I am tracking my cimex through fedex. I have never used a cimex, but I was just offered a large commercial account. I have hooked up with a janitorial co. that only uses a portable.. My question is "what do you charge for commercial jobs? The job I was offered 15 sites 2x per yr. some require travel 2+ hours. avg 10,000-15,000 sq ft. I get 80% of the profit at .05 sq ft. I currently charge 23 to 33 sq ft with my truckmount for residental customers? I need some advice...

Ralph,
I did a womens clothing store of about 10000 sq. ft. and the MMM company wanted me to do it for .04 per ft.so I cimexed it and it took 3 hours 15 minutes to do and the job was 1 hour away. I still made $100 per hour on the cleaning and $50 per hour for my drive time. No way I would truckmount it for under .12 per sq ft though. Id say try to get .05 for yourself if traveling 2 hours away. At least you can try it once to see if it works.
BC

Soon we will all be working for nothing. Just because we can clean faster and better with the cimex, why charge less then with a truckmount.

Ralph, looks like you got a decent size job 360,000 sf per year X's .05,, $18,000 per year,, minus chems, gas, micsc., still not bad.. Is there any funiture you have to move? Are there any major stains that can eat up chems, slow you down and lower your profit?? Also is there any possible up sells like upholstery cleaning, duct cleaning,Etc,,. Are you gonna have help or push the mex yourself?? Is .05sf your net cut, or must you subtract 20% from that?? I only do comm myself, we run toyota tacoma's that get great gas milelage, and will travel up to 100 miles one way, but with a trip charge(round trip) added to the bill. I would inspect the site for those issues before commiting. I learned REAL FAST you can be busy and broke at the same time.

The job is a shoe outlet, no furniture to move. There are no up sales. The .05 cents is mine the Janitorial co. gets the rest. I told him I need more information before I can commit. The stores are across all 6 New England states. I may need to pick and choose the jobs. What do you guys charge for cimex jobs? I have done several commercial jobs with my truck mount and I wasn't thrilled with the results,plus moving around those hoses and prespraying everything really took it toll on me. The customer was pleased with the outcome, But I know what a quality job looks like, plus my dri master was bouncing all over the place on the gluedown carpet.

If you can clean at an average rate of 1500 sf/hour, then an extra hour of driving is 3000 sf equivalent.

Price it in that way so going from Wilbraham to Swampscott won't bother you so much. If you do it right, your local stores will be at a lower rate and the stuff further away will be more expensive.

wow Bill, you're fast! you must run with that Cimex lol.

it would take me more than twice as long to do 10k sq.ft.

did you prevac Bill?

Ralph, if YOU have to pre-vac (and you probably will) then that can take nearly as long as the Cimex time...depends how filthy it is and how fussy a vacuumer you are (is that a word?)

i would pass, but i'm not a risk taker. i guess it depends on how much you need the work & money.

nothing like regretting it later on...5 cents is....cheap. someone above said you'd be cleaning 360,000 sq.ft a year and only making $18,000 on it...

i'd think on it, don't rush into it.

take care --- Derek.

I do the same type of work for one of those companies $.05 psf. You can do quite well wilth the Cimex as stated above. I agree with the trip charge. I limit my distance to about 40 miles for this kind of work unless the job pays real well. I find that after a full day, driving two hours and cleaning a carpet, the drive back can be dangerous (snooze). So I limit myself. With a shoe store, you're going to spend additional time spraying and brushing edges which usually collect dust. That will take additional time. Also, shoe stores are notorious for gum to be removed which will slow you down considerably. I would take another person to do the gum, edges and run an additional swing machine from the opposite end of the store. What you pay per hour will more than make up for in the time saved. Finally, MAKE THE STORE PERSONNEL PRE-VAC. aT $.05 psf you shouldn'g have to do it.

yes i would only consider if they could pre-vac, but they wont do too good a job, you'll still have to edge-vac and pick up stuff no doubt.

thanx --- Derek.