Should I do this/ How should I charge?

[Pepperth]

Hi all, I Just received my daycare license, and put out a facebook page, etc. An acquaintance wants to know if I would be willing to do the following. It would be consistent from month to month, but for example, week one is two days of care, week two is three days of care, week three is 4 days of care and week four is three days of care. The kids would be here from 8-2. I have room for 4 kids at this point. She has two children, who would be at that schedule. The problem is that it doesn't leave room for me picking up extra kids when her children are not present since it is inconsistent from week to week. I know she pays through the nose at her current center though, so I am tempted to send her a weekly rate, and average the amount of days they'd be here. It would be nice to have a sure income for now, especially since I'll have 2 spots still open. What would you do?

[Cradle2crayons]

Hi all, I Just received my daycare license, and put out a facebook page, etc. An acquaintance wants to know if I would be willing to do the following. It would be consistent from month to month, but for example, week one is two days of care, week two is three days of care, week three is 4 days of care and week four is three days of care. The kids would be here from 8-2. I have room for 4 kids at this point. She has two children, who would be at that schedule. The problem is that it doesn't leave room for me picking up extra kids when her children are not present since it is inconsistent from week to week. I know she pays through the nose at her current center though, so I am tempted to send her a weekly rate, and average the amount of days they'd be here. It would be nice to have a sure income for now, especially since I'll have 2 spots still open. What would you do?

Since you can't put kids in when hers aren't there, I would charge a full time weekly rate. You should not be the one missing income to accomodate her schedule. If I'm able to insert kids on the days she isn't using, I would discount or give a part time rate. But since she's sort of taking up the whole week, I would charge her accordingly.

[daycare]

Hi all, I Just received my daycare license, and put out a facebook page, etc. An acquaintance wants to know if I would be willing to do the following. It would be consistent from month to month, but for example, week one is two days of care, week two is three days of care, week three is 4 days of care and week four is three days of care. The kids would be here from 8-2. I have room for 4 kids at this point. She has two children, who would be at that schedule. The problem is that it doesn't leave room for me picking up extra kids when her children are not present since it is inconsistent from week to week. I know she pays through the nose at her current center though, so I am tempted to send her a weekly rate, and average the amount of days they'd be here. It would be nice to have a sure income for now, especially since I'll have 2 spots still open. What would you do?

I have Fire Fighters, doctors and nurses on similar schedules and they all have to pay the weekly full time rate. I can't run my business like that. I don't like drop in care and it's not in demand enough here that I would be able to not only find one kid to drop in but two, no way to make up that loss.

I would offer a full time flat weekly rate and nothing else.

[LysesKids]

5 or more hours on any day is considered a full day in most states, plus they overlap lunch into nap time; FT pay because it would be impossible to place someone else into the off hours. Sorry her schedule sucks, but that's why she pays so much at the other place... they can't guarantee getting a drop-in kid on the off days anymore than you could

[Blackcat31]

Hi all, I Just received my daycare license, and put out a facebook page, etc. An acquaintance wants to know if I would be willing to do the following. It would be consistent from month to month, but for example, week one is two days of care, week two is three days of care, week three is 4 days of care and week four is three days of care. The kids would be here from 8-2. I have room for 4 kids at this point. She has two children, who would be at that schedule. The problem is that it doesn't leave room for me picking up extra kids when her children are not present since it is inconsistent from week to week. I know she pays through the nose at her current center though, so I am tempted to send her a weekly rate, and average the amount of days they'd be here. It would be nice to have a sure income for now, especially since I'll have 2 spots still open. What would you do?

If you are in a position to offer care on a variable schedule like that, I would do it BUUUT I would only do it with the FULL understanding that should a full time family come along that wants space, the varying family either pays for a full time slot (whether they use it or not) or they gotta go.

If you are in the business of making money then YOU have to do what YOU have to do to make ends meet.

If you can accommodate her...some money is better than no money but I would never tie myself to a situation that was this complex without some PRE-determined way out when the situation on your end changes. kwim?

[Shell]

If you are in a position to offer care on a variable schedule like that, I would do it BUUUT I would only do it with the FULL understanding that should a full time family come along that wants space, the varying family either pays for a full time slot (whether they use it or not) or they gotta go.

If you are in the business of making money then YOU have to do what YOU have to do to make ends meet.

If you can accommodate her...some money is better than no money but I would never tie myself to a situation that was this complex without some PRE-determined way out when the situation on your end changes. kwim?

Excellent advice

[KSDC]

If you are in a position to offer care on a variable schedule like that, I would do it BUUUT I would only do it with the FULL understanding that should a full time family come along that wants space, the varying family either pays for a full time slot (whether they use it or not) or they gotta go.

If you are in the business of making money then YOU have to do what YOU have to do to make ends meet.

If you can accommodate her...some money is better than no money but I would never tie myself to a situation that was this complex without some PRE-determined way out when the situation on your end changes. kwim?

Put something in your paperwork that spells this out.

[Karena]

I have a contract that agrees with Blackcat's advice, and once you have a contract in place it's easier to make alterations with different circumstances; since this family has two children, you might want to consider offering concrete slots in exchange for other alterations in the area of holiday pay, absences, or personal/vacation time depending on what you already have in place.

[Leigh]

I would charge my full weekly rate for each child. They would be taking up a full space, to they have to pay for that full space.

[AuntTami]

Personally I would love this schedule. But only if she paid for full time spots. Think about it? Full time rate and you only have them 12 out of a possible 20 days per month? One week is only two days!? Yes please! I have a family on a similar schedule but she pays full rate each week. It also opens up a few days if someone does happen to call for a drop in, which i have quite a few of, it opens up a lot of days to make some extra money too..

However, like i, and all PP have said, I would charge full time rate FOR SURE. Chances are she's going to be paying less than what she pays at a center anyways.