I have recently bid two jobs and have not had a response back on either one. Obviously, I am over bidding and need some input.
The first job was a large dentist office with about 100 windows to do both inside and out. Some windows were very dirty and hard to reach. Needed a ladder for those plus a pole. The inside of this office had some dental equipment that needed to be covered when I washed the inside windows. I estimated the job would take about 36 hours to complete and I bid it at $691 plus I threw in a free mid winter cleaning for the immediate waiting room area. Never heard from them.
The second job is a large commercial building with 200 windows. They only want me to clean the outside of these. It is the largest building in this small Wyoming town in which I live and has the most windows of any building also. It is a 3 story building with windows reaching about 40 feet above the ground plus windows on the top of the roof which can be reached by walking around the flat roof. I will need a boom lift to get the 2nd and 3rd story windows. The windows are 2x6 feet and 4x6 feet on average. There is also 3 very large windows in the lobby of this building. Each window is about 2 1/2 feet by about 22 feet tall. I will have to use a ladder and extension pole on these. I estimate the entire job to take about 40 to 50 hours. I bid the labor part of the job at $990 plus the rental of the boom lift which is $265 and $45 for delivery and pickup of the lift. The total bid came to $1300. Once again, I have not heard from them.
Right now I'm only charging $20 an hour for labor because people around here are not willing to pay much more than that. I spent considerable time on both these jobs trying to put together a fair estimate for the customer and for me also. People want you to do their windows but they don't want to pay squat to have them done. I guess they expect you to do them for nothing. Anyway, I would appreciate your thoughts, comments or suggestions on these two bids. Am I over bidding these jobs???
The first job was a large dentist office with about 100 windows to do both inside and out. Some windows were very dirty and hard to reach. Needed a ladder for those plus a pole. The inside of this office had some dental equipment that needed to be covered when I washed the inside windows. I estimated the job would take about 36 hours to complete and I bid it at $691 plus I threw in a free mid winter cleaning for the immediate waiting room area. Never heard from them.
The second job is a large commercial building with 200 windows. They only want me to clean the outside of these. It is the largest building in this small Wyoming town in which I live and has the most windows of any building also. It is a 3 story building with windows reaching about 40 feet above the ground plus windows on the top of the roof which can be reached by walking around the flat roof. I will need a boom lift to get the 2nd and 3rd story windows. The windows are 2x6 feet and 4x6 feet on average. There is also 3 very large windows in the lobby of this building. Each window is about 2 1/2 feet by about 22 feet tall. I will have to use a ladder and extension pole on these. I estimate the entire job to take about 40 to 50 hours. I bid the labor part of the job at $990 plus the rental of the boom lift which is $265 and $45 for delivery and pickup of the lift. The total bid came to $1300. Once again, I have not heard from them.
Right now I'm only charging $20 an hour for labor because people around here are not willing to pay much more than that. I spent considerable time on both these jobs trying to put together a fair estimate for the customer and for me also. People want you to do their windows but they don't want to pay squat to have them done. I guess they expect you to do them for nothing. Anyway, I would appreciate your thoughts, comments or suggestions on these two bids. Am I over bidding these jobs???