Starting your own business is meant for you to earn an income and possibly a source of living. At the beginning of your business, you as the owner, and you alone would be responsible for doing most of the work like marketing, cleaning, buying supplies, and even the bookwork. As your company grows and you hire employees and add more clients, your expenses grow too. In the beginning of your business you have probably misquoted your expenses thinking that it could not grow this fast. So now that your expenses are growing and you've discovered you under-priced your services, what do you do?

Before you raise your prices to your cleaning customers go back and take a look at your original contract. Does your contact state the original bid price will be good for a certain length of time? If it does you will not be able to raise your price until that time frame has expired. If not, how long have you been cleaning for that client? Even if you originally under-priced your services you may not want to increase your price if you have only been cleaning for the client for a short time. Most cleaning companies wait at least a year before increasing prices. If you don't have anything written in your cleaning contract about price increases, you should start adding a clause about it with your next client.

Before figuring out a new price go back through your original bid and make sure that you have everything covered so you are making a profit. If your supply costs have gone up dramatically or if you have added expenses (workers comp or more insurance because of hiring employees), make sure the price increase will cover the extra expenses.

Another factor to consider before raising prices is your customer's current satisfaction level. Are they happy with the job your cleaning company is doing? Most people understand price increases and will stick with your cleaning company as long as they are happy with the job you are doing. After all, looking for a new cleaning company takes time and your customer may not get a better price or the quality of work they want from someone new.

But don't be afraid to raise the price on a customer who is constant complainer, especially if their complaints are not justified. You may need to raise your price to cover the extra time you spend in their office (or home).

Once you have all your facts and the new price you need to charge, send a letter to your customer. Let them know that you are raising your prices, why you are raising your prices, and the benefits to them to continue using your cleaning company. Make sure you inform your customer at least 30 days in advance that the price will be going up. Keep in mind that large corporations and government agencies may need more time if they have to run the price increase through a committee or get approval by a board.

Increasing the prices of your services isn’t bad for as long as you also increase and improve the quality of your service. The success of your business greatly depends on your customers and clients therefore it is necessary for you to treat them well and with importance. Good customers will understand a price increase and be happy to continue using your services. And don't be surprised if a customer that leaves because of a price increase soon comes back!

For more: How to start a cleaning service