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KristinsHomeCC 05:32 AM 11-30-2015
Me again! I made 2 posts because they were completely different topics.

I'm having trouble staying full. Potential families love me, but what's happening is they love me and try to make ends meet and that both can't happen. I get a lot of very low income potentials that after the 4th or 5th week have to actually ask me if they can skip a week or only come 2 or 3 days and use a free family member for the rest (even though my rate is $150 per week FT, reguardless of attendance). I also get a lot of moms that have been SAHM and are returning to work and asking me to move payments BACK a week until they get paid! No no no. No. No.

SO, I have 2 DCK FT. These families are juuuust fine in their financial dept. No problems. One family even has paid until February already. *LOVE* them.

So heres what I've been thinking up this extra long, extra lazy and wonderful holiday weekend: I think I may lower my rates. I think I'd rather be slap full (5 kids + my own) at $130 each child per week than be sooo bored watching the clock until 6 with only 2 kids at $150 per week. Its $20. It's not much but over a month, $80 is a big difference to those who are paycheck to paycheck. Heck, that's a water bill!

My question: is it wrong to still charge $150 to existing DCF? Granted they have no problen affording it, but even if I was wealthy.. I still wouldn't want to pay $80 more than I have to each month. Do I even have to tell them? I mean, I'm going to start advertising that price so they'll have to see eventually. Could I say its a sliding scale or something??

Thoughts please. Advice, or give me some info on what you do!
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rosieteddy 06:30 AM 11-30-2015
If I were the current families I would be upset.Everyone should pay the same......Either offer less hours for less money or hold out.I panicked before and offered more time for same money.It was a pain and if I had waited a month then I would have been full at the original time and money. Why not take this month to advertise and figure out what you need to make this work for you.It might seem like only 20.00 dollars a week but it adds up.Four clients =80.00 a week .Try advertising for part time at a better rate say 40.00 a day two day minimum.That way you could fill in some time and not upset current clients.They have a great deal at 150.00 a week.Good luck.
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nanglgrl 07:00 AM 11-30-2015
It depends on what the average rate for your area is. If $150 is average I wouldn't go lower because you will just keep getting clients who can't afford you. If you are on the high side if rates and decide to lower them I would lower them for everyone. Having lower rates than the majority of other providers can make it so you fill your spots quicker but often means you will fill them with undesirable clients...the type of clients who are always looking for cheaper, who break policies, pay late etc. I've found I get the best clients by charging more than average.
Another option is for you to have parents rates determined by pick up time. My earliest drop off time is 7:30, you can drop off later but it doesn't change the rate. If you pick up at 3:00 your rate is cheaper than if you pick up at 5:00. It increases every 30 minutes.
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midaycare 07:08 AM 11-30-2015
Originally Posted by nanglgrl:
It depends on what the average rate for your area is. If $150 is average I wouldn't go lower because you will just keep getting clients who can't afford you. If you are on the high side if rates and decide to lower them I would lower them for everyone. Having lower rates than the majority of other providers can make it so you fill your spots quicker but often means you will fill them with undesirable clients...the type of clients who are always looking for cheaper, who break policies, pay late etc. I've found I get the best clients by charging more than average.
Another option is for you to have parents rates determined by pick up time. My earliest drop off time is 7:30, you can drop off later but it doesn't change the rate. If you pick up at 3:00 your rate is cheaper than if you pick up at 5:00. It increases every 30 minutes.
Well said. I do a modified version of billing by pickup times. If you pickup by 4, you pay this. If you pickup by 5, this. If pickup by 5:30, this.

I never do rate increases for current families. They can stay with me 5 years at the same rate. But I did give one family a rate decrease when I switched to charging by the pickup time. Since I don't do rate increases, some parents here pay much more than others.

For example, I have a family who has been with me from the beginning. I charge them $25 a day. But a new family on the hourly schedule that they have would pay $32.

If my billing by hourly didn't benefit the parent, I didn't change their rates. But almosy everyone I have pays something different. And that's MY business, and no one else's. If they start talking about rates amongst themselves and get mad, too bad.
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NillaWafers 07:19 AM 11-30-2015
I would keep them where they are. I have several families that pay very different amounts who are in the same bracket. Mostly cus I raised prices after I got my first few kids in.

Honestly it's none of their business what other parents pay so I doubt it'll become an issue unless you have some parents who are good friends.
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finsup 08:14 AM 11-30-2015
What worked for me was actually raising my rates. I know it sounds backwards but I got a much different class of families when I started charging on the high side of average. All my families pay a different rate but that's because I base it on their hours. I flat out say in my handbook that they have a unique weekly rate based upon their work schedule just to avoid the "she's paying less then me!!" Comments (thankfully those have never happened).
If you want to keep your families at the current rate, I wouldn't advertise a lower one. I would just advertise and not give a rate until you start talking to people. It's none of their business, but it could start some drama if they found out.
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childcaremom 08:29 AM 11-30-2015
Originally Posted by nanglgrl:
It depends on what the average rate for your area is. If $150 is average I wouldn't go lower because you will just keep getting clients who can't afford you. If you are on the high side if rates and decide to lower them I would lower them for everyone. Having lower rates than the majority of other providers can make it so you fill your spots quicker but often means you will fill them with undesirable clients...the type of clients who are always looking for cheaper, who break policies, pay late etc. I'v e found I get the best clients by charging more than average.
Another option is for you to have parents rates determined by pick up time. My earliest drop off time is 7:30, you can drop off later but it doesn't change the rate. If you pick up at 3:00 your rate is cheaper than if you pick up at 5:00. It increases every 30 minutes.
I have found this, as well. I charge higher than normal (about $20/week more) and have found the same.

I don't think rates will help people who have financial issues. They either can afford care or they can't. $20/week is NOT a lot of money in the big picture. Yes, I know it's $20 that could be put towards something else but if they need to work, they need care. They can cut the $20 somewhere else. Why should you have to take the cut?

Interview, interview, interview and really ask a lot of questions and go with your gut instinct. It is super frustrating when you have trouble finding good clients and can be monotonous with a small group but the right fit IS out there and is worth waiting for.
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Preschool/daycare teacher 01:49 PM 11-30-2015
I understand you want to keep your children all full time, but before I lowered my rates, I would consider offering part time. You actually end up with more income in the end that way, and you would still have more little ones each day. Just make sure before you allow one family to come three days a week that you have someone else signed up for the other two days. I prefer having some part timers, myself. It helps break up the week and adds new playmates for the full timers to play with. But the best part is, I make more money since part time rates per day is more than full time rates break down to per day. Plus if little Johnny is driving me absolutely bonkers one week, I only have him two or three days compared to five
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Controlled Chaos 02:32 PM 11-30-2015
I agree with the - raise your rates = getting parents who can afford to pay. Every since I raised my rates $50 a month I get awesome families.

Part time is a great option.

I tried to be affordable and help/save low income families for years. I now donate to the food pantry every week and donate to the homeless shelter monthly. That is how I help. My business is not a charity. It can't be. I thought families couldn't afford to pay me, I lowered my rates, I took late pay...these families were going to the movies and buying new toys while I struggled to feed my family. They werent taking advantage of me on purpose - I let it happen.

Just my perspective.
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284878 04:28 AM 12-01-2015
Do part time. That is what I would like to do.
But I have heard of daycares do a sliding scale tuition. You could do something like that, gather their income and decide a discount based on what they make.
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daycarediva 09:57 AM 12-01-2015
Originally Posted by finsup:
What worked for me was actually raising my rates. I know it sounds backwards but I got a much different class of families when I started charging on the high side of average. All my families pay a different rate but that's because I base it on their hours. I flat out say in my handbook that they have a unique weekly rate based upon their work schedule just to avoid the "she's paying less then me!!" Comments (thankfully those have never happened).
If you want to keep your families at the current rate, I wouldn't advertise a lower one. I would just advertise and not give a rate until you start talking to people. It's none of their business, but it could start some drama if they found out.
Yup. I am a FCC but I charge center rates now. I steadily bumped them up. I have an entirely different set of clients than when I started, but I never raised rates for existing clients, just new ones and it's obvious from the start who can/cannot afford to pay me. It weeds out SO many problem clients.

I say advertise for part time, at a slightly HIGHER daily rate than your FT clients pay, and drop in, at an even higher rate. PT and drop in clients net me more income because of that.

EG. Charge FT clients 30/day
PT 35/day (set schedules only)
drop in 40/day
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Snowmom 12:10 PM 12-01-2015
Originally Posted by KristinsHomeCC:
Me again! I made 2 posts because they were completely different topics.

I'm having trouble staying full. Potential families love me, but what's happening is they love me and try to make ends meet and that both can't happen. I get a lot of very low income potentials that after the 4th or 5th week have to actually ask me if they can skip a week or only come 2 or 3 days and use a free family member for the rest (even though my rate is $150 per week FT, reguardless of attendance). I also get a lot of moms that have been SAHM and are returning to work and asking me to move payments BACK a week until they get paid! No no no. No. No.

SO, I have 2 DCK FT. These families are juuuust fine in their financial dept. No problems. One family even has paid until February already. *LOVE* them.

So heres what I've been thinking up this extra long, extra lazy and wonderful holiday weekend: I think I may lower my rates. I think I'd rather be slap full (5 kids + my own) at $130 each child per week than be sooo bored watching the clock until 6 with only 2 kids at $150 per week. Its $20. It's not much but over a month, $80 is a big difference to those who are paycheck to paycheck. Heck, that's a water bill!

My question: is it wrong to still charge $150 to existing DCF? Granted they have no problen affording it, but even if I was wealthy.. I still wouldn't want to pay $80 more than I have to each month. Do I even have to tell them? I mean, I'm going to start advertising that price so they'll have to see eventually. Could I say its a sliding scale or something??

Thoughts please. Advice, or give me some info on what you do!
I would say don't lower your rates unless you are going to reduce the available hours in exchange for the lower rate (part time, drop in or contracted hours).
The issue with part time though, is will you be shooting yourself in the foot if you take on say a....M,W,F kid and then along comes someone wanting M-F and all you have left is T,TH. kwim?
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LysesKids 12:16 PM 12-01-2015
Originally Posted by Snowmom:
I would say don't lower your rates unless you are going to reduce the available hours in exchange for the lower rate (part time, drop in or contracted hours).
The issue with part time though, is will you be shooting yourself in the foot if you take on say a....M,W,F kid and then along comes someone wanting M-F and all you have left is T,TH. kwim?
She can do what I do when someone contracts PT... parents know from the get go that if a family comes along wanting a 5 day FT position that I will offer it to the PT family first (I ask if they want to go FT in order to keep the spot), then if they decline they are given 2 weeks notice once I have a FT contract signed. Because I can only take 4 kids, every spot needs to be full at all times because it is my only income; I had to bump a PT earlier this year, but I offered her the FT spot twice (first time fell thru) - she got pissy when I gave her notice, but she knew the options from the start and had wanted to actually drop to less than 15 hrs week - sorry, but 40+ hrs trumps 15 every time
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Controlled Chaos 12:18 PM 12-01-2015
Originally Posted by Snowmom:
I would say don't lower your rates unless you are going to reduce the available hours in exchange for the lower rate (part time, drop in or contracted hours).
The issue with part time though, is will you be shooting yourself in the foot if you take on say a....M,W,F kid and then along comes someone wanting M-F and all you have left is T,TH. kwim?
I always tell PT people that FT takes priority. And by full time, I mean just filling spots. I just had to let a family go (twins came TH) since I couldn't fill around them, but could fill 2 full time spots. But the family was super understanding as they knew going in that was a possibility.
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Snowmom 12:28 PM 12-01-2015
Originally Posted by LysesKids:
She can do what I do when someone contracts PT... parents know from the get go that if a family comes along wanting a 5 day FT position that I will offer it to the PT family first (I ask if they want to go FT in order to keep the spot), then if they decline they are given 2 weeks notice once I have a FT contract signed. Because I can only take 4 kids, every spot needs to be full at all times because it is my only income; I had to bump a PT earlier this year, but I offered her the FT spot twice (first time fell thru) - she got pissy when I gave her notice, but she knew the options from the start and had wanted to actually drop to less than 15 hrs week - sorry, but 40+ hrs trumps 15 every time

I do agree with making it clear upon enrollment that they could be bumped makes good business sense.
Personally, I'd just hate to take the time to transition a new child just to potentially bump them out a couple months later when a FT'er comes along.
But, I get it!
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LysesKids 03:37 PM 12-02-2015
Originally Posted by Snowmom:

I do agree with making it clear upon enrollment that they could be bumped makes good business sense.
Personally, I'd just hate to take the time to transition a new child just to potentially bump them out a couple months later when a FT'er comes along.
But, I get it!
I had this child for 10 months... he left on his first Birthday literally (like just after the party here @ childcare) and I was dis-invited to his B-Day Party at the park the next day. Apparently me being "grandma" was only good enough when it was on Mom's terms (all the family was in CA, so i was the substitute granny)
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AmyKidsCo 08:28 PM 12-03-2015
Ooh, lots of thoughts! In class this semester we had to write a paper about the child care Trilemma - basically what you're describing - affordability vs quality vs availability.

Tom Copeland says it's OK to charge different families different amounts but I personally wouldn't feel right lowering some families' rates and not others, unless you can justify it somehow, like the new families need fewer hours or have older children, or are volunteering in the program, etc.

Before you lower your rates, consider that $20/week x 52 weeks is $1,040. Per child. Are you willing to give up over $1,000 per child?
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