Help needed on first commercial quote

[jw]

Hi

I have been cleaning windows for a while now I think its time to move on from and try to get some commercials but I am unsure how to quote these.

Below is my first building to quote. Any help appreciated

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[Clisty1989]

how long will it take you, Times hourly rate, add any chems/specialist equipment costs and add 10%.

say job takes 3hours and I charge 30 an hour and using degreaser

3 x 30 + 5 = 95 + 10% = 104.50 round up to 105

 

[Julian Noddy Dean]

window cleaning is changing and changing fast , it started here in the s.e. for years some guys made alot of £ just doing shops and commercial but oh boy have they come unstuck now 

 with uk wide company's charging 8 pound for job that should be 45 throw in the mix stinky billy thats walks round town day and night charging 3 quid a shop with his set of pointers its just not worth doing , i dont even qutoe them anymore  

flats and the like are ok but as soon as the person moves to a different job that deals with you the new person may and sometimes bring there own contractors in over time , or if you get undercut there off ,iam not saying all of them are like this but just keep your eye on them a there not and good as you think 

 

[spruce]

The subway photo first.

When can it be done, what has to be done (outside and inside), how often and where does the payment come from are questions you need answers to.

We used to do a number of the Sainsbury's locals near us. We started at about 5.15am and had to have each one finished inside and out when they opened at 6.00am. We did it with the pole but in winter we did it traditionally so as not to create a slip hazard for customers using the pavement. Winter was more difficult too as it was dark. (Sainsburys have their own in house cleaners now so we don't do the job any longer - thank goodness. They weren't my favourite 2 weekly cleans.)

We had to present an invoice to the manager who claimed for on his business expense account. If although we had done the job, it was only paid when the manager had his expense account claims approved by headoffice and paid with his monthly salary. So sometimes we waited 6 weeks for payment. Every business has a different procedure.

Will they need RAMS and a valid Liability Insurance certificate?

Pricing: You have to consider mileage and time to attend the clean if its out of your way. If you clean it during business hours then you have to consider it will take longer due to foot traffic in and out of the shop. You will also need to we aware of your hoses causing a trip hazard and have clear signage to warn about this.

I would estimate that you need an hour to do this so you need to price it according to your hourly rate.

If you can do it early doors then it also helps you put some work on the books before you can start residential. So you might price it accordingly. I doubt this will be a financially lucrative clean so don't get to excited about it.

Personally, we have a subway in our area but I have never bothered to ask them if they need a window cleaner. Our local town centers have a number of tradirional cleaners working them earning a pittance per clean.

The second and third photos.

Again we ask; when can it be done, what has to be done (outside and inside), how often and where does the payment come?

If these are the same business then you need to break the cleaning areas into smaller bites and work out how long each should take you.

The roof of the dome canopy and the vertical glass behind it will be a nightmare to clean.

The best way is to quote the hire of a cherry picker to do that section using that. You will have to include the driver as well in your quote.

Every mark of 'welded' bird poo you miss will be clearly seen from inside.

Personally I would hate to have the consider cleaning the inside of that canopy. I'm sure you would have to do it with a pole and pad. Your arms will be jelly and you have only done 25% of it. If I were you I wouldn't bother tbh.

You will definitely need Public liability insurance and a RAMS statement on how you plan to accomplish the work safely.

This is a job you will need to price high. I would ask for £250 outside only with cherry picker hire on top of that.

We have a school with a weather cover like that to protect the children when outside eating their dinner. Its an absolute nightmare getting a years worth of baked on birds poo off. We put ladder up the front and clean it that way. But we keep having to check for missed bits from underneath as we can't see at the angle we can only stand on the ladder. Ours has 39 panels and takes us about 4 hours.

Importantly - have you got the equipment to do the job.

 

[spruce]

window cleaning is changing and changing fast , it started here in the s.e. for years some guys made alot of £ just doing shops and commercial but oh boy have they come unstuck now 

 with uk wide company's charging 8 pound for job that should be 45 throw in the mix stinky billy thats walks round town day and night charging 3 quid a shop with his set of pointers its just not worth doing , i dont even qutoe them anymore  

flats and the like are ok but as soon as the person moves to a different job that deals with you the new person may and sometimes bring there own contractors in over time , or if you get undercut there off ,iam not saying all of them are like this but just keep your eye on them a there not and good as you think 

I couldn't agree more. We've had 2 pubs we clean go bust on us in the past few months. You never know what's around the corner. Fortunately son spotted a problem with the pub just before we started to clean it, and I went out to the other at 9pm on a Friday night to swap their bounced cheque for cash from the till. There was one customer in the pub at 9pm on a Friday night.

When a big commercal job is lost it usually means that they go down owing you money and it leaves a big hole in your schedule you need to fill. So you also loose out financially for the work completed and after that for a time until you replace that work.

We have very little bad debt as we keep on top of it. Residential bad debt happens but its usually only small amounts. Our core business is residential as we feel that it makes more commerical sense (to us) to have lots of small customers rather than one of two very large ones.

.

 

[dmw]

 
I couldn't agree more. We've had 2 pubs we clean go bust on us in the past few months. You never know what's around the corner. Fortunately son spotted a problem with the pub just before we started to clean it, and I went out to the other at 9pm on a Friday night to swap their bounced cheque for cash from the till. There was one customer in the pub at 9pm on a Friday night.
 
When a big commercal job is lost it usually means that they go down owing you money and it leaves a big hole in your schedule you need to fill. So you also loose out financially for the work completed and after that for a time until you replace that work.
 
We have very little bad debt as we keep on top of it. Residential bad debt happens but its usually only small amounts. Our core business is residential as we feel that it makes more commerical sense (to us) to have lots of small customers rather than one of two very large ones.
 
.

80% of my work is residential the other commercial even if I lost my largest customer (a care home) it wouldn't crucify me.

When I started off I bought a small round it was making about £500 a clean per month, and paid a grand for it, the rest grew organically (never canvassed)and over the years I've sold work in my local area to fellow windies who I still stop to have a chat with, and still occasionally they ask if I've got any for sale, so they must be quite happy with the work they bought.

A couple of weeks ago I was offered 8 pubs from a large brewery in a 12 mile radius of home (fairly scattered) the lad selling it has a few lads working for him, and generally you had to be there early doors at the first and leg it to the next one. I think that's why he wanted to sell it.
I didn't even bother asking for the price as jobs like this can come and go and commercial is purely down to price , not quality or loyalty.

Currently my biggest debt is for just short of £200. I've been chasing this for months and instead of being given a cheque every month from the location cleaned they have changed the payment system, so it has to go through head office and is a major faff.
The only thing is,I know I will definitely get paid, because the said customer is the Salvation Army. So if you can't trust them, who can you trust.

 

[jw]

Thanks for all ur replies and advice. I will keep all this in mind as I have a meeting with the manager on Wednesday. I can find out then exactly what is required and have a good look round. I'll let u know how I get on. Thanks again

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