Last week I was called by a local Days Inn inquiring about carpet cleaning. They have 55 units that they want cleaned. They will only pay $5.50 per unit.

Initially, I turned down the job thinking that I couldn't make a decent hourly rate ($50+ an hour) at $5.50 per. Then I rethought the situation and came to the conclusion that it was possible to make $50+ an hour if all the units were prevacuumed with chairs up on beds so I could get the Cimex in and out of these 15'x20' rooms in about 4 minutes or less a piece.

If everything goes well (I expect it to), I am planning on using this as a springboard for cleaning other Days Inns, Holiday Inns, etc. I have a "stand by" employee who is just waiting for me to get more commercial work so he can start Cimexing everything for me. This may be a viable market after all.

The job is tommorrow. We'll just see how it goes....

Mark

hiyas Mark

keep us posted please, sounds like it could really work out.

thanx --- Derek.

wow that sounds even cheap for a motel. was doing 1br appts for $50, would think a motel room aught to be worth 10-$15. But like you said, its $/hr that count if ya can do it.

Brian

First, the Bad News:

It took me 6.5 Hours to clean 49 rooms, so I averaged only $41.00 an hour. It took me aprox. 8 minutes cleaning time per room.

Now for the Good News:

The hotel owner was so impressed that he wants me to come back and clean the whole thing every 60 days and he has 5 more Days Inns for me to clean as well!

Also, I know I can cut an hour (mabey more) off this time if I just plan better and prespray with Encap-Traffic next time.

I think I am going to go after this market although I will try to negotiate a higher per room price with other hotel chains.

The future is looking profitable.

Volume. OK, with this kinda job, ya got volume. Now ya gotta get speed.

They vacuum and lift chairs etc, then put them down is good. For more speed, how about a helper applying the solution at least 1 room ahead of the Cimex. One room beforehand won't dry out, appreciably anyway.

If you can shave a minute or two off each room, that would be more $ per hour. But ya gotta pay the helper.

OK, how about a second helper, and a second Cimex?

MMMMM.... a third helper and a third Cimex?

Gary

At that price per room it sounds good compared to some of the talk on the other BB about hotel/motel rooms. The going rate seemed to be $1.00 per room. I was always concerned when attending a seminar, they would always talk about price and why you need to charge more money. The more money a person can make is always good, but I always ask, if the machine is sitting at home everyday because I can't get any work, what good is that? I always felt it is good to have some accounts that pay the bills. If you have a tech, you may need to keep him working, he needs the money also.

Steve Frasier
Drew and Steve's Floor Care
www.drewandsteve.net

Wow, I am still in shock that ya'll would even consider working for $41.00 an hour. We get a minimum of $200.00 an hour. Of course I do not clean any hotel/motels because they do not pay well. I have one suite hotel that wants me to clean for $75.00 a room. I would have to more all the furniture, clean all the furniture, and clean the carpet. The rooms are all suites and so there is two 300 square foot rooms in most suites and some have three rooms. Most are Kitchen and living room and then a bedroom. Some have two bedrooms. I figure it would take two men over an hour on each suite. Anyway this guy can not find anyone to do it for him. So more power to you if you can make money at $41.00 an hour.

Kevin Pearson

Yeah, the money went straight into the bank! BTW, the owner paid me cash when I was done. Cash is always cool.

I just bought an All Purpose Matador floor machine on Ebay for peanuts, so now I need to order a case of the large fiber plus pads. Now me and my tech can start at either end of the hotel and cut the cleaning time in half.

I just know if I approach this market with my thinking cap on I can turn it into a super money maker. Time will tell.

Here's a pic of my APM:

good for you Kevin

but nothing wrong with making UNDER $200 per hour is there?? i hope not, no doubt only about 99.99% of CC'ers do make that EVERY hour. so more power to you, but please, no discouragement

thanx --- Derek.

anytime I can clear $50/hr aint too bad. I stopped and did a quick 15 minute encap job, got $50. seemed cheap, but then if I was workin for minumum wage that would have been an 8 hour day. I shoot for $100/hr on floor work, but usually average 70-$80 clear.

Brian

I did not mean to be discouraging, just want you to think bigger. No need to work for peanuts when you can stay busy doing $200.00 / per hour jobs. I have three trucks and do this everyday. I could not pay the rent at hotel/motel rates. Think bigger. It can be done.

Kevin Pearson

it can be done, but not by everybody...not even close. if everyone here waited til we got the $200/hour jobs, there'd only be you and Rick left here on this date in 2005.

different locales make for diff circumstances. if it has worked for you then thats great, but not possible for the majority of us. oh on the OCCASIONAL job, sure, but not day in - day out. i think what i said speaks for everyone here, anyone who runs in the $200/hour crowd, please lemme know.

with all due respect and no offense intended --- Derek.

Derek,

It probably sounded rude the way I wrote it. I did not mean it that way. I wanted to let you know though that we have only been in business three years and started out with only one truck. I could not have done this by cleaning hotels/motels. I did however, work in the industry for 9 years before I went out on my own. I knew what kind of clients I wanted and went after them. I was not trying to be rude, just wanted you to think about it differently. You are always on here looking for ideas and I wanted to help you out. Hope this helps.

Kevin

no worries Kevin

i just didnt want anyone to feel bad for making a little (or a lot) less is all. making more $$$ is something to strive for certainly.

best regards and thanx for the ideas bud.

sincerely --- Derek.