eMop’s Computational Accuracy

Developing the system, we wanted to make eMop resemble the taxi scheme: You can have the service immediately, round-the-clock and you pay as you go. So, we agreed on the following:

• Consumption based billing
• 24/7 schedule
• You have an opportunity to have the cleaning start 4 hours after the order has been placed
• You can choose exactly what you want cleaned: only kitchen, just bathroom, one or two bedrooms or the whole house. The cost of your order depends on what you choose

It’s easier said than done. The time frame should be flexible but predictable and the client must be informed about the initial cost in advance. How can we calculate it properly?

We did a research. Throughout spring 2017, I kept cleaning my own apartment with a timer in order to estimate how much time it takes to clean a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, windows, microwave, oven etc.

I got approximate calculations for every room, but the problem I had was knowing that houses differ a lot in terms of untidiness and the amount of work required. So we need to consider such a factor as ‘dirt level’ which the clients estimate themselves. You choose the ‘dirt level’ and certain percentage is added to the length and cost of the order.

It appears to be an operable scheme, doesn’t it. Unfortunately people will label the level as “light’ even if their flat is a disaster. Despite this, we mostly do manage to carry out the work within the expected timeframe.

No one wants to pay for five hours of cleaning if the anticipated time is three hours. So we only add one extra hour (never more) to the estimated time span. Even if the cleaner doesn’t fit in the time limit, the order automatically checks out. It exerts the cleaners’ discipline and motivates them to increase efficiency.

Surprisingly, the calculations turned out to be rather accurate. The real time rarely escalates beyond initial estimates. Sometimes the cleaning process takes even less time, which pleases the clients a great deal.

As for those who have to pay more than they expected, we sometimes get slightly frustrated clients. It usually happens when the client thinks his/her flat is ‘a little bit dirty’ but the cleaner considers it ‘increased work scope’ and takes a photo that perfectly proves it.

According to our calculations, it takes 45 minutes to tidy up your bathroom, we’ll spend 50 minutes on your kitchen and only twenty to twenty five minutes on a bedroom.

Check out our latest news and announcements! My next post is about our 24/7 work schedule.

Julia Ponomareva

Founder of eMop