Prospective Client Wants FT One Week And PT The Next

[LysesKids]

Would you change your stance if you were a new provider needing income? Lol.

I regretted the few times I gave discounts... they turned out to be the worst to work with & families got booted within 6 months. I wouldn't do it again for anything and my income is the only one coming in.

[hgonzalez]

Here's what I do:

I charge for the spot for a minimum of three days per week. This is at a daily rate, per child. They pay me for three days per week, whether the children attend or not. If they need care for more than three days per week, then they pay me for each additional day.

They have to let me know their schedule by Friday the week before the children attend. Payment is due the first day their children attend for that week.

[Ariana]

I personally would do it and have done it. It works for me because I like part time kids and am never at full capacity on a weekly basis which I like.

Do they have a set schedule or does it change every single week? I would ask for a schedule up front and then charge a bi weekly fee based on that. I get a 2 week deposit upfront and then I charge bi weekly after care has occurred. You coukd invoice them after care has occurred or charge them a flat rate based on the schedule they gave you.

Charging AFTER care has occurred works the best in these situations in my opinion.

[Blackcat31]

I wanted to add that IF you do decide to accept this arrangement I would NOT bill them solely for the one full time week they do use but would bill them for those 5 days at your part time or even drop in rate.

In other words, if your normal full time weekly rate is say $150 (or $30 per day) I'd bill them at the minimum $200 ($40 per day) if not more. Bottom line is it has to be worth your time.

[Ariana]

I also wanted to add that this arrangement will make it hard for you to accept other clients because they are taking up a space so if you eventually get new clients looking for spots you could offer it to the current family first and then terminate and replace with the new clients if they don't want to pay the full rate. Basically do this until you get your spots filled. Up to you!

[trix23]

Black cat, do you mean $200 for the 2 weeks? Or for 1?

And I don't mind charging $130/week for an alternating schedule for FT and PT. Better than my low rate. They would def pick certain days and times for when they would come. I think I'm ok with doing this to get some $.

[Blackcat31]

Black cat, do you mean $200 for the 2 weeks? Or for 1?

And I don't mind charging $130/week for an alternating schedule for FT and PT. Better than my low rate. They would def pick certain days and times for when they would come. I think I'm ok with doing this to get some $.

I mean charging them for the week they do use.
I would make it clear to them the week they dont want to pay for is NOT available to them and that you will be filling it as you are able.

The ONLY way anyone reserves space here or is guaranteed space is available to them is by paying for it so if they only want to pay for one week then that week should be the ONLY week available to them.

As for the rate amount, I just meant I wouldn't charge them your regular weekly rate s(I would charge more) simply because they aren't regular weekly attendees....in an essence they ARE part timers. Part timers should be charged a much higher rate so that it's worth your time and so that they understand they are paying for the convenience of not having to commit to weekly payments 52 weeks a year.

Oh! and like a previous poster said, I'd definitely make sure you let them know that IF you have a situation where a family wants full time care, you'll give the current family first right of refusal for taking the full time space (paying for ALL weeks...even those not used) or you'll have to term to take the family that does want to use it every week.

Hopefully that all makes sense!

[trix23]

The first paragraph, I'm still lost by. :/

I'll maybe crunch some numbers and come up with a rare that I'd like. We are falling behind on bills so I need income. Not willing to give a deal but I would charge $130 each week for care for such arrangement.

[AmyKidsCo]

Here's what I do:

I charge for the spot for a minimum of three days per week. This is at a daily rate, per child. They pay me for three days per week, whether the children attend or not. If they need care for more than three days per week, then they pay me for each additional day.

They have to let me know their schedule by Friday the week before the children attend. Payment is due the first day their children attend for that week.

I've done that before too. The child was regularly scheduled for 3 days/week and they paid for 1 extra day ahead of time, then when she came extra days they brought a check for that day in the morning. Since they'd already paid ahead for an extra day the check was for the next extra day.

[Blackcat31]

The first paragraph, I'm still lost by. :/

Normal full time care would have an invoice like this for a 2 week period :

WEEK #1
M $30
T $30
W $30
Th $30
F $30

WEEK #2
M $30
T $30
W $30
Th $30
F $30

For a total of $300 for the 2 week period.

Care for the family that wants to only use and pay for every other week only would look like this:

WEEK #1
M $40
T $40
W $40
Th $40
F $40

WEEK #2
M $0
T $0
W $0
Th $0
F $0

For a total of $200 due for only the ONE week they use.

The week they do not use can be filled with someone else or you just have a quieter week. I would NOT allow the every other week family to use ANY time during their "off" week.

Make more or better sense?

[Blackcat31]

I used $150 as the rate for each week.
Broken down it is $30 per day.

You'd have to do the math if your regular weekly rate is only $130 instead of $150.

[Controlled Chaos]

I would do the 1 full week and 1 pt week while getting started. I would add my ft rate and pt rate then divide it by 2 to get the average. I would charge that amount every week. I like a constant income and the changing number from week to week would bug me. I would also tell them if a new family wanted to start needing the days EVERY week I would offer them the opportunity to go full time or the other family would get the spot. Ft gets priority but if you have no other takers right now I would take the current family even with the weird schedule. Just be clear about exactly what you want the agreement to be.

[trix23]

Yes, BlackCat, I get it now. I thought you meant my drop-in daily rate ($45) and was like "whoa...." .

I agree with the one above me - I like a consistent amount each time I'm paid- easier and less fuss. I quoted the following:

M-F one week, 2 days the next week
$115 is 2-3 days. $150 is 4-5 days.
So I quoted $130/week. Almost my FT rate.

[Blackcat31]

Yes, BlackCat, I get it now. I thought you meant my drop-in daily rate ($45) and was like "whoa...." .

I agree with the one above me - I like a consistent amount each time I'm paid- easier and less fuss. I quoted the following:

M-F one week, 2 days the next week
$115 is 2-3 days. $150 is 4-5 days.
So I quoted $130/week. Almost my FT rate.

Nice! Seems you are being paid well AND getting some quiet days for a nice income/not much loss!

As long as it works in your budget that is all that matters.

Next issue.... how old is the child(ren)?
Some kids can not manage every other week....the lack of attendance for that one week makes the next week like starting a new kid in care all over again... so sometimes figuring out the rate to charge is the easy part.....integrating the child(ren) to your routine, rules etc is a nightmare!

Hoping if the family accepts your rate quote, that ^^ wont be an issue.

[trix23]

Very true. It's a full day week then 2-3 days the following for this particular family. Child is 19 months.