Regardless of what company you hire to clean your building, you need to know WHO they give the keys to. That is to say, who are they paying to do the work.

Bear in mind, that the smooth talking salesperson will NOT be cleaning your building. You hired them to find the best possible person to do the work. But, how do you know that the person they choose is ‘the best’, and not simply the ‘most available’?

Below are some of my Pro’s and Con’s regarding the three legal groups of janitors that may be in your building. (Illegal immigrants are not listed, because a wise business owner would never allow them into their facility.)

The first group is the most common one. It is called the Employee Group. This group has an established Employee-Employer relationship with the company you hired to service your facility. The Pro’s of this group are quite limited. Outside of the legal protection that you receive against their injury or legal claims, there is little advantage to hiring them. Typically, the Employee Group is the lowest paid group of the three. They also have the highest turnover and the highest occurrence of theft and damage of property.

The second group is the Sub-Contractor Group. This group is often times another janitorial company, which has a standing contract with the company that you hired. They are called upon to service your account, in the name of the other company. The only reason a company would become a ‘Sub’ is to keep their employees busy. Sub-Contractors are used by large national companies to service areas in which they are not established. If you have several locations, you might hire one company, which would in turn ’sub-out’ several various locations to other smaller companies. This large company has made itself a broker or middleman between you and the actual company doing the work, thus earning them a nice commission. Expect to pay more to the ‘middleman’ for finding and paying the Sub-Contractors that clean your building.

The final group is the most successful group, that being the Franchisee model. Many companies like McDonald’s, Subway and others have grown their businesses by using this model. Large national companies like Jani-King and Coverall, as well as regional companies like Alliance Maintenance, have done the same in the janitorial industry. The Franchise Model establishes a legal relationship between the Franchisor (the company) and the Franchisee (the worker), thus offering you the same protect the company has in place. Furthermore, the Franchisee is compensated on a larger percentage of what you pay the Franchisor, since they are part owner of the company. Most importantly, the Franchisee is paid on the production of the account, and not by the hour. This means that they take a higher sense of pride in their work. In addition, the Franchisee typical stays in an account much longer than a Sub-Contractor or Employee does. Again, this is due to the higher rate of compensation they receive, and their status as ‘owner’.

Given a choice, the Franchisee model is the best route to go for security, affordability and long-term cleaning success.

D. Brownlee

http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com

D. Brownlee currently works as a Territorial Area Developer for a large janitorial company. He manages in excess of $1.5 million dollars of volume, overseeing hundreds of janitors. For more information on his company, you may contact him at http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com

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When it comes to the discussion of money, rarely will you find a common ground between the employer and the employee. And, this is true even in the janitorial industry.

Since labor is the largest single expense a business owner must face, employers strive to pay as little as possible. Basically, just enough to keep from quitting.

On the other hand, employees want the highest pay possible. After all, they have to pay their rent, utilities, and other bills from what the employers pay them. And in return, they contribute just enough labor so as not to get fired.

So, how do you bring together the ‘payer’ and the ‘payee’.

It’s commonly accepted that the higher an employees wages, the more productive they will be. Conversely, the lower their pay, the less productive they will be. This is not always the cause, but more times than not, it stands true.

In every industry, not just the service industry, the closer an employee’s wage is to the minimum wage, the less likely that person will be an asset to your business. However, the higher the wage you pay your employee’s, the less likely you are to pick up certain accounts. After all, people tend to give favor to the lowest bidder, not the highest.

So, how do you balance the needs of the employee with the needs of the business owner? How do you pay a fair wage, and in return expect a fair day’s work?

Since 1989, I have successfully used a rule for calculating a fair wage for my personal. I call this rule, The “7-Eleven’ Rule.”

Go to your local major convenience store (7-Eleven, Circle K, etc.) and ask the manager what’s the starting wage for new employee’s. Write this figure down.

Crime statistics state that one of the most dangerous jobs today is working at a convenience store. Every day clerks are faced with the possibility of being robbed. And not just robbed, but also robbed at gun or knifepoint.

Yet, these stores continue to have people show up day after day, knowing this is the case.

Now, working as a janitor, especially at night, can be dangerous, but not as dangerous as a convenience store clerk.

So, the 7-Eleven Rule for compensating janitors is this: Take the starting wage for a new employee at your local convenience store and multiple it by 80%, and you’ll have wage that is fair to both the employee and employer.

For example, if the starting wage for a convenience store clerk is $10.00 per hour, then an employer should pay their janitors no less than $8.00 an hour.

This formula has been proven to work in smaller markets, as well as large metropolitan areas. Regardless of the cost of living, major companies like 7-Eleven and others are paying approximately 20% more than successful janitorial companies.

Now, as an employer, you may feel that this number is too high. But keep in mind, the reason we have 50% + turnover per year is due in part to our employees feeling like their not being compensated fairly.

As an employee, you may feel that this number is too low. But keep in mind you’re safer cleaning a building at night, than most convenience clerks are working in broad daylight.

So, overall, the 7-Eleven Rule will allow an employer to continue to be competitive, while reducing turnover by paying a higher wage to their staff.

D. Brownlee
http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com

D. Brownlee currently works as a Territorial Area Developer for a large janitorial company. He manages in excess of $1.5 million dollars of volume, overseeing hundreds of janitors. For more information on his company, you may contact him at http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com

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Most business owners strive to increase profit, while decreasing cost. If they don’t do these two things, they probably won’t be in business very long.

But, there’s a third component to making your business successful. That component is: efficiency.

If your business isn’t efficient, then eventually your profits will decrease, your expenses will increase, and your business will fail.

When it comes to the janitorial expense, most business owners simply go with the lowest bidder, thinking that they’re keeping their cost low. However, ask yourself a question: how does the lowest bidder do it? How can they do what other companies do, while being 25-50% cheaper.

I know, and soon you will too. Consider the following:

1. The lowest bidder never intends to clean your facility at the level s/he tells you they’ll clean. In other words, they plan to “over-promise” and “under-perform”.

2. The lowest bidder may be planning to do a great job for the first couple of weeks or a month, and then come to you and ask for more money. After all, if you want the excellent quality and dependability to continue, you should be willing to pay more for it, right?

3. The lowest bidder plans to use illegal or criminal workers to clean your facility. Illegal workers will clean for far less money than legal workers will, usually because they’re paid in cash (thus they don’t pay taxes). Workers with criminal records may not be able to get a job that performs criminal backgrounds. So, they turn to the janitorial industry, and find a company that just wants a ‘warm body’ to show up. In addition, criminals LOVE to be in commercial buildings at night alone with several hours to themselves. (I wonder why?)

These unethical tactics are used every day in the cleaning industry. And, you know what the sad thing is, unfortunately, they work!

Business owners will accept cleaning companies under performing, because they know they’re getting what they paid for. Owners will pay more to a company that under bid the account 30 days ago, hoping that service will continue at the current level. Businesses will allow cleaning companies to give out their keys and security codes, hoping they won’t be robbed, or worse yet, report to the authorities.

My question is this: Knowing the problems associated with the lowest bidder, why risk it?

For many business owners, the answer is, they don’t know what they should be paying. Until now!

Here are a couple of suggestions for business owner who want to pay a fair wage to their cleaning company.

Method #1: Take three bids and throw out the high and low, and go with the middle. Knowledgeable janitorial companies know what to charge. If you take three bids, and hire the middle bidder you’re 100 times ahead of the game, than if you chose one of the other two.

Method #2: Ask your competitors who they’re using, and consider hiring the one they suggest. If you operate a large car dealership, then call other dealers and ask who they use, and if they’re happy with service. (After all, cleaning a dealership is much different from cleaning a law office.) After 3-5 calls, if the same name keeps being mentioned as a good company, guess what? They’ll probably be a good company for you, too!

Method #3: Do the math yourself. If you want to know what the going rate is for service, figure it up for yourself. http://www.breakthecycleokc.com/Janitorial_Cost_How_Much_To_Pay.html

Here’s how to do it:

Calculate the total number of cleans per week and multiply that number by 4.33 (That is the number of weeks there are in a month.) Write that number down. We’ll call this point A

Next estimate how long it would take YOU to clean the building yourself. However, you should base this number on one thing how long would it take to clean AFTER you had worked an eight-hour day. Most janitors have day jobs, and clean buildings in the evening for extra money. A person who has rested all day can clean faster than a person who has been at work all day. So, figure the number of hours it would take you to clean your facility AFTER you’ve worked an eight-hour shift. Write this number down. We’ll call this point B.

Next, go to your local 7-Eleven (or other major convenience store) and ask the manager how much do they pay new employees. Take that figure and multiply it by 1.75 and you’ll have the GROSS hourly wage, including taxes, insurance, profit, etc., a cleaning company may charge you. Write this number down, and we’ll call it point C.

Finally, multiply point A, B and C together and you’ll have an approximate monthly cost that a cleaning company may charge you to service your building.

Let’s put some numbers to this formula:

You want your building cleaned five days per week. So, you’ll take ‘5′ and multiply it by 4.33, and discover there are 21.66 cleaning days per month. (Point A)

Next, you estimate that it will take 4 hours per night for a person to properly clean your building. (Point B)

Finally, you find out the starting wage at your local convenience store is $10.00 per hour. Multiplying that number by 1.75, you come up with $17.50 as the GROSS hourly wage. (Point C)
Now, simply multiply 21.66 (cleans per month) X 4 hours (per clean) X $17.50 (gross hourly wage) and you’ll come up with a monthly cost $1,516.20.

So, using Method #3, you should expect to pay approximately $1,500 per month for janitorial service.

No matter what method you use, use common sense in choosing your next janitorial company. After all, they may be with you for years to come!

D. Brownlee
http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com

D. Brownlee currently works as a Territorial Area Developer for a large janitorial company. He manages in excess of $1.5 million dollars of volume, overseeing hundreds of janitors. For more information on his company, you may contact him at http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com

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