I am a small cleaning Company in the State of IN with about 12 employees. I am a woman owned business. We are incorporated and insured, pay workman's comp and every employee is criminal background checked with ongoing training. We do a lot of small business cleaning and one fairly good size account. But now I feel I am ready to tackle a big one. I need a bit of help please!
I am listed with the state as a minority group... now the have sent me information to bid on a Building, 50,000sf, 8 floors, every inch detail cleaned, 5 nights a week between 5 & 10. We are NOT responsible for snow removal. Elevators to every floor which will need to be cleaned & polished.
Then there is a monthly chore list too! All Blinds which will take ladders & stairwells mopped, vents & baseboards.
Quarterly cleaning-Clean all grout in restrooms.
We are to supply all cleaning supplies & equipment.
No stripping, buffing or waxing is required.
We are required to have a supervisor there nightly during the clean.
I was thinking to get this job properly I should have at least 4-5 cleaning people every night.
Can you help me determine a bid and your thoughts? Maybe a cost per sf? I figure my cost per person/per day based on 5 & 1 supervisor at $375 using only labor costs!($1875) As for cleaning supplies & equipment, I figured at 3% extra costs.($56) As for profit, I have been told to double my costs? Is that accurate?
If this is correct my bid would be $3750 + 56=$3806. I feel this seems awful high but I may be wrong. It is at $25.37 per hour. They are picking by lowest bidder and you cannot change your bid once submitted. I am really scared.
Also I am going to have to hire for this job and background check employees & submit.
I am not sure... cover letter, info about my company? They did give me a sheet to place my bid on, so is this all they want? Or proof of insurance and more?
HELP PLEASE!

Whenever submitting a proposal, always follow the exact format requested by the people for whom you are bidding. You can also provide supplemental information such as your proof of insurance, a brochure and business cards. However, if they ask for a specific format, you should follow it for the proposal itself.

For pricing, you will need to find out how your competitors bid jobs which can be a little tricky. One way you can do it is to call other potential customers in similar buildings to the one you are bidding, as a sales call. Find out of they are interested in finding out if you might be able to compete with their cleaning quote, and see if they will tell you what they are paying and how they are paying - by the square foot or by the hour. You'll get some sense. You might need to call around a few places and perhaps average out what others are quoting so you are somewhere in the middle. Then you can discount slightly, like 5%, to be more competitive. Don't over-discount or you won't make a profit and will have a hard time keeping the account.

As for your supply costs, a custodial supply company might be able to help you with that or if not them, manufacturers. They often do quotes direct for building owners and management companies on providing the cleaning stuff and should have some idea of what you would need to maintain that type of building.

Thank you for your information. I have tried a number of times to get information on bidding from other cleaning companies and even though I do not always tell who I am... I am not received very nicely and usually do not get any useful info.
I will try it, with your angle this week and see what happens.
Bare bones is @ $25 per hour bid on time. This actually works out to $7.6 per sf.
I think it is a bit low per sf. But may be needed to get the bid?
Supplies... well that is a great idea Thank you!
I appreciate the advise tremendously!