Where to start

[Soper757]

I am pre reg and have a lady interested in starting her 9 month old with me from January! She is aware obviously that I may not be registered but have told her I will keep her in the loop. However, fees and charges and holidays are things I haven't set in stone yet. I am going to charge £4ph as a standard hourly charge as ths is an average of my area, I am wondering what you all do with regards to drop offs and pick ups. Weekend care and working through holidays?Just an idea to guide me! Thank you

[moggy]

What do you mean about drop-offs and pick-ups? Do you mean you going to a family's house to pick-up/drop-off?? Eek... that can be tricky, best avoided. Usually the family drop off at your house and pick up from your house.

This is how I do it:

You need to decide what are your standard opening hours/days- like 8am-6pm Mon to Thurs, or whatever, the hours you are happy to do week in week out. Those will be charged at £4.

Then, think about hours before and after that and on other days of the week- are you willing to work those sometimes? (by prior arrangement). Those you can call 'unsocial hours'. So a family may want a 7am start 1 day a week. Or an occasional Sat morning. For these 'unsocial hours' I would charge double. Some might charge x1.5. You need to decide.

Then decide if you are going to work bank holidays- never? only if they pay enough?! Some still charge even if closed, some do not charge and never open, some will work them but only for x2 fees- doesn't really matter as long as you are clear and consistent.

Holidays- there is eternal debate on this one and again there is no right or wrong, just differences and you need to be clear to parents when they sign up. Some charge 50% when they are closed and 50% when parents take holiday- but you must set a max weeks year or a family might decide to take a 6mth break leaving you with only half income! Some do not charge for their own holiday and charge 100% for mindees holiday. Some charge 100% for mindee holidays and 50% for their own holiday (up to a max per year). I find it easier to say to families they can take as much holiday as they want but it will be charged at 100% normal fees, that way I do not need to keep track of their time off when I write invoices and they can take last minute days as holiday whenever they want.

Term time or working all year? If you are closed all school hols and will not work at all, I think it is usual not to charge for the hols. If you are working all school hols and you take on a term-time only you might charge 50% in the school hols to 'keep the place' as you might not be able to fill the place in the hols. Make sure you are clear what happens for inset days and school closure days (snow etc).

And are you including food, nappies, wipes, outings?

[Soper757]

What do you mean about drop-offs and pick-ups? Do you mean you going to a family's house to pick-up/drop-off?? Eek... that can be tricky, best avoided. Usually the family drop off at your house and pick up from your house.

This is how I do it:

You need to decide what are your standard opening hours/days- like 8am-6pm Mon to Thurs, or whatever, the hours you are happy to do week in week out. Those will be charged at £4.

Then, think about hours before and after that and on other days of the week- are you willing to work those sometimes? (by prior arrangement). Those you can call 'unsocial hours'. So a family may want a 7am start 1 day a week. Or an occasional Sat morning. For these 'unsocial hours' I would charge double. Some might charge x1.5. You need to decide.

Then decide if you are going to work bank holidays- never? only if they pay enough?! Some still charge even if closed, some do not charge and never open, some will work them but only for x2 fees- doesn't really matter as long as you are clear and consistent.

Holidays- there is eternal debate on this one and again there is no right or wrong, just differences and you need to be clear to parents when they sign up. Some charge 50% when they are closed and 50% when parents take holiday- but you must set a max weeks year or a family might decide to take a 6mth break leaving you with only half income! Some do not charge for their own holiday and charge 100% for mindees holiday. Some charge 100% for mindee holidays and 50% for their own holiday (up to a max per year). I find it easier to say to families they can take as much holiday as they want but it will be charged at 100% normal fees, that way I do not need to keep track of their time off when I write invoices and they can take last minute days as holiday whenever they want.

Term time or working all year? If you are closed all school hols and will not work at all, I think it is usual not to charge for the hols. If you are working all school hols and you take on a term-time only you might charge 50% in the school hols to 'keep the place' as you might not be able to fill the place in the hols. Make sure you are clear what happens for inset days and school closure days (snow etc).

And are you including food, nappies, wipes, outings?

Thank you! I am including food and outings.... but parents must provide wipes and nappies. What do you mean about school closure days like snow or training days? If they close why or how would it affect me? I feel naive!

Drop off and pick ups... i meant to and from school sorry!!

[moggy]

If you have a child before and after school Mon-Fri, then if a particular Mon is an inset day then who is going to have the child? You because it is a Monday? or the parent because you only do before/after school care? See the issue?! Same if school is closed due to snow/gas leak/teacher strike/voting etc.

What about to and from school for pick ups? Are you asking about the rate to charge for before/after school care?

[Soper757]

If you have a child before and after school Mon-Fri, then if a particular Mon is an inset day then who is going to have the child? You because it is a Monday? or the parent because you only do before/after school care? See the issue?! Same if school is closed due to snow/gas leak/teacher strike/voting etc.

What about to and from school for pick ups? Are you asking about the rate to charge for before/after school care?

Yes totally with you and this has all helped alot!!! Yes not really sure if i should do a breakfast club charge and then an after school club charge. Otherwise I could be taking almost 2 hours a day doing drop to and from school for pennies. How do you do these? thanks!

[bunyip]

I do flat fees for before and after school:-
£10 for before or after school, including up to 2 hours' care and breakfast or tea if they are here when it is served.
£15 for before and after school, including up to 3 hours' care and breakfast and tea if they are here when it is served.

These are my fees and suit me; they are not an 'industry norm.' You'll need to work out terms and prices that suit you.

I do this to avoid all the arguments about children being here more/less time or whether they do/not require feeding. I used to (what do I mean "used to" - I still do) get some bonkers enquiries, and mums will do anything too cut the cost. Typical negotiations include arguments such as 'sibling discount', as if 2 siblings are less trouble than 2 unrelated children (IME they're more trouble); or "you're already going to school to collect Billy Smith, so it won't cost you any extra too collect m yBobby too, therefore you needn't charge me full price, eh?"

The final straw was the mum who wanted to pay me £1 for the school run, because it'd take me 15 minutes: collect from her house at 0845, walk to school and wait for the bell to go. Her maths was right, based on my hourly rate, but it's simply not worth it, especially when you consider the time taken to get to and from the job, and the disruption to the EY children to go out for such a school run.

Therefore, I'd suggest a fixed fee, and stick to it with no discussions.

[bunyip]

Btw, it's good that you're thinking ahead: it means you're prepared for most situations before they arise.

One tip, on the same theme: don't over-commit now then regret it later.

It's very easy to bend over backwards for your first client or two and promise them the Earth. The new CM is typically eager for business, desperate to please and build a reputation, and has no other clients to fit things around. But beware, because you'll set the agenda for future by what you do now.

I know several CMs who happily agreed to pick up/drop off at home for their first mindee. It soon became a royal PITA when every new client wanted the same service and it was totally unworkable. Weekends and shifts are a similar issue, particularly as weekend/shift workers struggle to find a CM, so they'll gladly jump at a newbie who's offering this. Trouble is, what you commit to now will affect who you can take on later, and this make it impossible to fill your numbers as much as you'd like. Having been a shift-worker, I would love to take on weekend clients, but I don't want to work 7 days a week. But if I decide to work, frinstance Wednesday-Sunday every week, I'll have to turn away a whole lot of future enquiries who want Monday-Friday IYSWIM.

Hope it all goes well.