[isa]

We just added to our domestic services a contract office clean.
The firs contract comes from one of our domestic customers. We were very excited at first but what a blunder we have been gullible enough to follow her price suggestion and I think we have been taken for a ride here as the cost seems to be very high and the profit margin small. We have 6 operatives each morning for 2hrs (one day for 2.5hrs). Can you advise what are the factors we should take into account when quoting the price for this sort of clean or maybe where could I get this sort of vital info?
Should we just swallow it and learn on our mistake?
Any help before we go bust would be much appreciated.
isa

[Fox]

Oh dear!

What are you charging at the moment?  There are several topics on this board giving advice on costings. Have you actually got a contract with this Company?  How long have you been cleaning for them?  Profit is not usually made in the first instance of a contract it is the long term commitment you need from the company, your overheads will drop and that's when you start making money.  Do you think they would be happy to re negotiate the price? 

PM me with your costings if you like and I will have a look for you.  It may be just as well to cut your losses and run!  Have you invested in machinery for this contract?  Pricing for a commercial contract is completely different than domestic as you probably now realise.  I am sorry to hear you have been misled but if you intend to branch out into commercial you now have a very valuable experience to look upon.

Fox