Читать книгу Start & Run a Home Cleaning Business - Susan Bewsey - Страница 27

Pricing is tied to marketing. What you charge your customer has a direct effect on your potential sales. If your price is too high, you may be cutting off clients from your market. If your price is too low, clients may assume that your work is of poor quality.

Finding the right price means balancing profits versus market rates. Consider these factors:

(a) How much does it cost you to provide your service?

(b) How sensitive is the market?

(c) What image do you wish to project for your business?

(d) What does your competition charge?

You must determine your hourly rate. What hourly rate do you need in order to maintain your cash flow? Suppose your goals are modest compared to a business like The Cleaning Company Inc., and you want to make $20,000 a year from your cleaning service. How many days will you work and how many hours in that day will be billable? There are 365 days in a year. If you plan on one month’s vacation time, deduct 31 days for a total of 334 days. If you also don’t want to work on the weekend, deduct 127 days (104 weekend days plus 23 vacation days exclusive of weekends) for a total of 238 working days. Let’s say you plan on six billable hours per day; six multiplied by 238 gives you a total of 1,428 billable hours per year. When you divide $20,000 by 1,428 you will see that you must clear about $14 per hour to make your desired income. To make sure that you clear $14, you must log enough hours to cover overhead and expenses.

What is the going rate for a home cleaning service in your area or market? If the going rate is $7 an hour, there’s not much point in trying to charge $14.

Remember, you must allow for overhead expenses; don’t undercharge. If your business grows to the point where you must hire employees, consider the additional overhead that will accrue.

Develop a formal pricing plan: it will be invaluable when you need to meet with a banker or accountant to organize your company’s finances. For more about pricing for specific cleaning services, see Chapter 6.