Has Anybody Ever LOWERED Your Rates?

[cheerfuldom]

I have been advertising like crazy for a year with NO replacements for my full time spot. Long story short.....there is this huge, unbelievable influx of people doing home daycare or SAHMs babysitting around here. Seriously, its at least 5x the number of choices that there were five years ago and a lot cheaper options. Soooo havent gotten any bites on the price and time I am needed. I havent even interviewed for any full timers so its not like people are coming and then deciding no. I have gotten a lot of interest in part timers so I have pieced together enough families to make ends meet. I used to not take part timers at all, or only one at time. I also used to not take infants but now that my youngest is 13 months, I have reconsidered taking an infant with no luck on that either!

Anyway, in an effort to get someone in the door, I have lowered my full time rate from $140 to $130. There are A LOT of newbies offering anywhere from $90 to $125 so I have been on the higher end anyway. It didnt used to be like that. I used to be right in the middle on price. I am not happy to do this but I really need to get someone started NOW before I get too far in my pregnancy and people hesitate more and more to even start with me.

[bmoreluna]

That's a tough situation. Sorry for you.
I've never lowered my rates, but I live in an area where there is high demand for part-time. I was hesitant about taking them at first, because they are far more likely to leave, but I ended up having most of my kids part-time for awhile. It ended up working out better because I could charge a little bit more for part-time kids once I had enough of them.
I also found some ways to set myself apart from others in the area (served a vegetarian meal option, accepted cloth diapers, etc.)
Some people in my area will offer first week free as an incentive to get people in the door- have you tried something like that?

[Springdaze]

I am all but empty right now. Im making 100 a week right now, so I am trying to get kids! I am going to offer, if anyone ever calls that normally I charge 175 but can give them 150. I have been trying to raise to 175 and do have one kid that perviously paid it, but Im not even getting calls!

[cheerfuldom]

That's a tough situation. Sorry for you.
I've never lowered my rates, but I live in an area where there is high demand for part-time. I was hesitant about taking them at first, because they are far more likely to leave, but I ended up having most of my kids part-time for awhile. It ended up working out better because I could charge a little bit more for part-time kids once I had enough of them.
I also found some ways to set myself apart from others in the area (served a vegetarian meal option, accepted cloth diapers, etc.)
Some people in my area will offer first week free as an incentive to get people in the door- have you tried something like that?

Thank you for the ideas. Funny you should mention meals and cloth diapers. I do have serve healthy snacks and require a reasonable sack lunch from the parents (see my previous thread from yesterday) but sadly, doing much out of the norm is not valued here as it would be somewhere else. A LOT of parents do not care if their kid watches TV all day and eats junk, in fact, I know some would prefer it because that is what their kid wants. I do accept cloth diapers, some flexibility in schedules, have a wonderful backyard and daily walks (a lot of daycares have little to no outside time) but again, for many parents, these extra things are not valued. They want either dirt cheap/low quality OR nanny style care for daycare rates. This is what I have run into in about 95 % of the parents I work with. The local daycares support this....there are a huge number of dirt cheap/low quality places and then a small number of super personalized care with a lot of emphasis on education (like sit down traditional teaching at 18 months). Its hard to find parents that are okay with more of a middle ground. Its just a weird time in our local economy and I hope to see that change soon!

[thatdivalady]

Thank you for the ideas. Funny you should mention meals and cloth diapers. I do have serve healthy snacks and require a reasonable sack lunch from the parents (see my previous thread from yesterday) but sadly, doing much out of the norm is not valued here as it would be somewhere else. A LOT of parents do not care if their kid watches TV all day and eats junk, in fact, I know some would prefer it because that is what their kid wants. I do accept cloth diapers, some flexibility in schedules, have a wonderful backyard and daily walks (a lot of daycares have little to no outside time) but again, for many parents, these extra things are not valued. They want either dirt cheap/low quality OR nanny style care for daycare rates. This is what I have run into in about 95 % of the parents I work with. The local daycares support this....there are a huge number of dirt cheap/low quality places and then a small number of super personalized care with a lot of emphasis on education (like sit down traditional teaching at 18 months). Its hard to find parents that are okay with more of a middle ground. Its just a weird time in our local economy and I hope to see that change soon!

Exactly this. We are opening a second in-home facility and you really have to know what your competition is offering along with what the average parent cares about in your area. The area that we have it in currently is in the suburbs and the families are fine with paying more for quality and individual attention. So I only take 3 full time children on any shift because I don't need anymore. I also offer a service that no one else offers which is 24/7 care (which I can do because I have family who is now apart of it as well as an assistant). I do not provide meals. Funny enough, I got more people for daytime who wanted that individual attention and a developmentally appropriate program. But I know that in our next location, families are going to want cheaper care so we are drafting up how we can provide that and still stay profitable.