I have a family that has been with me for awhile. I used to have both of their children, but the older aged out. The child I have now he is part time, 2 days.

I need to move his schedule to a MWF spot due to the need of a full time enrollment.

Parents said that they may not be able to afford the 3rd day increase. I feel like I want to offer a discount, because I want him to stay.

My Hubby who works with me a lot, says no discount. but being that I am the sole provider for my family, I am trying to maximize our earning potential.

Do or don't?

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Why not do it until you have someone else interested in the 3 day space?

That way you are earning some money while you try and fill the MWF space.

I am a bit confused though....if you are taking on a full timer, why would you need to move the 2 day a week family to a M,W,F space?

Wouldn't the FT newbie use ALL the space M,T,W,Th,F ?

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becuase this boy has the most flexibility with his family and my other families do not. They have gp that lives with them and cares for him the other days he is not with me.

Currently I am maxed out on Tu-Th, these are the days that I need to fill a full time spot M-F...

Hope I am making sense.

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Gotcha... so you could move other families but since this one has the most flexibility, you are asking them to make the move.. right?

Are the other T,Th families newer families or have they been with you just as long as this one?

I guess I am just wondering if you are offering ALL T, Th families the same opportunity to use M,W,F too....If the flexible family can't afford it, another T,Th family might be able to instead.

Otherwise if none of that is an option, I would offer them 2 days (from the M,W,F options) and tell them you can accommodate 2 of the days but if someone else comes along wanting the 3 days you won't be able to allow it anymore and they will either have to agree to 3 days or lose their space all together.

...did I make sense?

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see..this is why I post, I did not stop to think of that...I will offer that to them and see if they take that option.

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I don't think I understand.Do you need them to switch from tues &thurs?If they are willing to switch and only pay for two of the other three days ,why not let them just pick .I would not give a three day slot for only two days tuition.

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I know you will be shocked, but since you are the one needing the change I'd say you should be the one eating the cost.

I am a two way street kinda gal....

If they needed the change and did not want to pay I'd say "hit the road", so fair is fair, IMHO.

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I guess this is why I felt it was necessary to just offer the discount up front. I felt like it was basically telling them you have to pay more to come here.

I did what BC said and let them pick 2 out of the 3 days that they would like to attend. I have not heard back.

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I am a little confused too…. I understand you need to adjust for the space for the full timer, but if you can offer this kid m,w,f why not just let them pick 2 of those days and keep them at their current rate?? Yes, you will lose out on a days pay, but if you were going to give them a discount its not a full days loss and I am always willing to have a lighter day once or twice a week. For my rates a 2 day a weeker only pays a few dollars less per week than a 3 day a weeker so I would have no problem just keeping them at 2 days.

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I guess where I am looking at this is from the angle that they are grandfathered on a very old rate. While this does not bother me, it's very hard for me to run and make any money if I am not full to capacity. I have 3 asst I have to pay, a HEAVY insurance policy and everything else that comes with running the daycare. My minimum wage rate just went up, as did my tax brackets. YES, having that one day left open will make a huge difference in my ability to pay my employees salary. This family only pays $400 a month for a $600.00 slot. My fault, but they knew going from their full time to part time spot that this might happen.

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First

Second, I think you know it may be time to let this family go. Full-time trumps part time and they are hurting your business.

I did not know they were previously full-time, that changes everything. Part-time slots are not guaranteed space and they already knew that when changing their contract.

Are they leaving soon, or is this contract going to be longer than 6 months? You would be within your rights to offer them their old full time slot back, at full price, or give them 2 weeks to find alternate care.

I know you like the DCK, but this family is simply not a good fit.

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I agree.

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Grandfathered in? I don't understand... you don't increase your rates across the board as time goes by?

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I agree. I guess I didn't realize this family already changed their enrollment status and used to be full time.

That DOES change things.... I would definitely consider filling their space with someone who attends AND pays for the entire space.

Many providers enroll a family at whatever current rate they charge and then guarantee no rate increases for the duration of their enrollment.

No rate increases for those family's but newly enrolling families are charged whatever new rate the provider has.

Kind of like a long-term loyalty thing.

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Gotcha. Is there a benefit to offering these rates for the provider? Other than increasing the chance the client will stay longer?

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I guess I don't know. I don't do it that way.

I raise rates whenever I feel it's necessary for ME.

It depends though. The longest I've gone without raising rates was just these last two years.

I didn't raise my overall weekly rate but I did restructure my rate system and started using the rate scale and contracted hours instead.

So far 2 years in and it's been a big financial positive.

I will do an actual rate increase in the Fall of 2014.

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