[big J]

Hi I know this topice has popped time and again but i would like some specific help from any Window cleaners in the Wiral/ ellesmere port or even birkenhead. Without wishing to poach can anyone give me an idea of prices or examples of how you arrived at a given price for a job

cheers 

PS i am looking a domestic work by the way

[big J]

Hi can i widen the net and ask what factors you take into account when setting a price please

[Tosh]

Hi can i widen the net and ask what factors you take into account when setting a price please

For routine domestic work pricing is easy for me.  If it's similar to what I do already, I've got a ready-made bench mark for pricing.

But if it's a 'stand alone' job I take the following factors into consideration:

Length of time it'll take to do the job.
Access and pain-in-the-ass factors.  Do I have to phone to gain access (eg electric gates).
The location of the job in relation to where I live/and or how close it is to other work I do.
How big the job is.
How affluent do the potential customers appear to be?
Was I recommended to quote for the job by someone else who I charge a 'good price' for?
Do I really want the job (if not quote high).

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

This is my Premium rate.
This is my Standard Rate.

Hope this helps, I am a bit expensive now.

[matt]

i allways say " work out how much you want / need to earn per hour, take a look at the job, think on how long it will take you ( inc travel time ) and price if from that point of view

for bigger houses i allways add a little % on, i joke and call it my rich tax 

when you get enough work you can add a % on all jobs when pricing, this is because your not desperate for the work and can take it or leave it

[big J]

This is my Premium rate.
This is my Standard Rate.
What a good idea  vip and standard custy
i will have to look at this a little bit closer and see how to build it in

cheers

[GWCS]

i allways say " work out how much you want / need to earn per hour, take a look at the job, think on how long it will take you ( inc travel time ) and price if from that point of view

for bigger houses i allways add a little % on, i joke and call it my rich tax 

when you get enough work you can add a % on all jobs when pricing, this is because your not desperate for the work and can take it or leave it

More like work out how much you want to take per hour for business and personal expenses.

Remember in business, you pay yourself via the company finances, so say for every £1 you take, you get 40p personally and the rest 60p goes towards the business, for such items like new equipments, accountants fees, insurance, tax returns etc..

So say you want to earn £8 an hour personally, you need to be making £20 per hour.

Tosh, has it pretty spot on on how to charge factors..

[Helen]

This is my Premium rate.
This is my Standard Rate.

Hope this helps, I am a bit expensive now.

Probably going to get slaughtered for this but......
You need to run a spell check on your website. It's a good one , but certain things are jumping out at me and drawing me away from what really matters.

[Sunshine/Cleaning]

This is my Premium rate.
This is my Standard Rate.

Hope this helps, I am a bit expensive now.

Probably going to get slaughtered for this but......
You need to run a spell check on your website. It's a good one , but certain things are jumping out at me and drawing me away from what really matters.

No problem, thanks Helen.

[cozy]

Ian Giles did a good post on this mate

Don't charge by the hour!!

Break down windows into a unit cost.

Then it is just a case of walking around a job, counting up the windows, breaking them down into what you consider to be a unit and multiply by whatever you have allowed as your unit cost.

It makes pricing far more accurate and takes out a large element of 'guess-timation' from the equation.

If you are fairly new to the game then you need to know what the average time it takes for an experienced window cleaner to clean your average window.

In basic terms, an average casement window, about 45" tall and about the same in width, with 3 panes of glass, one narrow opening light above a single fixed pane, and a longer opening pane to the one side will take approx 90 seconds to clean, including any detailing thats needed.
And that is to a good standard including the sills wiped down properly.

Oh, the above is for trad window cleaning, but generally, even if WFP, it is best to price up as for trad.

AS Simon said, to begin with you will be miles slower than someone experienced, but these are the people you are pricing against, so you need to be competitive...
AS your skills and speed increase then so do your earnings.

What you charge per window (or unit) is up to you, and is also to a degree governed by your location in the country.
My own unit charge is £1.00, and my rate - per - minute - worked is also £1.00

This does not mean earnings of £60 an hour...not by any stretch of the imagination...there is a world of difference between the rate - per - minute - worked and what you eventually earn per hour.

The rate per minute is the time taken when you are actually at the windows cleaning them, no  allowance for talking to customers, setting up or putting away or driving between jobs, or time off because of the weather/holidays/sickness/breakdowns and so on.

I'm WFP so my time per window is more like 30 seconds rather than 90 seconds and an average semi will take me around 10 minutes to actually 'clean'...but there is no way I will average 6 semi's an hour!!!!

Mr average on a good day will ...er...average about 3 0r 4 an hour over a full days work, oh, and for most an average days work will rarely be more than 6 hours before he (or she) is heading off home. That isn't to say many don't work considerably longer hours, we often work much longer ourselves (6am starts and 5pm finishes).

Something else to ALWAYS remember is that your hourly turnover rate (perceived not actual!!) is not your wage! it is your business income/turnover from which you take your wage....

Have a minimum charge and over and above that, price per unit and NOT per hour.

Ian