Pricing and quoting — what to charge and how
Lesson 3 of 5 in Starting Your Own Cleaning Business · 22 minutes
Pricing is the hardest part of starting a cleaning business. Charge too little and you starve. Charge too much and you have no clients. This lesson teaches the math and the conversation patterns.
What you'll learn
- Calculate your minimum hourly rate based on costs
- Choose between hourly and flat-fee pricing
- Quote a residential cleaning correctly
- Handle the price negotiation conversation
From the lesson
Pricing is where new cleaners most often go wrong. They charge what they earned as employees ($20/hour) and then wonder why they can't pay bills. The truth is: as a self-employed cleaner, your hourly rate has to cover not just your time but all the unbilled hours, expenses, taxes, insurance, and risk. This lesson is the math and the language.
1. The minimum-rate calculation
To find your minimum hourly billing rate, work backwards from what you need to earn:
Step 1 — Decide your annual income target (after taxes). Example: $40,000.
Step 2 — Add taxes (~30% for income tax + CPP). $40,000 / 0.70 ≈ $57,000 pre-tax target.
Step 3 — Add business expenses. • Insurance: $600/year • Equipment…