[david@zap-clean]

I'm about to quote for an 8hr restaurant job that requires working between 11pm and the following morning.

I'm considering adding 50% to the cost - does this sound reasonable?
It will prevent me from working the following day for sure.

[Simon Gerrard]

You can, but you probably won't get the job.
This caper is about swings and roundabouts, some jobs require you to work out of hours and at night, so while I might charge a slightly higher rate for a night job, it wouldn't be a premium rate as you have to remain competitive whatever the hour.

Simon

[John Kelly]

You have to work out what loss of earnings you will incur by not being able to work the next day and price accordingly. That's what I used to do. so say your average day is 200 quid and the commercial job is 600 I would have charged 800.

[wynne jones]

You also have to take into account the next day. Will you want to be doing a normal day after that?

The answer will be a personal one. Some will say 50% some will say be competitive to get the job, but you are the one who has to do it. I would pitch it where you feel happy to be up all  night and if you don't get it at the price you quoted you didn't want it anyway.

[JandS]

you won't have a loss of earnings the next day, you've earned it the night before
It's like, say, pricing for a 4 night long job and adding 4 days earnings on to the price that you lost from not working days.

[clinton]

Some good posts above for you david..

Also make sure you don't get any come backs as you don't want to go back again mate..

[Carpet Dawg]

From my experience the words "restaurant" and "premium rate" don't go together when carpet cleaning is involved.

[Neil Jones]

Or you could just man up and work day and night, done it many a time 

[Carpet Dawg]

me too, many times.

grow a set of balls David!!! 

Take some can's of Monster with you or a line of coke, you'll be fine.

[jasonl]

I take helpers for night jobs , I work till midnight or 1am ,then get into bed thatI have fitted in the back of the van , sleep till about 7  then safely drive helpers home and go and do a days work .

i dont charge a premium because my kit is being used more , utilisation means lower costs, which I pass on as a sales aid to the customer.

[peter maybury]

If you want to do commercial work then you have to accept working different hours it is as simple as that. Most businesses that operate around the clock do not pay massive amounts of extra money for their staff. There are a lot of people in the game that see commercial work as the norm so will not charge premium rates, and why should we it does nt really cost us any extra to do in the first place. The trick to making money in this business is being busy consistently and you will find it a lot harder to do that if you increase your prices by 50%. An established business will have had their carpets cleaned before so will probably have some idea of what to expect to pay.

Peter

[kerrpmiddleton]

dave you never said why it will take so long what are you using to clean it
is it just carpets or chairs , you need to get couple other claeners on board

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

From my experience the words "restaurant" and "premium rate" don't go together when carpet cleaning is involved.

lol wait until they think your ebay and start bidding you 

[wynne jones]

The beauty of being your own boss is you do what the hell you want.

If you don't want to do nights, don't. If you want to put a premium on your time that's fine too. You will lose more business by doing stuff you feel coerced into than passing it on. If you feel you have to because you need the money the problem is elsewhere in your business. 

[clinton]

Liked button pressed Wynne

[david@zap-clean]

Some very interesting posts, thanks everyone.

The quote's in... not heard back, yet.

[Steve9]

What size job is it to take 8 hours? Big restaurant!? Suppose like the others say do what you feel comfortable with then see what happens.

I usually try to do restaurants early morning rather than at night, just because that's my preference!

If they insist on night time I wack a few more quid on but i don't call it an official x amount more. To them they wouldn't know.

[david@zap-clean]

1. What size job is it to take 8 hours? Big restaurant!? Suppose like the others say do what you feel comfortable with then see what happens.

2. I usually try to do restaurants early morning rather than at night, just because that's my preference!

3. If they insist on night time I wack a few more quid on but i don't call it an official x amount more. To them they wouldn't know.

1. It's a multi-roomed restaurant - which will take me 8 hours to go a quality job, including stain removal, furniture moving etc.

2. A morning start and HWE would mean wet carpets at 10:30am (when they open), so that's why it's a night job.

3. If they want me, they will to pay my prices - I'm not interested in a bidding war, and that's why I don't chase the likes of letting agents (though plenty come to me now).. Sure, I've lost a few commercial jobs, I'm not breaking my back for peanuts.

[gwrightson]

1. What size job is it to take 8 hours? Big restaurant!? Suppose like the others say do what you feel comfortable with then see what happens.

2. I usually try to do restaurants early morning rather than at night, just because that's my preference!

3. If they insist on night time I wack a few more quid on but i don't call it an official x amount more. To them they wouldn't know.

what i cannot understand from your reply,s  .
Why are you asking the question in the first place then ?

Personaly i work for the rate i normaly charge, be it night ,day  sat or sunday  , i cannot afford to lose work by been over priced , I consider the rate i charge already to be higher than many around here so happy be it night or day .

geoff
1. It's a multi-roomed restaurant - which will take me 8 hours to go a quality job, including stain removal, furniture moving etc.

2. A morning start and HWE would mean wet carpets at 10:30am (when they open), so that's why it's a night job.

3. If they want me, they will to pay my prices - I'm not interested in a bidding war, and that's why I don't chase the likes of letting agents (though plenty come to me now).. Sure, I've lost a few commercial jobs, I'm not breaking my back for peanuts.

[Simon Gerrard]

Dave,
How many square yards / metres in total?

Simon