Why Does the Average Standard Clean Start at $200?
If I had a nickel for every time we heard that our cleaner moved away, retired, or the company is no longer providing services, or the quality just dropped, and they started forgetting to clean items or, even worse, things started to go missing at my house, I'd be rich.
Understanding the Costs
Let's face it, running a cleaning company is expensive. The average consumer, who is just starting to understand the cost of a standard one-time clean and has only dealt with independent cleaners, will find $200 to be expensive. But let's start breaking down the actual cost.
Licensing and Registration
Before starting this company, we did a 3-month research on cleaning companies in our area and even ordered a couple for our homes. To be licensed in the State of Florida, you need an LLC and need to keep your business registered on Sunbiz. Then, you're going to need to get a bond, which is another yearly expense. You're also going to have to get a registered agent because your phone will never stop ringing. You will get harassed constantly by marketing companies trying to sell you marketing services, claiming they work for Google, from hundreds of numbers, and there's no way of stopping it. So, you're also going to have to get multiple numbers so you're not constantly being harassed. And that's not counting the fake golf courses, fake communities, and fake sponsorships that will call you to put you up on a fake billboard for a price. When you hang up and tell them you want to do research, the actual companies have never even heard of them.
Cost of Skilled Cleaners
A dedicated skilled cleaner could cost you about $30 an hour for three hours, which is already $90.
Client Acquisition Costs
If you're unfamiliar with how cleaning companies acquire clients, we have to bid on them. That can range from Thumbtack to Yelp to Angie's List, Facebook, and Google. Google, being one of the better ones, charges a fee of about $50. Now, that's $50 regardless of whether the cleaning is booked. So if you take $90 + $50, you're already looking at $140 in expenses without making any money for the company.
Background Checks
You might have to run over 10 background checks before finding someone willing to work and over 100 background checks before finding a good, consistent cleaner. Each of these background checks can cost around $30.
Additional Costs
Lastly, we're still talking about paying for mileage, bonus incentives if it's heavier cleaning items, and more, which further reduces profits, especially if you have to give the client a 10% discount. So after it's all said and done, on a one-time standard cleaning, there really isn't that much money left.
The Real Cost
So keep in mind the next time you're speaking to a cleaning company, if the price is super low, now you know that somewhere, somehow, corners are being cut. That could be in quality, performance, or somewhere else. The company might even be new, but these numbers are solid, so consider the likelihood of how they can survive.
They came over to clean the property for $200 and a generous tip. You could say we had no idea what we paid for. A lot of times we hear that for X amount, people would rather just clean it themselves.
