The Price is the Price

I know running a small business is hard. My wife has had a cleaning business for almost 4 years (I help her with the admin stuff, I have a full time job). We have been fairly lucky with it and she takes home 80-100k a year after all expenses. We have 4 employees who work for us. I guess its because of the economy, but we have had a recent influx of potential clients who want to negotiate the price. Its a really good feeling to just stand your ground. DO NOT RACE TO THE BOTTOM. Do your research and price fairly.

We had a customer today inquired about our services. We gave them our price quote. They asked how much we bill per hour. We told them we bill per job, not per hour. $200 for a deep clean of a kitchen and 3 bathrooms, then $150 per week to maintain it. They tried to tell us the going rate was $50/hour. Ok that's nice, but our price is our price (I said it much nicer). They then responded and said that they didn't think it would take 4 hours to clean the kitchen and bathroom. Gotcha, well if you would like us to come out, let us know. If you can find someone for $50/hour, please hire them. My wife gets several calls a week for new buisness based off reccommendations.

We had another customer that tried to get a deep clean for a light clean price by asking my wife to keep doing more and more extra. We cut them off as well. They tried to tell us how much their last cleaner charged. My initial thought was why aren't they your cleaner anymore?

I suspect it is partly because my wife is hispanic and they may think that her labor is cheap. I am so happy she knows her worth and quickly puts her foot down. For other small business owners, don't feel bad about turning down cheap clients, they will most likely be a headache and not worth it in the end. Don't go for the carrot they may dangle in front of you. There isn't one. Do good work, be professional and the business will come. Thanks to many in this sub I gather tons of useful nuggests all the time and just wanted to offer my own encouragement to others on this journey.