[drive surgeon]

do any other one man bands have  problems with pricing commercial pressure washing? i just find it difficult to know wat the custys think. too cheap or too dear?> cos either way i have not heard anything back from a few quotes/

one man bands are bound to be cheaper than big cleaning contractors who sub work out.   

but who does the custy go for?

[Richy L]

I find it ok to price commercial really. Sometime I need a bit of advice if there is a massive amount of work to be done. But I think if you come over professional and knowlegable about your line of work  you can usually get by ok. Always turn up to site to price jobs with PPE in your van just incase.

Was there a particular type of pressure washing you meant anyway? (blockwork, cladding, etc)

[John Kelly]

Pricing any work should depend on your circumstances and business. Any good business man should be able sit down and work out what it costs to run the business including putting money aside for renewing vehicles, equipment etc.
When you have these figures you can then go on to work out how much you need to earn to cover these costs and provide the level of income you require or aspire to. The easiest way to do this is to work out how much you need to earn per hour. As your experience grows you will come to a point when just by just looking at the job you will have a reasonable idea of how long it will take and can then calculate the cost.
Too many just pluck figures out of the air or do what everyone else is doing.

[BDCS]

DS,  why don't you get last years books out and look at your operating costs, ie fuel ,ins, repairs, equipment costs, advertising - everything, then add the £65k or whatever you pay yourself and add it all up, divide it by 52 (thats your weekly costs) and divide that by 5 which will give you a dayrate. You will also need a profit margine to go on top of that but don't be greedy go for about 60%. Armed with this imformation you can price most jobs :