[Sarah2005]

Hi everyone 

Sorry I have been quiet it has been none stop for me with courses helping me to prepare and plan so I can give my business a good start aswell as juggling the Courier business that has really picked up again.

Anyway tonight I have had a fantastic opportunity and really need some help.  A lady I met on a Course has called me to see if I am set up yet as her neighbour needs a Cleaner for her Son's brand new property, he is a successful business man in the town and the house is huge, with no expense spared and they need somebody to go in and give it a good clean as a lot of dust around the place, so that they can move in as soon as possible and if they like my service I will get a weekly clean there and also at his Mother In-laws.  This is so the target market I am aiming for and could easily lead to further work, so I think I would be foolish not to go for it.  My contact explained to her neighbour and friend that I am not set up but am happy to give her a quote and she has called me direct, knowing this and said she doesn't care that I am not set up and guessed that was down to me wanting to do it properly, I think it may be trust that is most important to her and she feels comfortable that her friend trusts me and knows I am aiming at a quality service as we discussed this.

Basically this quote is for a new build, the property is currently empty, however I believe it has been painted and all fittings are in place as she advised me the flooring is made up of cream tiles and mainly wooden floors throughout, bathroom is tiled aswell as the main bedroom, which I would imagine wouldn't be fitted unless the place had been finished off (correct me if you think I am wrong) and my friend told me there is a huge chandelier in the hallway    Not that I would get involved in going near that    The place is empty and the first clean is to basically clear the dust and do a general clean to enable them to move in their furniture as they want to move in a s a p.  Obviously all the appliances are new so it is basically dust.  Until I see it I can't comment on the amount of dust but for a chandelier to be in I doubt it is horrendous...again correct me if you think I have assumed that incorrectly.

Before anyone goes into the run before you can walk  believe me I know this and would have been much happier for this to have come up further down the line but it seems silly to miss this opportunity as if I get it right it could break me into the market I want to break into.  The fact I have been honest has set her expectations that I am not as ready to do this as I would like to be and she is happy with this. 

Please, please can anyone advise or PM me with any tips on how to price as I had set out to charge £14 per hour for domestic cleaning, however my research so far is showing this may be too much for my area, thanks to cash in hand cleaners charging £5 per hour etc (however I haven't had chance to research the wealthier prospective clients yet and I would expect at least £10 - £12 minimum for the service I intend to provide once I am ready to go live ) Also I don't know if this type of job is priced differently as yet to attend my course on pricing my services mid April    Believe me I have read so many threads on this site about pricing etc but as was going into general domestic to start with, I could do with a few tips.  The lady said she didn't know how I charge and I have been honest and said I have not even set my pricing structure.  I have no way yet of knowing how long it will take as don't have enough experience so do you think I am okay to ask her if I can call her back later that day with a price once I have met her at the property?

Would really be grateful for replys or PMs on what I may expect when I meet her at the property at 1pm tomorrow, any tips on cleaning wooden floors and cream tiles to make sure I use the best possible method.  Also on how I can work out time involved, remembering the property is empty.  I need to know what this type of clean requires as standard too as I believe I just need to give it a real thorough going over but also the floors are important as she told me she goes down on her hands an knees to do hers and do I need to be washing walls etc as I would not expect to if just been painted due to lack of experience on this type of project.  I am fine with standard domestic cleaning and was going to book a course through BICS to learn more, however this is a quality property and I can't afford to get it wrong if I get the work. So sorry to be a pain, I just don't have much time.....excited and very nervous at the same time    Talk about in at the deep end.....or I could be worrying too much because I am a bit of a perfectionist 

p.s  I would never usually come on and ask for all this help and feel rather cheeky, I am researching at present but this has just come up too quickly and I need to try and get it right and would be so grateful for any help from you more experienced people.




 

 

[martin19842]

hi sarah,

have pm'd you

regards

martin

[Sarah2005]

Thanks Martin 

[Sarah2005]

Luckily I have had the morning free today and am managing to read through all the threads relating to this type of clean before I meet the owner at 1pm.  From what I gather I am going in at the Sparkle stage, thanks to a previous thread I have just found, as they want to move in after this clean 

[Sarah2005]

Back from a successful appointment, it is now just the price I have to get back to her on as she loved what I had to say in relation to service and said I am exactly what she is looking for as I think my enthusiasm really came over.  The amount of work this can lead onto in the domestic side is fantastic.

Any help on this in relation to pricing, probably needs to be an hourly rate as doing the work together:

Saturday and Sunday

House totally empty, painted throughout so no need for walls to be cleaned, just skirtings, bannisters and window ledges, plus quick wipe of windows inside as window cleaner coming in on Monday.

Large Hallway (cream high shine flooring tiles)
Large newly fitted kitchen, wood with stainless steel (cream high shine flooring tiles)
Cloakroom with two glass panels
Large Living room (to be carpeted)
Good sized Dining Room
5 Bedrooms
1 Attic Room
Wooden Flooring throughout in dark matt wood.
Wooden Staircase
Wooden Spiral staircase up to Attic Room
4 Bathrooms with no expense spared, tiled top to bottom, including flooring with new suites that are full of dust and a small amount of debris.  Two being mosaic tiles and the other two very high quality large tiles.

I was advised the cream flooring alone took her 3 hours last time she cleaned it.  The floors are white with dust throughout aswell as bannisters, ledges etc.

Any tips on price would be great as I need to get this right and she knows I am seeking help as this is totally new to me.  The work itself is not a concern, I can't wait to get stuck in.  I recommended Saturday clearing the dust and wiping everything down and the finishing to be done on Sunday.

Sorry so long.......

[Tim Downer]

Hi Sarah, if we were asked to clean a 5 Bedroom, 4 Bathroom house with an attic room etc...we would probably charge in the region of £200 for the Builders clean and around £120 for the Sparkle clean....but that is a guess without seeing the property!
However, you are saying that you are cleaning to a Sparkle clean standard...i have to say that when there is that much dust and muck laying around, and it is the first clean, well that sounds like a builders clean to me.....however, when a certain customer of mine insists on just the one clean.....from a dusty building full of rubbish and wants it to finish as a sparkle clean....then i bump up the price of the builders clean by around 40%!
You say that you are cleaning the dust etc on the Saturday....then going back on the Sunday to do the cleaning?? - you are cleaning the property twice over!! Don't forget that while you are pricing it up.
Don't be surprised if the kitchen takes you 2 hours to clean and each of the bathrooms take over 1 hour to clean....they do take up most of your time - the rest is straight forward.

Hope it goes well and you get more work out of it.

Regards

Tim

[Sarah2005]

I got the job    Not only that but she rang me before I got chance to call her with the price to say her Mother In Law wants a Spring Clean at the hotel and a weekly clean on her house if she likes what I do, just on my Clients recommendation and I haven't even done the job yet.  Her Mother In Law is popping in to meet me tomorrow as she usually uses one of her hotel cleaners at home but would be prepared to pay a bit more for a premium service.  Apparently she is a business woman who is very choosy about who she allows into her home but my Client advised me that as soon as she meets me that won't be a problem because she has told her I am really nice......aaaaargh.

A big thanks to Martin who has been kind enough to PM me and allow me to call him during what I am sure is a very busy schedule for some advice on pricing based on his experience and own pricing structure.  I really am grateful for the time you gave me today and the knowledge you shared.  Thanks also to Tim for posting on this subject and also helping me know what stage of a build clean I was at in a previous post    I had assumed incorrectly it was sparkle, however Martin clarified Build Clean and Sparkle was involved over the two days.  I think I thought Build Clean was unpainted etc needing walls washing etc....due to lack of experience in this area 

Anyway, I am actually cleaning with the Client so I had to do an hourly rate to take this into account also reflecting my pricing based on this, rather than a set price or daily rate and Martin said to go for at least £15 hour in my case, which I think is a fair price, however I took into account the amount of work that is going to come from this and went in at £13 advising her this was a deal as been advised not to go below £15 per hour from the experts and she could have payed a lot more.  This takes into account that I am not set up, have no insurance as yet, the Client is working alongside me, which cuts my costs for this job which the Client is fully aware of.  Anyway she is happy with this and said she was hoping I would do her a deal as her weekly clean depended on my price and me taking all this into account and she is happy with my weekly offer which is going to be £10 p/hr, for her only as I feel she deserves this as she is recommending me onto people and has the contacts I am looking to gain (at the price I am after ).  If I hadn't done her a deal I would have lost out as she said she would not have used me weekly, however would have used me less frequently.  All in all I personally feel I have made the right decisions, I hope you agree.......

I feel happy with what I have agreed today, I don't feel I have the experience to charge as you experienced people would for this job and I see it as a long term investment and my price is good for me in this particular instance

I am seriously one happy bunny, I can't wait to get stuck in tomorrow 

 

[martin19842]

hi there,

Tim, she seems enthusiastic, just hope Sarah is as enthusiastic afer two days graft, but any way good luck.

have a geat weekend

regards

martin

[Sarah2005]

hi there,

Tim, she seems enthusiastic, just hope Sarah is as enthusiastic afer two days graft, but any way good luck.

have a geat weekend

regards

martin

Ha, ha, ha, just off to bed now, it's an early one for me, to make sure I am fit for the task ahead    I can see myself in a weeks recovery after this one......thats if I don't end up being carried out on a stretcher on Sunday   

Great weekend from me to you all too!

Sarah 

[martin19842]

morning,

go for it girl, those that do get, those that dont wont.

regards

martin

[Jan K]

good luck Sarah!

Make sure the Client does all the hard work lol (only joking!!)

[Tim Downer]

Sarah.....
How did it go?
Do you feel good after an easy weekend resting in all that glorious Sunshine in the garden?
Oh, silly me! That was me in the Garden in all that glorious sunshine....

But seriously, did you manage to get the work done as you anticipated or did it take longer than you thought?

As long as you have come back home and gained some experience, that makes it all worth while.

Hope you enjoyed the experience

Regards

Tim

[mkingsford]

Hi Sarah,

Good to see your venture is motoring. I'm a fair bit behind you. I notice from your post that you mention you have a course booked for pricing etc as well as a Biccs course.

I am in the near future starting an office cleaning company. I am keen to attend some courses. I contacted Biccs who sent me a list of their training centres but when I called one of the training centres close to me they said I should buy their equipment (in this case Karch) and then they would give me a one day course to operate it.

I am in Hertfordshire and wondered if you could give me any information on the courses you have either been on or are booked to go on.


Many thanks in advance

Maggi K.

[Sarah2005]

Hi All 

Thanks for your messages, only just got chance to get online as was shattered after that weekend......as I am sure you can imagine    Had a course on tax at the Inland Revenue on Monday morning, followed by a trip to Norfolk for a funeral    Spent today giving my house one massive spring clean after a kind friend let me borrow her steamer for my 1st job and that job meaning my house got left......until today! 

Am pleased to say everything went really well, I had guessed two days, however from advice advised her likely to be a day and half which it would have been, had I not been working with the Client as she started later than me, had to pop off now and again, greet people etc.  However we did what we agreed to do on the Saturday and then Sunday windows inside where added after she saw how well I cleaned up the PVC which was covered in dirt and lumps of filler.  Also as kitchen wasn't finished and the carpets not down in the landing upstairs, I recommended we leave the sparkle downstairs until this is done as only going to create more dust, which she happily agreed to, so I still got paid for the hours I planned and have another days work from it along with a REALLY happy Client    I ache all over, obviously used muscles that haven't been used in a while but I really enjoyed it, I was on auto pilot until I got home, had a bath and sat down........It was a great experience and the dust was fairly horrendous once we got started but to see the transformation was so rewarding 

I also met my Clients Mother In Law, who was impressed with my work and wants me to spring clean her home and hotel, plus clean her home weekly and my Client said she will definately need me weekly too, once they move in 

Jan, the Client mainly left the horrible stuff to me.....wouldn't you   

Maggi, I am probably not that further forward than you, I have everything in my head and am attending courses, however this job now means I need to just go for it and set up which means getting my cards, T&Cs and everything else sorted out.  The Courses I am attending are more around business, Business Planning, Marketing Skills, Promoting for Profit, etc through Business Link which I would highly recommend    I had considered BICS, however Jan informed me I probably wouldn't need in the domestic market so haven't done anything about this, however if I was doing offices like you aim to, then I would want this form of training and still may do it to prepare me for things that may come up in the future.  I think for me the job I did this weekend was a training course in itself 

Anyway thanks for all the support, I really enjoyed the experience and am glad I took on the challenge 

Now just a couple of things you may be able to help us with:

Client has chandelier which I didn't want to touch just yet, however her Mother In Law believes there is a specialist spray, she saw it at a trade fair, that you spray on that makes the dust just fall.......anyone know where we can get this?

Also a mirror on the back of a door has a few slight black marks on that won't come off and I believe these are in the mirror rather than the surface, my Client thinks so too, can any of you experts let me know if this is likely to be the case as I understand it may have just been received damaged and the builder has just fitted it anyway, or if it is something you have come across and know how to resolve? 

Lastly I told my Client I would get some advice for her and she is going to speak to her tiler, regarding the grout that is very badly stained and we think this may be dirt that has dried into the grouting as it won't clean off, not even with steam.  A lot of the tiles in two rooms also have yellowish marks on that appear to be dirty grout and won't come off.  Can anyone tell me of a product to remove this and clean the grout or is this something for the tiler to sort and perhaps grout over.  Client knows this is new to me and just grateful that I can ask you experts for advice 

Also customer found some glue stuck to her bathroom basin, can anyone recommend something to remove this?

Oh lastly, she has these lovely modern chrome handles on her doors and I noticed paint on a couple and told her I would find out what we can use to remove this, without damaging them for when I return at the end of this week. 

Sorry for all the questions, you guys know this is new to me, so I feel comfortable asking, as I don't yet have my supplier in place to go to.....I will sharpish though 

Finally talk about being thrown in at the deep end, but loved it and to have a happy Client at the end of it is even better 

I can't recommend microfibre cloths enough, I use them at home and they made everything so much easier this weekend, the steamer was a real help aswell as I haven't got one just yet, hence me using it on my place today.

I do go on don't I    Perhaps I need a course on keeping it short and sweet 

[Tim Downer]

Sarah
Glad you enjoyed the experience.....i can still hear the excitement in your posting.
Regarding the paint on the chrome handles, if it is not too thick, any spots or dabs of paint comes off a treat with using just microfibre cloths.....the slightly courser material one.....not the fine one. We do this and it takes the paint off and with now scratches.
However, if the handle has been painted and is in a proper old state....i don't know.....maybe white spirit or turps applied with cloth....not scourer?? How would this affect the finish of the chrome?
Also, these wonderful microfibre cloths......give the glue / silocone a good rub with the cloths.....eventually removes it but with no scratches. Used to use scrapers.....silocone came off a treat but so did the enamel!!
Not come accross your Tile troubles before.....

Be good to get the customers you have mentioned including the Hotel?? They sound like the sort of people to tell all their neighbours about you, which is the best form of advertising.

Good luck with it all

Regards

Tim

[maggie67]

Hi Sarah

Thanks for your reply. Fanastic results................Well done!!!!

We come across this alot with brown marks in grout. Sometimes a little cif removes it, or a little (dare I say it, after all our recent posting re this subject........) BLEACH! However more often it is dust which has got mixed into the grout and there is nothing you as a cleaner can do , the problem lies with the grouting in these cases, although the builder will not agree :: for obvious reasons!!)

In the paint is in specks then this should certainly come off with a cloth or just by using something with a blunt edge to lift it!

Chandeliers? Haven't got a clue but that product sounds fantastic! Can you use it all around the house (HA! HA! )

Anyway well done Sarah, you'll soon be RICH!!

Regards

Maggie

[Jan K]

Hi Sarah!

Well done you! Sounds like you had a great time of it, always that way with jobs like that, I feel, gives me a great deal of satisfaction to stand back and look at the rooms in all their glory once they are clean (and for me that goes especially for bathrooms, which are my fave to do, sad I know!!).

I would agree with Maggie about the bleach, although I always check with the Client first that they are ok with me using it and no liability lies with me should there be any damage as I don't usually recommend using it.

I have found that small paints drips on chrome can easily be picked off with fingernails (it usually comes off very easily). Sounds crude, but effective, and if not that microfibre cloth sounds like it is a miracle cloth (still not got around to getting any yet, bit on the old busy side at mo)

Anyway, well done again, its sounds as tho you are well and truly on the old dom cleaning ladder now