MarginGuard: Localized Pricing & Scope Calculator for Home Service Businesses

How much should my sister and I charge for this service business?

You need to sit and work it out. For both of you. Do you live together and have the exact same Living costs? Probably not. You need to know your own hourly rate. Then add on fuel, all business expenses, insurance, etc, How often can you work? How many weeks holiday do you want? Whose car will you be taking? How large of an area will you cover? Make sure your car is also insured for business use. Not just private. It’s not a case of £25 an hour. It’s a big old task of breaking it down and making it make sense. Then you have the joys of free labour of marketing while you build. Oooh the joys haha. But I’m telling you now - having taught pricing for years You cannot ask strangers or look at someone else’s prices list. Usually cos people Make it up as they go along. Then realise they were too cheap in the first place then struggle to increase them later. Feel free to PM me but it’s the difference between you winning from the get go or struggling for a few months while you figure it out. :)

I’d avoid unlimited packages or broad flat fees, because “general help around the house” can expand very quickly depending on the client. You’ll be dealing with a lot of different personalities, and you need room to charge more when someone is especially demanding or the job is much worse than described. I privately call that the “jerk tax.” 😂 I’d probably use a minimum visit fee that covers both of you for a set amount of time, then charge for additional time. You could also price certain jobs separately, especially laundry, deep cleaning, pet care, errands, or anything involving transportation. One specific package you might consider is a Costco haul. I did that for a season, and it was a massive moneymaker. Sometimes people wanted to split the oversized packages with someone else, and other times they simply didn’t have a Costco membership. There’s a reason Instacart is so popular. :) Most importantly, define what you do and don’t offer. Otherwise, “help for busy adults” can quickly turn into house-sitting, childcare, rides, heavy cleaning, or personal-assistant work. Before-and-after photos would be great for marketing, but I’d position it more broadly as a reliable “your gals Friday” service rather than only cleaning.