[calmore]

Have been approached by a cleaning company (through a friend) who get asked for carpet cleaning but don't have the facilities or staff to do it themselves. They have asked if I'd like to do it on an as and when basis.

How much should I be looking to charge (An approximate percentage of domestic rate will suffice)?

I haven't yet called back to discuss the terms of any deal or what they have in mind. Should I be looking to sub contract for them or should I ask them to pass the jobs on and I pay them a percentage of profit back?

Any advice gratefully received!

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

You should always chatrge an hourly rate with commercial work. The norm seems to be anything from £30 - £60 on average depending where your situated.

[Timmy Boy]

I find that 25p per sq foot works well or £40 per hour
Regards
Tim

[lee_gundry]

i think you should be looking around 100.00-150.00 per hour minimum.

its quite easy to clean 100 sq mt per hour.

Lee G

[Ken Wainwright]

Ditto to Lee.

There are two basic setups for different types of commercial work. LM and HWE. Used in the right situation, £100 ph with LM is easy peasy for one man without breaking into a sweat.  A two person team, >£200 ph isn't difficult. This is a low capital outlay option.

With HWE, you will probably need to be TM for a reasonable return. I'm not talking about the odd pub, hotel or restaurant etc.  but significant commercial jobs with enough metreage so that it can be your core business. A one man portable set up will typically earn <£70 ph.  TM's require a significant capital investment.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[calmore]

I know the cleaning company do both domestic and commercial cleaning. Not sure yet whether I'll be offered one or both types of job or how much there'll be. I imagine it'll probably will be the odd office or restaurant every couple of weeks or so.

(I suspect there won't be enough to justify a truck mount or even a LM system as I'd have thought the company would be doing it themselves if this were the case.)

Now that I have a few rough figures I can contact the company and appear that I know what I'm talikng about...

Out of interest I haven't really looked at LM in detail yet. Are there any systems that are superior or are they much of a muchness?

[mark_roberts]

£100+ per hour, Yes it can be done but only for big open areas.  Around desks etc can be a real time delay not forgetting pre-vacuuming of course.

Also cleaning big areas on your own can be really really boring so take a friend or an ipod.

Mark