first time cleaning pro, how do i price a deep clean job without screwing myself

hey all, just started offering residential cleaning services up in north jersey, got my first deep clean gig for a hoarder house and im freaking out a bit. the place is a mess, like 2000 sq ft with years of dust bunnies and sticky floors, and i quoted $450 flat thinking it was a quick turnaround but now i see it'll take my whole day with the bissell proheat carpet cleaner i just bought. anyone got tips on breaking down time for baseboards, windows, and all that? saw a post on r/CleaningTips about not undercharging but im new and dont wanna lose the client. someone in Cleaning Business Owners group said to always add 20% buffer, but how do you even estimate without seeing the place first? FML if i mess this up.

damn that sounds like a nightmare, i lost a whole weekend on a similar job early on and barely broke even.

ive been there man, first big clean had me rethinking the whole business.

watch out for hidden damage under all that grime, could turn a simple clean into a reno job.

undercutting yourself on the first job sets a bad precedent, charge what the time's worth.

customer said 2 hours tops, took 8, now they think im slow as hell.

we all start somewhere, but yeah those early jobs burn you bad.

LOL remember my first? client had 20 cats, came out smelling like a zoo for days.

big corps are buying up all the good cleaning leads, us independents get the scraps now.

scraps yeah, and then they complain about the price like they aint paying for labor.

exactly, screw em if they cant see the value in a proper clean.

those hoarder jobs always hit different, hope you got good gloves.

gloves are key, but yeah man hang in there, gets easier.

PE vultures circling cleaning businesses too, watch your back on contracts.

contracts? half my clients ghost after the first clean anyway.

ghosting sucks, but the ones that stick make it worth it.

watched a melissa maker video on deep cleans, she swears by sectioning the room first to not get overwhelmed.

sharkbite for plumbing but for cleaning? nah, stick to tried microfiber cloths over disposables.

add up your supplies cost too, bissell bags aint cheap after a few jobs.

hit 5 years solo and now i block out full days for anything over 1500 sq ft, no regrets.

first year was rough but yeah, weve all been the wide-eyed newbie.

for estimates, use a timer app on a test clean of your own place to get real times.