First let me start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Hard to believe it is 2012 already. It has been a while since our last blog, hopefully we can be more consistent this year.
2011 was a year of growth and learning for us. Having just opened our doors, we spent most of the year establishing our own level of work and our reputation. Learning all aspects of a new business from the ground up. From website design (a HUGE work in progress :) ) to create our policies,procedures,running specials, advertising that works and advertising that does not. There is much still to learn but we have a good solid foundation now to work with. A huge debt of gratitude to everyone that took a chance with a new cleaning company with a slightly different way of doing things. It has been from your word of mouth of the work we do that we continue to build a reputation of excellent customer service and solid,detailed work.
There are many , many different subjects we would like to talk about over time. The hope is that there will be interaction with many from our customers, friends and any one who would like to comment.
What I would most like to talk about is pricing. Money is a subject always on everyone's mind. It comes up a lot in my field as I am always been asked about cost of cleaning.
I live in a town of between 60,000 to 70,000 people roughly. Depending on the day of the week and who you are talking with ;) When it comes to choice that people here have for someone to clean there homes it is varied. There are a few companies such as myself, a few who have formed a company but are the only ones working for it and many people who just need extra money and post a shingle on their door saying they are available to clean. Those last ones we in the industry like to refer to as trunk slammers. Here one day gone the next.
When I started Fine Details Cleaning my goal was to offer a quality cleaning, customized to each customer's needs, with products that are eco friendly. Safe for customer's homes and their kids and pets. Pricing has been kept roughly in the middle of the road area, slightly higher but not the highest. All the time I am asked why is our price so much higher then so and so who says they can do the same job for half of what I am asking. There are many different aspects that factor into pricing.
The size of the home, number of people/pets, activity level and the surfaces in the home. As a business we also have insurance if needed for broken or stolen items. (Hoping to never deal with that). Then there is the cost of the cleaning products and the tools we use. Advertising , driving to and from each customer's home. Oh and don't forget the wage of my workers who are paid a decent wage for the work they do. As well as there is training they take regularly to keep up to date on new methods of cleaning, products and/or safety. There is also the assurance that in hiring our company to clean, there will always be someone available to clean if your personal cleaner is sick or away.
Add to all of this the work is physically hard and I pay a decent wage to those who do work for Fine Details Cleaning. For myself I spend HOURS, networking with many in my industry, learning more or about the newest techiques for cleaning out there. Learning about different surfaces in homes and how they need to be cared for. Just in wood flooring you have differences within engineered wood floors and wood floors that are put down in the home and finished in house. All of this I learn then teach this to my workers.
At the end of the day the old adage of "You get what you pay for" is very true in this field. Yes, you may luck out and find an independent cleaner that works very well for a ridiculously low wage. But the chances are better you will have someone who will clean great for a little bit then either the level of work will start to slide, or as I have heard time and time again, one day they just disappeared never to be heard from again.
We all need to make a decent living, we all want quality for the hard earned money we spend. Something that I do hope people will learn to think about the next time they question the cost of pricing for having their homes cleaned.
Kat <3
