Increasing fees

[alfie]

We will be open for two years in September and have decided to put our fees up. Our childminders business has increased so much so, we have had to take on a part time staff member. We do not advertise and we have a waiting list, which is great. Our fees are presently £4.00 hr - £4.00 breakfast club and £4.00 after school club to 4.30pm and £10.00 to 6.00pm we give them breakfast and a snack tea. Is it unreasonable to charge £5.00 hr and £11.00 after school to 6pm.

Thanking you

[AgentTink]

I personally think it is a big jump from 4 to 5 pounds per hour, particularly if you wanted to increase current clients rates. As a family using you for a full day this would be an increase of £10 per day which is a big increase and some families may not be able to afford it.

On the other hand you could just charge any new clients this rate. On this basis you would need to look at your area and what other child carers cost and if you are higher have a unique selling point which may attract to customers to not based solely on your price.

The £1 increase for after school price seems reasonable if current parents given fair notice.

[Maza]

I agree with AgentTink.

I only ever have the courage to increase my fees when I take on new clients, but that's just me. I'm a wuss. x

[JCrakers]

I think £1ph is a big increase. Look at how much the child is attending. If they are full time then that could be an increase of £10 per day (£50 per week if they attend 5 days and over £200 a month) Parents may feel its a bit high all at once.

I'm thinking of putting my prices up too.
I started childminding in 2007 at £3ph. I put them up to £3.50 in 2010 and now I'm feeling that £3.65 is a fair rise. This price includes a cold tea and snacks/drinks throughout. It also includes toddler groups which are £20 a month out of my wage.

[Simona]

We will be open for two years in September and have decided to put our fees up. Our childminders business has increased so much so, we have had to take on a part time staff member. We do not advertise and we have a waiting list, which is great. Our fees are presently £4.00 hr - £4.00 breakfast club and £4.00 after school club to 4.30pm and £10.00 to 6.00pm we give them breakfast and a snack tea. Is it unreasonable to charge £5.00 hr and £11.00 after school to 6pm.

Thanking you

To keep your business sustainable we need to review fees regularly
You could put this in your contract: fees are reviewed yearly on...whatever month....coming into effect the following month
If you do not increase them that is fine ...if you do then parents have had notice
If your clients know in advance then they will not be surprised...a small amount is ok as our business costs are increasing all the time even if inflation is now zero%...training will be a big cost for providers in future.

Keep in mind that parents get plenty of help from the govt....plus their wages rise with the Minimum Wage every year
Also remember we subsidise their 15 hours of so called free education
Keep your business in mind at all times...a small increase is acceptable if you do it every year

[lollipop kid]

I charge parents for 4 weeks care at a time, so started to give parents a batch invoice (that is, an invoice covering the next 4 months) so that they have advance notice of my payment dates.

This gave me the opportunity to tell parents that, from January 2015, I was putting up my rates by £5 per day across the board (my first rate rise since I started childminding in 2008).

Parents were totally fine with this as, effectively, they had about 4 months notice of the rate rise.

(I believe a couple of my parents used this information to shop around - I saw their adverts on Childcare.co.uk - but they decided to stay with me at the end of the day. Furthermore, the same parents have since taken additional days for their children with me, so I must be doing something right. As I said, although I saw their adverts, I didn't let the parents know that I was aware of these. I just went with the flow as I believe in what I offer the children I look after, and I am really glad the children stayed. But be prepared that any rate rise is a risk, as it might just trigger existing parents to look around, as they are just trying to do what is best for their child and their family.)

Hope this helps,

L