Please help me respond to this cleaning client!!

[cleaningdilemma11]

I’ve just started my cleaning business, going to see my first client on Sunday. I normally charge £15 an hour, but because she’s my first client I have agreed to do it for £10 an hour for 4 hours, and then it will be £15 an hour. She didn’t even ask, I suggested it in return for a review/reference. She wants a regular 4 hours clean every week so I was ok with it doing it for £10 for a first clean.

Now client 2 has just texted me asking if I can come for a “trial “. She asked how much I charge, and I said £15 an hour but will do it for £10 in exchange for review/reference, she then said that’s out of her budget but if I’m willing to do it for £10 an hour for her she will recommend me to her sister who also needs a cleaner?

She lives 45 mins from me, I don’t drive but we both live in London. So I don’t know what to do, do I say yes and take what I can until I get enough customers to be picky or do I just stick with my price and tell her to fuck off?

I give discounts hoping I can get reviews on my Facebook page and build up enough credibility to get more customers, I don’t know if that’s right though? Can anyone help me?

I’m going to say something a bit controversial here. OP, either you are a native English speaker or your English is fluent. In London a lot of cleaners have very little English and it is not uncommon to have to communicate via Google translate or a relative if there is something to discuss or explain. If your clients can discuss things fully with you and know that there are unlikely to be misunderstandings over things like timings, appropriate products, changes to routine, holiday arrangements etc, this will be worth a slightly more premium price to many clients.

I'm self employed (not a cleaner) and would actually take that 45 min away job.

Firstly, it gives you a bit of experience to note down other points you might not have considered.

Secondly it's an opportunity to potentially get a review.

You can always ditch that client later if it no longer suits. When you go for your first job there, I would leaflet the street to let people know you are in the area on tuesday afternoons (for example), that way maybe you can get a whole days work from one street and the "commute" will be worth it.

When you're starting out on a business it's okay to be slightly out of pocket if it's because you are doing something that will improve your experience or help you make contacts.

When I finished my training years ago I took on some volunteering projects and projects that were actually paid badly in light of market rates, just so I could build up some experience. I understand cleaning may be different though.

I think anyone paying their cleaner less than 10 pounds an hour and crowing in disbelief at your rates should take a look at themselves. An hour of somebody's time is an hour of time, and cleaning is hard. It's a bit of a disgrace in this day and age to be paying so little for a luxury.

@cleaningdilemma11

I've wanted to start this business for over a year, but have only been able to do it now that DS is in school full time. Nobody really have everything figured out when they start a business, especially a business like this one. You learn as you go, and that's what I'm going to do. About the review, yeah I'm not going to give them a discount for that, I'm just going to stick to £12 an hour.

I don't have equipment as they all want me to use their products.

As an ex-cleaner (domestic and commercial) - a couple of words of advice...

Most clients wildly under-estimate how much time it take to clean things. They expect two hours to generate a sparkling house with every piece of furniture moved and hoovered under, and skirting boards you could eat off! Be very careful with quoting fixed prices for a job until you have some experience under your belt - otherwise you will end up doing hours of work at a fraction of the cash you'd have earned if you'd stuck to an hourly rate.

Watch your back - and the skin on your hands. Be very careful with lifting and moving things. You'll be doing a lot of bending and kneeling - you must look after your back or you'll end up injured. Likewise the chemicals and constant wet/dry on your hands is very drying and can give you dermatitis. Have good gloves and make sure you are stopping to dry your hands (you'll sweat whilst wearing them). A decent hand cream at the end of the day is a must.

Keep your receipts - you'll need them for your self assessment (your insurance is tax deductible BTW!). Don't forget to pay your class two NIC so that you are building a state pension entitlement.

Oh and I agree with the advice not to worry about google reviews. A good cleaner will have a waiting list through word of mouth. If you don't drive then you need to think very seriously about how you are going to transport your equipment - not all clients will want you to use their stuff.

I think anyone paying their cleaner less than 10 pounds an hour and crowing in disbelief at your rates should take a look at themselves. An hour of somebody's time is an hour of time, and cleaning is hard. It's a bit of a disgrace in this day and age to be paying so little for a luxury.

Who has done that? OP has said her plan was to charge £15. Everyone else charges £12.

Who has told her to charge less than £10??

Ps I think you might struggle with a cleaning business not driving. You will either spend too much time travelling to make your chargeable hours worth while, or you will have to be very lucky to get enough clients in a small area (and even then, you will be wasting a lot of time walking house to house with equipment and cleaning bottles.

The OP says she's in London so using a car may be very time consuming. Tbh if I were doing that kind of work in London I'd use a cargo bike. This isn't a way out idea - it's being encouraged for traders cyclingindustry.news/local-government-association-report-urges-business-to-trade-vans-for-cargo-bikes/

OP, if it doesn't make things really complicated, I'd consider charging £12 ph for the first two hours and then £10 ph for each hour after that. Or, charge some travel time, but not so much that clients are basically making up for you not currently having a car. Cars are money pits so if you do get a car, you'll just have all the expense of running one and need more clients anyway.

[quote cleaningdilemma11]@81Byerley yes I know it's going to be hard work, I'm actually nervous to see my first client tomorrow. She booked a 4 hour clean and lives in a 3 bed house. 4 hours in one house is going to be so hard [/quote]
You should make sure that you have agreed whether the 4 hours will include the time she spends at the beginning explaining to you what needs to be done and how she would like you to do it. I’d expect that to be over and above the 4 hours actually cleaning.
We have a 4 bed house, 2 baths and a study. Our cleaner does 4 hours. That includes changing the beds (I leave out the clean linen) and hanging out the washing. She pulls off all the soca cushions and vacuums underneath them. She rotates bigger jobs like oven cleaning, washing down the patio, cleaning the front steps etc over a number of weeks. If the client has not had a cleaner before you would do a deeper clean on the first visit so skirtings etc. 4 hours will go by quickly.

If she can't afford your rates then she can't afford a cleaner 🤷

Oh and of course at the moment you have to make sure you can satisfy the client that you are doing things in a Covid-safe way.

I would not offer a discounted first clean in that way, as the first one is likely to be the worst/most work.

I would offer a reward scheme however, whereby once they have had x cleans they get a one off discount, you can also do a 'recommend a friend' discount where you give them a one off % discount IF their friend has x number of cleans.

That way you are not giving discounts to clients who use you once or promise to recommend but never do.

[quote myhobbyisouting]@FuckinGoddess a luxury service? Surely the clients decide whether it's that good. OP doesn't even say whether she's even had any experience and she's having to give incentives for reviews.

[/quote]
Having a cleaner is a luxury, so if you can't afford it then you do your own cleaning. It's not like not being able to afford a 5 hotel, so you go to a 3 because it's cheaper and accepting a lower standard - the cleaner will expect her house to be cleaned to the same standard as someone paying £15.

@CheetasOnFajitas well I was actually born and bred in Denmark, so English is not my first language although I think I'm fluent? I do make mistakes sometimes though

Stick to your rates. We are often tempted to lower prices at first and it eats in to your profit and your basically doing it for nothing.

Cleaning other people’s houses is hard. To make this business viable you have to make a profit that equals the amount of time and energy you put in to it. Travel costs should absolutely considered when taking in new clients. Know your worth. Be confident.

Cleaning rates around me are £15 and upward and I’m in the North West. I’m getting ready to start looking for a cleaner and I’d be happy to pay £15

Don’t let new clients take the piss. If they can get it cheaper they will. If it’s not in their budget then tough.

[quote cleaningdilemma11]@81Byerley yes I know it's going to be hard work, I'm actually nervous to see my first client tomorrow. She booked a 4 hour clean and lives in a 3 bed house. 4 hours in one house is going to be so hard [/quote]
Not at all. I've done (as a cleaner myself) and my cleaner does a 3 bed house in 4hours with ease. This includes:

• washing all floors
• full clean of 1x family bathroom, 2 toilets and 1 kitchen
• dust throughout
• hoover
• washing 4-5 windows (including windows in doors)

When you're pricing a house, do you go around first, assess the work and then indicate the price for the job? E.g. based on this amount of work, it'll take x hours, or, I can do the following in the hours you've alloted me?

If you don't know what's included, you could be setting yourself up for a stressful clean.

[quote cleaningdilemma11]@CheetasOnFajitas well I was actually born and bred in Denmark, so English is not my first language although I think I'm fluent? I do make mistakes sometimes though [/quote]
A few mistakes in English now and again are no issue- I have worked with cleaners with whom sign language and google translate are the only method of communication. It is do-able, and I did want to do my best to support them, but it’s exhausting if you are just trying to arrange a time or explain why you’d like her to do something in particular. And mistakes/misunderstandings did happen.

I’ve got myself into a worse situation now though- my current cleaner speaks a language that I speak conversationally myself (but zero English). So now it’s me struggling to express myself while she chatters on .

I run a cleaning business, I’m in my 4th year now and have 2 girls who work too.. I’m about 40 minutes outside of London. I charge £15 per hour which includes all products, equipment and insurance. Deep cleans are from £20 an hour. Stick to your prices. Covid hit the business hard but it has picked up massively since the kids have gone back to school. 45 minutes a way is an hour and a half travel time plus the 4 hours.. you probably won’t do another job that day so that’s £40 for the day. As opposed to one that’s local who will pay £15 an hour and you can fit another local one in. I turn away work that’s over 15/20 minutes drive unless they have a monthly clean.

In the beginning you have to slowly build up your business, ask each client for a review. Don’t sell yourself short. This is your job/income. Cleaning is hard work, I don’t love it but it has given me the flexibility to work around the kids and earn good money. But I am knackered most of the time lol.. I work 5 days a week, the girls work 3 full days each and they get £9 per hour. Also do some commercial jobs but lost two after lockdown. These are good money. It’s worth investing in getting some leaflets made, this helped a lot in the beginning.

Good luck and feel free to ask any questions etc.

Don't take the 45min away job if you don't want to, you can politely say that you don't travel further than x miles or minutes. When I started out cleaning I would take jobs in different areas that required bus travel, it was good for a time and then I got a car after passing my test. Over time I realised having clients spread out isn't productive so I started advertising in post offices in specific areas where I had the odd client and ended up with a good cluster of clients in the next village and locally. Most clients lived within minutes of each other.

If 45min away area has a good market for cleaners then you could choose to make that your patch but atm you can be picky if you want, it is your business.

You will find that a lot of clients will come from recommendations/referral.

I always see the clients property first. Always. Don’t be tempted to agree because it’s a job and your so eager to take anything. These people will know your new and will be getting you on the cheap. I’ve been caught myself and it’s hard work for not a lot of money. If they want woodwork/windows then it’s £20 an hour..

I pay £12.50 but my cleaner provides all cleaning products and even her own hoover. Can’t understand why as a customer I’d pay more if you didn’t drive!

The beauty of being a cleaner is you get to pick which customers you want. There’s a lot of demand (certainly is here).

@CharlieBoo out of interest why is that more per hour rather than just additional hours?

I think most independent cleaners charge different rates depending on when they got their clients. But they could cancel after a short while, so I personally would say something like "As I'm just starting my business I'm willing to offer £10/hour on the basis of being a long term client, but I'd need to be paid monthly in advance for that rate. Alternatively, I'm happy to continue with my standard weekly payment at a £15/hours rate. Let me know which you would prefer".

I think you need to factor in the travelling time. You could give a better (cheaper) rate if the customer was willing to pick you up from the bus stop or train station? I think you need to sit down and work out how far you're willing to walk/bus and draw a circle on the map and keep it to that area. If you want do introductory offers, that's ok, but if you do it for one you'd probably have to do it for any others that come in. If you cant do the 45 mins travel, don't do it, it's another 1.5 hours unpaid IUKWIM

@Flipflophurray deep/spring cleans are so much more work. So on a deep clean we include windows and the pvc, all woodwork, bannisters washed, doors washed, skirtings washed, kitchen/bathroom deep cleaned. Much more products are used on these cleans too, so yesterday on one of these cleans I used a whole bottle of viakal and almost a full bleach spray.

Most cleaning companies do this and most clients are happy to pay this.

You tend to get a real mix. Some houses we do weekly and are immaculate so they’re really easy. But the deep cleans are usually minging. The one we did yesterday was up there as one of the worst I’ve seen!

This is one of the taps

Never work for free. You charge what you choose to charge, and they can find someone else if they don't want to pay. People do not appreciate free stuff, instead they tend to develop a sense of entitlement to it because it is free.

I'm self-employed too, and when I get an enquiry that leads to asking for a free trial first, I simply say they have no obligation to continue with me after the first appointment but I still charge my normal rate for the first one. I'm not doing anyone any harm so I've not got reason to feel guilty. I don't expect people to do free stuff for me after all!