My fees may be too expensive

[mum67]

I just don't seem to get any enquiries.
My fees are £6.00 per hour, £42 full day, £25 half day they include all meals, snacks and local outings. It is the same as most people in my area and I am starting up full time in September (hopefully) but just don't get the calls.

As I am always on here looking for advice I know I should stick with what I am happy with and pays me a wage without selling myself short and don't want to cut them down.

What do you all think?:(

[Mouse]

Where are you based? £6 an hour would be a high fee in my area, but if you say that's standard for your area, then it wouldn't think it's the fee putting people off.

I have always found that word of mouth is the best way of getting work, so you need to speak to as many people as possible. Do you know other childminders in the area, do you go to groups etc?

[natlou82]

Are you on childcare.co.uk? That's where the majority of my business has come from, I'm full! I scan through what the parents want and if there's one or two that would work well I pay for gold membership and get contacting. I'm not on my FIS cause they've messed up (need to sort that!) and of course word of mouth - you need to make yourself very visible at toddler groups etc, good luck, they will come through :-) btw £6 an hr would be high here but if it's standard where you are I wouldn't change it x

[Rick]

£6 ph would be a lot here too. But I think £4.50 here would be a lot elsewhere as well. It depends where you are

[loocyloo]

If your fees are standard for your area then don't change them.
I moved to a new area where I knew no one and it took me 6 mths to start getting any children as people needed to get to know me/of me and then tell other people!
My own children were at school so I used to chat to everyone at school and put my details on school noticeboard, I went to several toddler groups and chatted to people/helped with teas/coffees etc. I went along to children's centre and also gave my details to health visitors.
I left business cards/fliers everywhere I could and mainly just told everybody I met I was a childminder!
It was hard work and I was beginning to think I would never get any children to look after ... 3 1/2 years on I'm well known, full and have a waiting list!

Good luck x

[watford wizz]

Look at your unique selling points, do you offer overnights, a second language, specialism in a particular special need, have a look at what others are offering it might give you some ideas x

[Simona]

I just don't seem to get any enquiries.
My fees are £6.00 per hour, £42 full day, £25 half day they include all meals, snacks and local outings. It is the same as most people in my area and I am starting up full time in September (hopefully) but just don't get the calls.

As I am always on here looking for advice I know I should stick with what I am happy with and pays me a wage without selling myself short and don't want to cut them down.

What do you all think?:(

It depends what you base your fees on...above all we need to consider we are now in a 'childcare market'....a phrase being used widely now by all those involved in childcare including politicians

As cms we are selling ourselves and our services...that should also include our setting...the space within it and facilities we offer children...has it anything over and above what others offer? is it one room or various rooms?
what about our food....many cms now ask for packed lunch and do not offer dinner...what about our activities and our knowledge and expertise?
do we charge for holidays or not?

my view is that they all count and as you say we need to earn a decent living against consistently rising costs in providing 'high quality affordable childcare'...affordable to whom?

I am rather puzzled as to why £6.00 may be too high in some areas...the minimum wage applies nationwide so not sure how cms set their fees?

When it comes to funding from the LAs often the northern LAs pass more in funding than LAs down here in the south although the going rate is often lower in the north

I am sure if I shopped in John Lewis in the north the price would be the same as the branch here in the South?

In my area the going rate is rather high but our LA gives us £3.50...where is the logic in that?
can anyone explain?

[Mouse]

I am rather puzzled as to why £6.00 may be too high in some areas...the minimum wage applies nationwide so not sure how cms set their fees?



Well, the minimum wage applies to employed people, not self employed, so is irrelevant really. There has always been a big difference in fees throughout the country, so I'm not at all surprised that £6 an hour seems very high in some areas, but not in others.

[Simona]

Well, the minimum wage applies to employed people, not self employed, so is irrelevant really. There has always been a big difference in fees throughout the country, so I'm not at all surprised that £6 an hour seems very high in some areas, but not in others.

I agree with you again...our fee is not seen as a wage per hour...but as a reflection of the service we offer
So £6 x 3 children is £18 ph but...once we take off the expenses of delivering those services we are left with a profit
So the fee we charge is based on the sustainability of our business.

Parents may earn £6.31 on the minimum wage but this is excluding all the other benefits they get in addition? or am I thinking on the wrong lines?

[AliceK]

£6 per hr would be very high here and I'm in a so called very affluent area so not sure where you are but if that's what other childminders are charging then why should you lower your rate?
BTW I would LOVE to be paid the national min wage per hour :)

xxx

[ajc]

£6 an hour seems quite high to me too, my sister lives in Lancashire and I don't think she paid a anything like that. I note from another thread too that it doesn't include meals either.

[Simona]

£6 per hr would be very high here and I'm in a so called very affluent area so not sure where you are but if that's what other childminders are charging then why should you lower your rate?
BTW I would LOVE to be paid the national min wage per hour :)

xxx

The fees in my area vary but I was thinking not just of cms but also what preschools and nurseries charge
Some charge more than £6 but there is no food included or very little...even snack is brought in by the parents each day and popped in a basket ...then no outings or visits to parks or similar activities

My question was how do LAs sort out funding and pay more than providers charge? ...while in some areas like mine the funding is 50% below the going rate...a question that will not get an answer I am sure:thumbsup:

[Ripeberry]

In my area it's around £4 to £4.50 but many CMs add on food 50p breakfast and £2 (lunch and dinner) so in effect over a week it can add over £1 to the hourly rate. Maybe you should promote the extras that you provide rather than dropping your fees. :thumbsup:

[Ripeberry]

The fees in my area vary but I was thinking not just of cms but also what preschools and nurseries charge
Some charge more than £6 but there is no food included or very little...even snack is brought in by the parents each day and popped in a basket ...then no outings or visits to parks or similar activities

My question was how do LAs sort out funding and pay more than providers charge? ...while in some areas like mine the funding is 50% below the going rate...a question that will not get an answer I am sure:thumbsup:

Very true Simona. The main reason I will never offer funding as it's below what I charge per hour.

[AdeleMarie88]

I'm in North London, fees around her range from £4.50-6p/h, as the very rich live very close to those living just on the poverty line.

There was a post the other day where someone said they charge £3p/h. That astounded me. The regional differences are vast. I don't think I would ever want to charge less than I do, as that's what I value myself at (£5.65p/h)

You don't want to over charge, but it's equally important that you don't under sell yourself either!

[mum67]

£6 an hour seems quite high to me too, my sister lives in Lancashire and I don't think she paid a anything like that. I note from another thread too that it doesn't include meals either.

ajc, my fees do include all snacks, lunch and local trips (where a cost is incurred fares, paying in)

[mum67]

Wow thank you all for your replies.
I have on my flyers etc that my fees cover everything and there are no hidden extras. I noticed that some charge £3.50 - £4.50 but then add on things also.
I am Manchester and did research around me the going rate and what was included. When I kept being told £6.00, £7.00 and even £7.50 I thought myself it was high but was told it was the going rate by all who I asked and they don't put their fees up too often either.
I was also warned not to charge too low or I would be inundated with work but just about covering my living costs.

Think I will sit down and work out my outgoings ie NI, tax, school lunches/bus fares, bills, food and then see if it seems reasonable or if I need to drop a little.

THANK YOU all for your advice.:D

[mum67]

£6 an hour seems quite high to me too, my sister lives in Lancashire and I don't think she paid a anything like that. I note from another thread too that it doesn't include meals either.

ajc I know which thread you are on about, sorry it does cause confusion. I was thinking about revising my fees and not providing a meal/tea was one of my options. Hope that makes more sense now.:)

[ajc]

Ah I see now, sorry I got the wrong end of the stick. I think that if that is the norm in your area and you are happy to include dinners then I would keep your fees as they are. I personally felt that doing a cooked lunch and providing tea was too much and I just do a snack in the afternoon now (felt liked I worked in a cafe), maybe you could reduce the fee a little and explain that you don't do evening meals?, worth a try to get your business going, good luck

[mum67]

Yes ajc I think that's what I am going to do. A lot on here ask for a packed lunch to be provided also so that reduces the costs again.
Thanks for your advice:)

[KateA]

Hi, Around my way everyone charges £4 an hour, I was registered in December and have found it very hard to find work it really does seem to word of mouth, if you have references and been working for some many years, its really starting to get me down. I think there are just to many childminders around now and not enough demand anymore. I have been getting some enquiries but all for school picks at schools I dont offer collection from or people looking for an hour a day for some reason !

[mum67]

KateA that's the same with me they want school pick up in morning or 2 hours here and there, my brother says work is work, but if I take bits here and there I am afraid I will be stuck when it comes to parents enquiries with full time places and I won't be able to do it.

Might take on the odd hours here and there but only as temporaty and not commit myself to it permanently.

[mum67]

I have just been informed that two childminders around here have given up to work in nurseries so there should be work available because they had little ones in July.
Think I will do some investigating tomorrow and find out if their parents are looking for a new minder.

[mum67]

KateA does the £4 include anything or are there extra's like lunch etc?

[natlou82]

I took on shift workers, 1 dayers, before and after schoolers, they all fit together like a jigsaw and I love it like this. Different combinations of children, every day is different and a little one I originally took on for 1 day a week is now a 3 day a week contract. I would never wait for the perfect client, cause they may not exist, good luck :-)

[natlou82]

By the way I don't have any full timers but I am busy Mon - Fri :-)

[tulip0803]

I am full of part-timers. I prefer part-timers as when I started I had siblings 5 days (one LO, one school age) siblings 4 days (one LO, one school age) and they both gave notice in the same month (redundancy and other mum decided she could get more on benefits):( - I had to work in a pub during the evenings to bring money in and still be available to take children on. I have one 33 hours over 4 days and another 21 hours over 5 days and they are as close to full-time as I have - never been asked for full-time since those first ones in 2001.

[mum67]

Brilliant advice. Thank you natlou82 and tulip0803, I would like a variety of different children on different days and will advertise differently now and take whatever comes.

Thanks again :)

[mum67]

Sorry missed some of my post off there, thought I'd edited before posting.
Yes I would like a variety of children and different days as I said but was worried it wouldn't work for me but now thanks to you two I can see it would.:)
Thanks again

[natlou82]

Good luck I do hope you have better luck, I can see that like me you are trying so hard to make your business a success :-)

[vickylou]

I'm in Manchester and my fees are £3.70 ph. £32 a day and I can't fill my vacancies!!! Don't know which area of Manchester you are, I'm in Flixton.

[mum67]

Central Manchester vickylou, wow so it isn't really the fees then is it.
I paid for a logo and flyer design a couple of weeks ago and the bloke messed me about, he sent a draft which I asked him to tweak and he kept saying he'd sent it through email, funny enough all the emails he sent saying it had been sent got through but none with the design work. so that put me back a bit, now I am thinking of taking him to the small claims court, paid him upfront (before I spent the money) because my son knows him and used him a lot for his design work but he started doing j**** plus and his work drifted.

Just fed up of being let down, my DO, this designer, parents who say they want something and then just drop hours/days as if I don't matter, I feel as if I'm letting my own children down, this was for us all to spend more time together and do more, but I seem to see less of them even though I'm at home trying to get this up and running.

New day tomorrow, oops today, gonna get my mojo back and crack on.
Thanks guys your all the best:thumbsup:

[mum67]

vickylou do you include food or charge extra?

[Vikki5531]

vickylou do you include food or charge extra?

I'm in Higher Blackley and I've only been registered a couple of months. I charge £3.50 per hour and £30 for a full day and my fees include food. At the minute, this is working out nicely, as only 1 of the mindees stays for dinner and he's only 10 months old :)

I've got 2 part timers and 2 school kids, but as I'm new, I don't want to take on anymore until I feel more confident.

However, I'm still getting enquiries from word of mouth and childcare.co.uk Xx

[mum67]

Thanks for that Vikki1531. Definately revising my fees and join childcare.co.uk.
I'm going to drop my fees and put in place a note that fees will be revised with the new tax year, just to get started and hopefully it will pan out like others that I have a couple at a time. Like you I don't want too many too soon, it's enough when my grandkids and nephews come round and their family, eyes in the back of my head and backside are needed:laughing: