fees

[debbie1]

H1 all, i live in rhyl and when i am registered i will be looking at charging 3.50ph8 to 6 also Bank holidays and some weekends, this fee will include 3 meals and 2 snacks, i was a deputy manager of a local nursery and the parents have been fantastic giving me references, reading through parent pack i have been drawing up, but one said she thinks i should charge less as the nursery is only down the road from where i live so i will be in competition with them, i feel this is a fair price as i still have all my costs and outings for the children, what do you all think, i dont think parents would work for £3.50 ph. Any advice is welcomed. Debbie

[aly]

I wouldnt work on nursery prices....have a look on the FIS site and childcare.co.uk and see what the local cms charge. Im the other side of caerphilly and the rates here are 3.50-4.00.

weekend and bank hols are more so dont go under charging for those.

xx

[tulip0803]

I am in south west wales and charge £3.30ph 8-6 mon-friday. I charge £5 ph weekends,bank hols and out of hours, £6 out of hours on weekends and bank hols.

You have to remember that you are offering a lower adult:child ratio than the nursery and that you are able to be more flexible.

Look at the prices that other childminders inyour area charge

[jane5]

If you undercut what you think you are worth and what the local minders charge you will regret it later.

You are not in competition with the nursery as childminders and nurseries offer totally different care and some parents like the nursery set up and some prefer a home from home set up.

Charge what you think is right

[lolli_pop243]

My thoughts on this are that your costs are different from the nursery down the road, and NO!!!! They are definitely not competition for you. Your hours are different, and you are in a much smaller setting, therefore the care and attention you will be able to provide to your mindees will be different as well.

As a working parent, I need care for my daughter from 7.00AM-7.00PM during the week and on most Saturdays of the year. When I looked into it, I rang the local nursery, but they couldn't provide that for me, and although I could have rearranged my work to suit different hours- they said they couldn't even do pick up or drop off at the school 'cos it's "too far" from them-barely a 10 minute walk.

Don't be swayed by what other people think you might be worth. To a parent, good childcare is worth it's weight in gold. For me, it is all about making sure my daughter is safe, and happy where I leave her-the price is something that I consider after those two things have been met.

Sorry I have rambled on, but hope this helps you!

[debbie1]

Thank you so much for your replies, it just made me doubt myself, i know i am worth that fee and yes i am offering flexibility, i have rang round a few childminders and they said 22.50 per day!!!!!!! no food as they didnt want to do food hygiene !!!!!! another thing thank you for saying more for bank hols as i was still going to charge same for them and weekends, hope i can get some children at the end of this lol... Debbie

[manjay]

I am in Flintshire Debbie and I charge £3.60 per hour or £32 for a full day. This includes snacks and drinks but lunch is extra. I know when I started I pitched myself a little higher than the other 2 childminders in my village but they have gradually increased theirs to be in line with mine. I do have a Nursery near by but as the others said I offer a very different service to them and so don't really see them as competition. £22.50 for a 10 hour day works out at £2.25 an hour which for me is very cheap!

Registering as a food business was thorough but for me (as a very foody person) it was worth it to allow the children not only to have meals here but also to eat all the goodies I make

[debbie1]

Thank you Manjay for your reply i love to cook as well and want to bake with the children so i was always going for the food hygiene certificate, but i would also have thought that you would need it to preopare food brought in from home if you are handling it, and thank you Lolli pop, i hope to get parents like you in the future Debbiex