you then that's a foot in the door on the trust side of things for her.
Don't assume access is a problem. If you pick affluent areas you will find plenty of women home all day who still employ a cleaner and they are prepared to pay more too!
By the way she is mad - definitely more money in window cleaning 

[Londoner]

My wife works part time and wanted to start her own business so we looked at cleaning and she did start up for a while.

Two observations. One,  the very good, in fact I would say brilliant, Polish girls charge £6-8 an hour and work like demons. There are lots of them around. Everybody loves them

Two with my wife she found a lot of the customers difficult and demanding. Much more so than window cleaning, and she fell out with several early on and it soured her on the idea

Linking to your business is essencial