How much to charge in Mississauga & any tips?

[Inspired by Reggio]

Congratulations on your new endeavor!

What to charge is going to vary vastly on your area - the going rate in MY area is on average between $150 - 200 a week for full time care depending on demand in the area of the city, program style or niche, provider experience, etc.

If you want to see if your projected fee is 'competitive' I would put your postal code into the search engine on Daycarebear and see what providers in your area are charging.

I would also call around and find out what centres and other types of programs offering a similar service charge.

When calling centres and looking at ads on here - try to determine 'demand' for this service - are there A LOT of ads with providers seeking clients or only a few - do centres have waitlists and so forth ... because if the demand is LOW for service in your area it will take you a LONG time to fill up specially being new because even being a 'teacher' with experience cleints are going to be wary of your reliability as to whether you will STAY in business or give up after a few months because sadly this is the things clients are told when seeking care 'beware the newbie'

Once you have an idea of the 'average' fees in your area and demand I would than sit down and think about what you want to offer to the crew and what expenses that will incur ... what do you want to budget for food, creative art and other program supplies, any field trips and outings, advertizing and office expenses, professional development for your business, increase in cost of gas / hydro from doing business in your home, insurance ryder etc in order to feel proud of the program you offer and competitive to others in your area ... and and than figure out what you need to EARN after those expenses to make staying home viable option for you .... how many children will you need to have at the above fee to be viable cause IMO if you must be FULL at all times you might want to reconsider as that is not realistic - even when your program is amazing and there is a demand there are going to be times between one child leaving and another starting where you have no income in that space .... you want to make sure your FEES are going to cover for those times to have a buffer for putting $$$ into a business savings account for rainy day, taxes, if you are sick and so forth.

Good luck on your new venture ... truly is the best job in the world being self employed doing what we do

[powderwing]

Thanks for this advice! I really appreciate it.