Jan Bid
Recently Gary told me about his software which he has tenatively named, Jan Bid but I was skeptical. The two big problems with the bidding software that I've dealt with are: One, they're too complicated to use easily. And two, they seem to require that the user has a professional's ability to assess the difficulty of cleaning a particular account.
Well, even if software is a little clunky to use you can get used to that. But the other problem seemed
insurmountable. If you don't yet have the experience to professionally asses a job, what good is a software package that demands it of you? That's where Gary's approach makes the difference, it allows you to bid an account properly while you're still learning the ropes in the cleaning field.
Even though Gary's Jan Bid software addressed both these concerns I was still uncertain. One of the things that convinced me was the following email I received.
Nellie's Email
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.... I recently ordered your cleaning business
manual and I think it is wonderful. I have been in
business for 2 and 1/2 years and am just beginning to
bid on commercial accounts. | |
I just bid on one but did not get it and I think I
might be bidding too high. I did ask what the other
company bid but the manager said he prefered not to
disclose that.... but it was a huge
difference????.... | |
What I would like to do is give you the information on
the office building and please tell me what you would
have honestly bid on it.... Here goes: | |
The build is approximately 20,000 SF with 2 floors.
It is mostly carpeted with about 53 offices in it. In
addition to the offices there are a few meeting rooms,
a very large front entrance way with ceramic tile,
lots of hallways, 2 large breakrooms ( vinyl tile) and
mens and womens bathrooms up and down (vinyl tile)
with 3 stalls in each one. In addition to basic
vacuum/dusting, the stairs (one set on each side of
the building) had to vacuumed, glass doors and windows
in the front entrance had to be cleaned as well as the
glass doors between the offices. In the breakroom, in
addition to the basic cleaning the microwave and the
fridge had to be cleaned out on the inside. We
included strip and wax the tile floors twice a year
(the building is about 90% carpet). | |
This was to be done Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
weekly.... | |
I just want to know how far off I really was.... I will tell you
how much I bid once I see what how you would have bid..... |
Thank you so much for any information you can give me.
Sincerely,
Nellie G. |
(The ellipsis in the note indicate places where I removed text)
I sent this email off to Gary asking him to run it through his software to see what kind of bid he could come up with and here's the note he sent me.
Gary's Estimate - Using
Jan Bid
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Hi James,
I took the time to enter into our software the building info. for Nellie
regarding her bid. As you know the software has numerous fields that can be
adjusted or customized. With incomplete info. I made the following
assumptions:
- 14,400 sq. ft carpet
- 1,500 sq. ft tile in break rooms
- 500 sq ft ceramic in entrance
- 600 sq. ft tile in rest rooms
- 4 sinks, 1 urinal, 4 mirrors, 6 commodes and 12 partitions
The 7 cleaning variables I rated as follows
Size of building - large 18 points offset
Density of occupants medium 3
Building use medium 3
Cleaning frequency 3 times – 3
Ease of floor cleaning 6
Access 2
Condition of building 2
Total offset score 37
Entering a .63 difficulty factor (100-37) produced a cleaning time of 6.16
hours a night for the offices and break rooms and .816 hours a night for
rest rooms.
At $11 an hour ($8 an hour plus payroll taxes and workers comp.) the monthly
labor cost would be $1044.75
If a contractor’s overhead was 15%, plus 3% for chemical and equipment then
total costs would be $1232. If a 35% profit is desired then you would
divide $1232 by 65% = $1895 a month (just a little under 9 ˝ cents a square
foot. On the high end would be a 45% profit margin which would bring the
bid to $2240 (11 cents a sq. ft).
To that add floor waxing (probably @ .30), carpet cleaning (@.12), window
washing ($4 ea,) and any paper goods ($2 a head).
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As I mentioned, without our Building Survey Data sheet for the building, I
had to guess on the rest room fixtures and the amount of break room tile,
plus the rating for the 7 Difficulty Factors.
All of these factors are on our survey form so when a contractor walks the
building they can fill in the blanks. My guess if the building went for
under $1800 a month, it was underbid and the contractor will need to
shortchange the customer, which won't last for long.
| |
Hope this info is helpful.
Gary Clipperton
National Pro Clean
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Nellie's Estimate
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James! .... Thank you for all that
trouble! That is awesome. I needed to know if I was
way off, but guess what, my bid was $1820 per month,
which included hard floor maintenance on a regular
schedule.
I was very close to lowering my bid, I am glad I did
not....
You have no idea how much your ebook and all the
information you have given me has helped. I owe you!
I just can't say enough!
Nellie
P.S. (When I bid this job most of the information and
forms I used came from your book, thanks again)
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I Was Impressed
Despite limited information which forced Gary to make a number of assumptions about Nellie's
account his Jan Bid software really came through.
Even better, the
Jan Bid software package comes with
a Building Survery Data sheet -- which prompts the users to determine all the necessary information for bidding the
account, such as: total square footage, floor types, number of fixtures in the restrooms, and the 7 cleaning variances Gary uses to make the estimate so accurate.
Jan Bid is coming out soon, I hope you'll keep an eye out for it.
-- See you next time.
~~~~~
And don't forget to read my current online article:
Online Article 48
See you next time, until then, Keep It Clean!
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