This is the number one question I get on owning and running a house cleaning business. And it's not easy to answer directly because it depends entirely on your marketing and business plans.

Professional marketers know a little secret most small business owners are not aware of; most advertising is worthless. And the reason it's worthless is because people don't spend the time on their small business plan and small business marketing plan. The information you enter in these plans define your target customer. Without knowing who your targeted customer is, what kind of an ad are you going to publish?

Are you also aware that not everyone is your customer? Even in the house cleaning business, there are different types of customers that look for the type of house cleaning business that will service their needs. Do you know who these people are and how to attract them?

What you charge depends on what your market will pay. Every city in the world is different. After you define your target customer, you need to start researching your competition to learn what they are charging for the services they offer. It also makes a huge difference to your target customer that you are licensed, bonded and insured; or not.

You can now start by defining your personal hourly rate. This is the amount you want to earn per hour. Add onto this your overhead and you have the hourly rate for your business. How does this compare with what your competition is charging? Can you compete at this rate? What will make you stand apart from your competition at this rate? Is your rate your only measure of exceeding your competition?

If you're going to compete in your market with only your rate, you'll have a hard time. There will always be someone in your area that will consistently under-bid your quotes. You'll need a customer benefit to keep your target customer interested in your service.

If you're targeting the low-end customers and lowering your rate to get jobs, you'll constantly need to work more jobs and acquire more customers to keep ahead. But, if you are targeting the high-end customers that are looking for quality and reliability, you can work less jobs for more money.

That's why you need your small business plan and your small business marketing plan to establish who your customers will be and how you will attract them. If you don't have this information, don't spend a penney on advertising until you do.

Define your target customers and all your marketing will easily fall into place and effectively bring in customers that want what you offer.