Hey all,

I have set up a cleaning company with my partner earlier this year, and all is going well. So far so good. (fingers crossed it will stay like that) http://l.nmimg.net/ch/smilies/icon_smile.gif I just have one question.
We are at the moment, bidding on cleaning a golf club, and we would need to give an estimate soon. It would be our first 'commercial' job.
The manager at the club wants us to do the cleaning every day, and the hours are up to us.

We can't really decide how many hours we should quote for one day? I was thinking maybe between 2-4. What would you say would be an acceptable hourly rate? We were thinking around £13-£14 but we also want this to cover the expenses such as employees, insurance, mileage, cleaning chemicals etc, but still have a bit of a profit at the end of the day.

Any advice will be very very appreciated.

I think you are going in too low if you are thinking of l3 or 14 an hour. This would not cover your expenses and have something left over. How many rooms does this facility have; would you need to clean their kitchen, and do they have a dining room? Also, cleaning would have to be done at less busy time then through the day, would it not ?

Please give us little more detail as to how big this facility is.

Sorry- didn't get the notice for the answer.

It would be for 7 days a week. There are 3 offices one medium and two smaller sizes. Again there are the gents & ladies changing rooms (roughly about 25 sqm) each with separate toilets, shower cubicles. We don't have to touch the kitchen as it will be not our responsibility. However there is a dining room that is about 120 sqm and the 'pub' area is about 120-ish sqm.

This is why thought that 1 person could do this in 4 hours per day.
What would you suggest would be an ideal price?

Thank you

This article may help you figure out your costs and calculate profits.

How to Calculate Cleaning Costs | eHow

How to Create Cleaning Estimate Forms | eHow

How to Estimate Cleaning Costs | eHow

I am in Ontario, and pay $25 an hour for cleaning my house, one person, 2 hours but cleaning a facility like that is much different. I would say that your $14 is too low and should be at least $25 an hour and two people. Moving chairs in the dining room and vacuuming is a big job, and toilets in the changing room for men and women is now a job that requires extra precautions and I wouldn't do that without PPEs, that is mask, gowns and gloves, just to be on the safe side.

I am assuming you are in the UK., but no different cleaning there, then here.

Telling us what rooms there are isn't going help much. You need to walk through the club with a clipboard and a written list of steps, and imagine a team of 2 doing each chore. One person x 4 hours doesn't sound like enough to me. Always add for unexpected stains and requests. What about windows? Do you do carpet cleaning? Have you asked enough questions?

You could ask for a one-time job at an hourly rate to see how it goes, and to go over your list at the end. If a golf club needs a new cleaning company, maybe they weren't happy with the last one, and being clear on what they expect is what I would want as either you or as them. Good business!

(14 pounds is about 22 US dollars. I would raise it a bit, to cover various insurance premiums)