Originally Posted by CityGarden:
I successfully restructured my hours and tuition after my first child was enrolled. First the new policies were rolled out to all new families and eventually notice was given to that initial family.
One thing to be clear on is what is the goal with the change.... my end goal was to shorten my day with the changes, it sounds like your goal is to increase income so always keep that in mind. I bring this up for two reasons 1) I always knew when I opened I wanted a short day but my policies did not match that - they maximized my income with the potential of a shorter day but did not guarantee the short day I desired and 2) because on one hand you state you want $20 more per week per spot but then you also say you want to add a yoga class with an instructor. Having the instructor would increase your overhead so you need to factor that when adjusting your prices to ensure you bring home what you need/want.
A couple different options to increase rates from those already enrolled:
- Add an activity fee. Sell them on new/upgraded services (preschool curric., music class, yoga, etc.). Tell them the additional fee is X per week and is due regardless of attendance. Really play up the new service(s) and get their buy in. (When I first opened I had a monthly music class fee.... it was required and not one parent questioned this.)
- In my opinion in terms of increasing income the best option is to switch to contracted hours based on pick up times for all families! When I first opened I offered contracted hours based on pick up times, the first family enrolled needed my max hours so I did not get the short day I desired but I did make a lot more money for my time. With the contracted hours I made $10 more per day than the highest provider in my area for my max hours. BlackCat & DayCare both offer contracted hours based on pick up times so look at their post especially for examples.
Full disclosure I opted to do away with contracted hours for myself since I quickly realized I did not want to offer a full day program regardless of the additional money.
Thank you so much! I am liking the idea of charging by pick up times.