Your price should be a mixture of what the market will bear, and what you need to make to stay in business. I leave the part of what the competitor is charging out of my equation.
For instance, I cleaned a house the other day for double the price of an estimate she received from another window cleaner. She was happy to pay me, because she knew what kind of work I do, and that I would be there the next time when she needs me. If I based prices on what competitors are charging, I’d be leaving a lot of money on the table.
Finding what the market will bear is a little different, and it changes from town to town and from neighborhood to neighboorhood.
Since you are first starting out, it may be best for you to figure your prices by figuring by the hour. Most shoot for anywhere from 75.00 to 125.00 an hour. Don’t tell the customer that, but you keep that number in the back of your head. If you figure a job will take you about an hour, you should charge x.xx to cover yourself.
Another interesting thing you could do is once you do a few jobs, count how many windows or panes each place has, and compare it with the price you’re charging. Divide those two numbers and you can work out a price per pane, so in the future you can count panes, multiply it by your per pane count, and come out with a price. This is how I charge for windows. After a while though, you’ll be able to pretty much look at a building and a number will pop into your head.
You’ll prosper in the business by hard work. It’s not easy. Pass cards out to everyone, do quality work, and learn how to market the business. I think my business got a lot easier after the 3rd year… but it’s still not to the point where I want it to be.
You’re name, Store Front Window Cleaning, is good if you choose to stay with store fronts. But you’ll probably soon realize there’s a lot more windows to clean then just store fronts. I hate for your name to limit you to only a certain percentage of work available to you.
Last but not least, use the search feature in this forum to learn about Fabricating Debris. Every window cleaner should know about that backwards and forwards.
Micah has offered a wealth of advice here. I just wanted to say that when I saw your name “Storefront Window Cleaning” I immediately had the same thoughts as Micah.
Along the way you will more than likely be enticed into other areas of window cleaning that are actually much more lucrative than typical storefront and as time goes by and your name will not fit your business.
Also, it’s hard right now in this economy to build a strictly storefront business. Those clients are the ones that are being forced to cut back or drop window cleaning altogether because their business is slow.
But the residential and high end commercial window cleaning is still going strong, at least in my kneck of the woods and from what I hear on the boards for other window cleaners too.
Change that name. Later on you’ll you’ll be glad you did.
I also second what Micah says about your business name.
If I could go back, I would have put more thought into my business name. Most people think I only do power washing even though my core service is w.c.
Think about where you want your company to be in a few years, not just where you’re at when you start. Do some research, research, and some more research…
