5 Pricing Mistakes That Cost Me $12,000/Year (And How to Fix Them)
I lost $12,000/year making these pricing mistakes in my cleaning business. Learn how to fix them.
The five most common pricing mistakes cleaning business owners make are: missing the hidden hour, negotiating price instead of scope, giving discounts, underpricing deep cleans, and not measuring actual costs.
These mistakes cost the average cleaning operator $12,000+ per year.
I know because I made all of them.
For years, I worked hard, delivered quality work, and still struggled with money. The problem was not my cleaning. The problem was my pricing.
I ran cleaning businesses for over 20 years. House cleaning, window cleaning, carpet cleaning.
I made every pricing mistake in this guide. Some for years before I realized what was happening.
These mistakes are invisible until someone shows you where to look. Today I am going to show you.
Mistake #1: Missing the Hidden Hour
Cost: $40,560 per year at 20 jobs per week
This was my biggest mistake.
For years, I counted only door-to-door cleaning time. I thought a two-hour clean was a two-hour job.
But here is what I was missing.
What I Did Not Count
Travel time: 15-20 minutes driving to and from each job
Loading equipment: 8-10 minutes getting supplies in and out of my vehicle
Laundry: 5-7 minutes washing microfiber cloths after each job
Admin work: 10-12 minutes for invoicing, scheduling, and payment collection
Equipment prep: 5-8 minutes refilling bottles and checking supplies
This adds up to 47 minutes per job. I was working almost an hour for free on every job.
The math shocked me when I finally saw it.
At $50 per hour cost, missing 47 minutes means losing $39 per job.
With 20 jobs per week, that equals $40,560 per year of invisible loss.
How to Fix It
Use the calculator below to see your hidden time. It shows you exactly what you are missing.
🕐 The Hidden Hour Calculator
How much time does this job REALLY take?
Time Breakdown:
That's 42% of the total job time you might forget to charge for!
Real Total Time:
= 207 minutes of actual work
💡 Lesson: A "2.0-hour cleaning job" is really a 3.4-hour commitment. If you only charge for cleaning time, you're working 87 minutes for free.
The house cleaning calculator includes all hidden hour categories automatically. You do not need to calculate them separately.
Mistake #2: Negotiating Price Instead of Scope
Cost: Varies per job, often $20-40 per negotiation
A client says your quote is too high.
Your instinct is to lower the price. Maybe take $20 off. Maybe offer 10% off.
This is wrong.
What You Should Do Instead
Reduce the scope. Not the price.
Here is how that works.
Full house quote: $220
Client says this is too high.
You say: "I can reduce the scope. Which rooms are lowest priority for you?"
Client: "The bedrooms."
You: "Okay. Removing three bedrooms from the scope brings the price to $190."
Still too high? Remove the basement. Now it is $165.
Use the calculator to figure out scope reductions. Change the square footage and bedroom count to see the new price.
Why This Works
You maintain your professional rate.
The client gets a lower price.
Everyone wins.
Always Provide Written Scope
This is critical.
If you do not have written scope, the client will later say: "Oh, I thought you were including the bedrooms."
Email the scope document. Ask the client to reply: "Please go ahead with this scope."
Email creates a digital time-stamped record. This protects you if there is confusion later.
Sample Scope Document
SCOPE OF WORK
Client: [Client Name]
Address: [Property Address]
Frequency: [Weekly/Biweekly/Monthly]
Price: $[Amount] + GST
ROOMS INCLUDED:
✓ Kitchen
✓ Living room
✓ 2 Bathrooms
✗ Bedrooms (excluded from scope)
✗ Basement (excluded from scope)
SERVICES INCLUDED:
✓ Vacuum and mop all floors
✓ General dusting
✓ Spot clean walls
✓ Feather dust baseboards
✓ Sanitize kitchen surfaces
✓ Sanitize bathrooms
✓ Wipe kitchen counters and surfaces
SERVICES NOT INCLUDED:
✗ Dishwashing
✗ Laundry
✗ Moving documents or projects
✗ Removing pictures from walls
CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Space must be tidy and surfaces accessible
- Provide access on scheduled cleaning day
PAYMENT TERMS:
- Regular cleaning: Due upon receipt of monthly invoice
- First cleaning: Due upon completion
- Lockout charge: Full price if access not provided
CANCELLATION POLICY:
- 2 days notice required to avoid charge
Please reply "Approved, proceed with this scope" to confirm.
Copy this template. Customize it for your business. Use it for every client.
Mistake #3: Giving Discounts (Any Kind)
Cost: Comes directly from your food fund, rent fund, vacation fund
I learned this lesson from my dad.
He ran a carpet cleaning company. When he was laid off, he took business classes through a program called Momentum.
They taught him something critical: When you discount, your fixed costs do not discount.
What Discounts Really Cost
Your insurance bill does not go down.
Your fuel costs do not go down.
Your car payment does not go down.
So when you give a discount, where does that money come from?
It comes from your profit. Which means it comes from your food fund, your rent fund, or your vacation fund.
Use the calculator below to see exactly what discounts cost you.
💸 Discount Impact Calculator
See exactly what that "small discount" really costs you
Your Fixed Costs (Stay the Same):
These costs don't care about your discount. You still pay them.
Without Discount
With 10% Discount
What You're Losing:
🏖️ Vacation Fund Impact
Saving 10% of profit for a $2000 vacation:
Your vacation is delayed by 0.4 months
That discount comes from YOUR vacation fund.
💡 Lesson: Insurance doesn't discount. Fuel doesn't discount. Your car payment doesn't discount. When you give a 10% discount, you're not sharing the cost with your business expenses. You're paying it from your own pocket.
Special Case: Tax Discount Requests
Sometimes a homeowner asks you to cover the taxes.
This means they want to pay $100 instead of $105 (with GST).
They want YOU to pay their 5% tax.
This is a 5-12% discount (depending on your province).
Say no immediately. This is a red flag.
Everyone pays taxes.
If a client cannot follow this basic rule, they will push other boundaries too.
They have pre-qualified themselves out of your services. Be grateful for that.
What About Loyalty Discounts?
A client says: "I have been loyal for three years. Can I get a discount?"
This is not loyalty. This is asking you to subsidize their cleaning.
A person who can afford to hire someone to clean their home wants the person who cleans (and probably cannot afford to live in the same area) to give them free work.
I would absolutely lose a client who wants a loyalty discount. They are not being loyal. They are taking advantage.
How to Show Appreciation WITHOUT Discounting
You should show appreciation for loyal clients.
But not with free work.
Branded gifts: I used sticky note notepads with my logo. People genuinely loved them. Small, useful, memorable.
Surprise gifts: A bottle of wine for a client who drinks. A gift basket for special occasions. But only if you genuinely want to, not as expectation.
Referral bonuses: Some people do these. I do not recommend promising them (sometimes referrals are terrible). Give one as a surprise instead.
My Favourite Client
I had one client I would drink coffee with every week.
An 85-year-old former drama professor. He worked all over the world. He felt like Patrick Stewart was his competitor.
We were genuinely friends. I would have cleaned for free for him.
But he never asked.
These relationships happen. They are rare and special. But they are not about discounts. They are about genuine connection.
Mistake #4: Underpricing Deep Cleans
Cost: 50% underpriced if you charge same as standard clean
For years, I charged the same for deep cleans and standard cleans.
I thought: "It is the same house. Why would it cost more?"
This was wrong.
Why Deep Cleans Cost More
Deep cleans take 1.5 times as long.
Here is what deep cleans include that standard cleans do not.
Baseboards: Getting on your knees to wipe them down properly
Window tracks: Cleaning these takes time, especially if they are dirty
Detailed work: Areas you skip in a standard clean get full attention
This is more physical work. More time. More value to the client.
How to Fix It
Use the house cleaning calculator.
In the Service Type dropdown, select "Deep Clean."
The calculator automatically applies the 1.5x time multiplier.
Always explain to the client what deep clean includes. Show them the value they are getting.
Mistake #5: Not Measuring Your Actual Costs
Cost: Impossible to price correctly if you do not know your numbers
When I started, I copied competitor prices.
I thought: "They have been doing this longer. They must know the right price."
This was wrong.
Why Copying Fails
Your costs are not their costs.
They might have different overhead. Different vehicle costs. Different insurance rates. Different travel distances.
Their price works for THEM. Not for YOU.
How to Find YOUR Number
Measure your actual costs.
Track how long jobs actually take.
Use the calculator to input YOUR numbers.
I learned about proper business finance from the Momentum program. They taught me to measure, not guess.
What If You Underpriced a Job?
Sometimes you do not come out ahead.
The job is bigger than you thought. You quoted too low.
Here is what you do.
Option 1: Renegotiate. Explain to the homeowner that the job is larger than expected. Provide an updated quote. Some clients will understand. Some will not.
Option 2: Learn from it. Complete the job. Track the actual time. Use that data to price similar jobs correctly next time.
Option 3: Let them go. If a client refuses to pay fair pricing, there are more clients out there.
Do not panic when you make a pricing mistake. Everyone does. The key is learning from it.
Stop Making These Mistakes Today
I made all five of these mistakes.
They cost me over $12,000 per year.
You do not have to make the same mistakes.
The Fix Is Simple
Use the free house cleaning calculator.
It includes the hidden hour automatically.
It handles scope reductions.
It prices deep cleans correctly.
It uses YOUR costs, not competitor prices.
Ready to Price Right?
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Calculate Your Price →Want to dive deeper into the hidden hour? Read the full breakdown: The Hidden Hour Pricing Mistake
Caleb Skinner
IICRC journeyman-trained with 20+ years in the cleaning industry. Built PriceThisJob to help operators price confidently and build sustainable businesses.