Should You Do Laundry for Your Customers?

Many residential cleaning businesses are asked to do the laundry. Some companies do it and others don't. You should consider whether or not this is a service you'd like to provide. What are some of the things you should consider?

• Do you want the responsibility of caring for someone else's laundry and taking the chance that you accidentally ruin a piece of clothing because it was supposed to be dry cleaned or washed by hand?

• If you have several loads to do, it could possibly take more time than it takes to actually clean the house. So you'll need to consider how much extra time this could take and if it will disrupt your schedule.

• Does your customer expect you to sort the laundry, empty out pockets, watch for stains and pre-treat them? If so, this will add to your time.

• Does your customer expect you to remove the laundry from the dryer, fold and separate it? Or can you just put it in the dryer and forget about it?

"...in addition, we found that one load of laundry was ruined because a writing pen was left in the washer with the clothing. Our clothing was not placed in the correct closets (you mixed men's and women's clothes), the clothing was not properly placed on the hangers and falling off of several, and the majority of the clothes weren't even put away."

Makes you want to think twice about offering laundry services, doesn't it?

If you decide you do want to offer the service, how do you know how much to charge? There are two ways:

1. By the hour. Estimate the time per load and charge your normal hourly rate. Or, estimate how much extra time you'll be spending at the home and add that price into your regular charge.

2. By the pound. I've seen prices that range from $.98 per pound to $1.50 per pound. Some business owners use a laundry service or drop off and pick up from a laundromat that does laundry. In this case you need to bump up the price you're being charged to make sure you are covered for your time and expense.

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Steve Hanson has been a building service contractor for more than 20 years and now uses his knowledge to help owners of residential cleaning companies build a more profitable and successful cleaning business at MyHouseCleaningBiz.com. Read inspirational cleaning success stories at href="http://www.cleaning-success.com/">http://www.cleaning-

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