[Chris Cooper]

If you don't mind answering? What sort of prices do you charge? I am just starting up, and not really sure on pricing,
Do you price jobs on..
Area size? Price per sqm? Per room?
Time used?
And then extra costs for stains removed?
Etc..
Any help is very much appreciated!
Thanks!

[Carpet Dawg]

£1 per room. £50 per stain removed

[Kev Loomes]

Charge what you want to charge for your services. Only you will know how much you need to earn after working out all your overheads.

A little tip though, far too many new starts think that charging cheap is the way to go as its easy to presume that all the money will go in their pocket. They then realise after a few months that they have no clue about business and promptly give up or go bust because it doesnt work out.

Another one is also thinking that charging less than everyone else, you will obtain ALL the customers in the area (put other carpet cleaners out of business) and then once this is done, put up your prices, and wehey. Er, no. This definately aint gonna happen and is one of the reasons why some carpet cleaners dont last long.

By the way I'm not suggesting that this is what you will do (of course I'm not) - I just thought I would throw this in because this industry is littered with come and goes - and its what they do while they are around that has a profound effect on the industry, certainly in the customer's eyes.

[Marty Mcfly]

And que the generic responses of "you need to charge what your worth" That's what people tend to get back when they ask this question.
Main reason being is that one carpet cleaner to the next will,can and has to earn differing amounts! Plus no one really wants to tell the competition how much they are charging to do the exact same job? Its like asking a work colleague how much they earn, its just awkward.

You will learn what to charge, that's all i can say. You will learn when to allow a little longer and when to walk away just like when you find your pricing structure, truth is you ain't gonna get it right every time, but hey ho, you win some you loose some?!

Tip; Don't price by flat rate per room, it just looks cheap and will inevitably shoot you in the foot!
Think the customer tends to loose out if you charge by time personally, you either rush to get in as many done in a day or you will be completely unmotivated to complete the work in a decent time scale because your only gonna be paid more!
Just go by size, per sqm, you will soon figure out how many sqm you are getting done in a day (its not quite as black and white as that but you get what i mean). Get a domestic price and commercial price your comfortable with and get crack a lacking!

[Chris Cooper]

Kev and Marty thank you very much for your advice, that has definetely helped! I see what you mean Marty by not charging by the hour, I see how customers could loose out. Yeah it's something I will get more confident with as I do it and get more experience, thanks guys!

[Kev Loomes]

No problem - and good luck, sure you'll be fine

[Craigp]

Good post Kevin.

Il just throw this in too.

Let's say your yearly expenses running your C/Cing business are £15,000 and you expect to do 400 jobs in the year = £37 per job to brake even, so a min order of £40 is pretty daft IMO. as on a £40 job they think they made £40 but really they have only made £3 and as Kevin says they have a long slow painful journey to going bust left with nothing but debt.

[Steve Chapman]

Why can't people just say I charge £5 a sq m and a minimum charge of £50
 & it works ok for me ?

It's a much straighter answer 

Steve

[Jim_77]

Because some people don't charge like that!

Pricing is something you will take quite a few years to get right.  I would not start off cheap.

If you are just beginning in a business, your business plan and prior research should tell you the numbers you need... you have done that, right?

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Far too many CC's look on takings as earnings and particularly in the early days of any business this is hopelessly optimistic.

I would suggest 50% profit is a much more realistic figure for a start up, excluding intitial cost of equipment.

So if you want to earn £500 a week you need to take £1000 and that isn't going to happen at £20 a room!

Cheers

Doug

[Steve Chapman]

Jim,

I was just giving an example of what someone could say in response to the original question on what do people charge, instead of going around the houses and giving a long lecture  

If he had asked why do you charge those prices or what's best for me then the answers would fit !

I believe sometimes people just want a heads up on generally what they can expect and then tailor it there own way of working.

I understand why no one wants to give away what they charge, but if you look on most of the websites it tells you anyway  

[benny d]

Takings are VANITY, profits are SANITY.

Here endith todays lesson 

[alldon]

Why can't people just say I charge £5 a sq m and a minimum charge of £50
 & it works ok for me ?

It's a much straighter answer 

Steve

.   Well said Steve.

[Craigp]

Steve, that would be far too easy

Too be honest my post wasn't just for the OP but for other new ones on here reading.

Charging cheap is short sighted and it annoys a lot of the more experienced successful guys on here.

 I taken it upon myself to educate cheap c/cers 

Here's another, take £15,000 a year exspeneses divided by 48 working weeks a year = £312 a week break even.

You Must know your numbers

[Simon Gerrard]

Chris,
You won't get a definitive answer on here simply because there are some that charge high prices, or what they think are high prices, while others charge a lot less.
You would probably be better off ringing round your competitors and see what they charge, that will give you a much more localised view. Locally there seems to be a 'price' that your average customer is willing to pay, that is the figure you are looking for because being successful in this business is about pitching your prices so more people say, 'Yes,' than say, 'No.'

Simon

[JandS]

You missed a bit benny d

"Takings are VANITY, profits are SANITY"



CASH IS REALITY

John 

[peter maybury]

"CASH IS KING"   I was taught on a business management course.
Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[Chris Cooper]

Thank you for all your advice guys! This has definetely helped! I completely forgot about adding up my start up expenses and overheads, this has def helped me! Thanks guys!

[clive ware]

£2-3.50 per m2 should see you ok.
£2.50 per stair (ish)

[Kinver_Clean]

Do not take any notice of what other ccrs are charging in your area. Price according to what you need to live on and what overheads you have.
Open a savings account ( I know it won't pay interest worth having but-) it should have 30 day notice, this will stop you dipping in it for everyday things and  put 20% of your earnings in it.
This will cover your tax for the year plus a bit for emergencies and a tax advisor. They will save you money in the long run. You need professional advice just as much as training when you start up, they will tell you what books to keep and how to do it.
More small businesses go under for bad book keeping than any other reason.