Five cost factors to consider in a carpet cleaning estimate
The process of tendering for carpet cleaning in Brooklyn involves many steps. From the walk-through to the proposal to the job itself, there are many opportunities to overlook certain cost factors that could affect your profit margin.
This article will explain five important things you should include in your next carpet cleaning estimate. If you're ready to make more money and have a better understanding of your business, let's start with cost factor one.
- Square Feet
Carpet cleaning jobs are almost always priced by the square foot. The average price for carpet cleaning services ranges from $0.18-$0.36. The difference in price can be attributed to the style of carpet, the condition of the carpet, and the difficulty required to clean it. Use your walk-through records to find the square footage of the space you want to clean.
- Productivity
Simply put, your productivity is how long it takes you to clean a certain number of spaces in an hour. You can work out your own productivity by routinely timing yourself on different jobs, or by looking at a chart of national averages. Between 600 and 1,400 square feet per hour is the standard for carpet cleaning productivity. If you know the average size of the space you are bidding on, this can give you a good idea of your production rate in advance.
If you are a Route user, you can plug your productivity and total square footage into the program's bid calculator to come up with an accurate base price to charge your client.
- Time and materials
Always remember that you can charge your potential client for the supplies you use on the job, or you can add a mark-up.
Also consider the time it will take you to get to the job site. If there is travel involved, factor this into your costs.
The other two main material costs you will incur are the cost of machinery hire, if you don't have your own equipment, and the cost of cleaning agents, which are all priced differently.
To make it easy to calculate your mark-up, use the tools in Route's estimating program. There are drop-down menus of hundreds of different supplies for different jobs. Pick the ones that apply to you and then select the mark-up percentage in a separate menu. 8% mark-up is the industry standard. The rest will be calculated for you to maximize profit margins.
- Special considerations
While equipment, cleaning agents and travel are the three main factors involved in external costs, there are also internal factors to consider in the space where you clean your carpets that may affect your price. This list includes.
- Removing stains
- Removing pet odors
- Stairs, architraves and walls
- Seam repairs
- Set up and put away times
All of these additional factors can be taken into account when you create your estimate in Route. Trying to calculate individual costs by hand can become lengthy and confusing, but using an automated program leaves little room for error.
- Labour
The final important cost factor to consider is the cost of labour. The good news is that you should already know how much you are paying your staff per hour. If you have worked out your previous productivity, you should be able to work out how many employees you need and approximately how long they will take to complete the job.
Another great feature about the estimation builder in Route is that you can break down your labour costs by the different roles in your team. Some employees may have different salary levels. This feature allows you to incorporate multiple wage rates into one job.
Summing up
Assessing your carpet cleaning costs can be tedious, but the more you do, the more profitable you'll end up being.
Start by evaluating the square footage and calculating your production rate. Check this against national statistics to see if you are above or below average.
Remember to charge your customers for your supplies and travel time. You can add your own mark-up to ensure your profit margin.
Include special considerations in your estimate, such as heavily soiled carpets or stain removal. This may also affect the cost of your supply.
Evaluate your workforce based on your productivity and determine how many employees you will need to complete the job. Use a calculator like Route's estimating tool to ensure the most accurate estimate.
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