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Currently I'm open 7:30-3:30. I don't take children under a year or school agers. I have 2 full timers and 4 part timers plus my own 3 year old but I get paid pretty well for the part timers. I'm legally allowed 12 children but 4 of those have to be school age, 2 have to be part time and I can have no more than 3 under 18 months or 4 under 24 months. All of the children are 2 and 3 years old except one 1 1/2 year old. Realistically the 2 full timers pay whatever bills my husbands paycheck doesn't cover and the part timers are our spending money.
Anyway, I just found out that one of my full timers will be leaving in 6 months when her mom has another baby because its not financially feasible for her to pay for daycare for two children. I don't get a lot of viable calls because of my hours and age restrictions. If I was open until 5:30 or took infants I would be full with a waiting list. I've been thinking about the future and realized that because of the age of my current children I may be setting myself up for a difficult situation as they will all age out at about the same time. Plus two of my clients are students in their last year of college, one full time client would like longer hours but doesn't need them (she works from home) and one client needs longer hours 1 day every week but has been able to figure out a 3:30 pick up for months between friends and family.
I only went to a 3:30 closing time when I changed to a rate system that was less for a 3:30 pick up/more for a 4:30 pick up and even more for a 5:30 pick up (thanks Blackcat). Everyone chose 3:30 and its been awesome for my family and my sanity. I'm not excited about being open later and/or taking infants so I decided for infants I would charge $200 no matter what the pick up time was (normal rate for FCC in my area is $125) and only take one under a year at a time. For 3:30 pick ups of children over a year I would keep my rate at $125 but 4:30 pick up would cost $140 and 5:30 pick up would be $155. I think I subconsiously set the rates so high because I don't want to do either and thought no one would be interested in those prices. As soon as I posted it on my business page I had three people that wanted to do an interview right away knowing my rates. One is a 4 month old with a 3:30 pick up ($200) one is a 2 year old with a 5:30 pick up that will be 7:30-5:30 M, W, F and 11:30-5:30 T, Th ($155). The last one was a 5:30 pick up almost 4 year old ($155).
What would you guys do? Would you give up a little freedom and make more money doing 5:30 pick ups? Would you take the infant and scale down what you do with the toddlers/preschoolers? Would you keep the 3:30 pick up, be a little poorer and just hope for the best? I should also mention that taking an infant would cost me some money. I do have 2 cribs but would need some toys and at the least a swing. As the child became mobile I would need to completely rearrange my space.
Anyway, I just found out that one of my full timers will be leaving in 6 months when her mom has another baby because its not financially feasible for her to pay for daycare for two children. I don't get a lot of viable calls because of my hours and age restrictions. If I was open until 5:30 or took infants I would be full with a waiting list. I've been thinking about the future and realized that because of the age of my current children I may be setting myself up for a difficult situation as they will all age out at about the same time. Plus two of my clients are students in their last year of college, one full time client would like longer hours but doesn't need them (she works from home) and one client needs longer hours 1 day every week but has been able to figure out a 3:30 pick up for months between friends and family.
I only went to a 3:30 closing time when I changed to a rate system that was less for a 3:30 pick up/more for a 4:30 pick up and even more for a 5:30 pick up (thanks Blackcat). Everyone chose 3:30 and its been awesome for my family and my sanity. I'm not excited about being open later and/or taking infants so I decided for infants I would charge $200 no matter what the pick up time was (normal rate for FCC in my area is $125) and only take one under a year at a time. For 3:30 pick ups of children over a year I would keep my rate at $125 but 4:30 pick up would cost $140 and 5:30 pick up would be $155. I think I subconsiously set the rates so high because I don't want to do either and thought no one would be interested in those prices. As soon as I posted it on my business page I had three people that wanted to do an interview right away knowing my rates. One is a 4 month old with a 3:30 pick up ($200) one is a 2 year old with a 5:30 pick up that will be 7:30-5:30 M, W, F and 11:30-5:30 T, Th ($155). The last one was a 5:30 pick up almost 4 year old ($155).
What would you guys do? Would you give up a little freedom and make more money doing 5:30 pick ups? Would you take the infant and scale down what you do with the toddlers/preschoolers? Would you keep the 3:30 pick up, be a little poorer and just hope for the best? I should also mention that taking an infant would cost me some money. I do have 2 cribs but would need some toys and at the least a swing. As the child became mobile I would need to completely rearrange my space.
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