Rate increase amount

[Judy Trickett]

Don't take this the wrong way. I think all daycare providers deserve to be paid fairly and if everyone started out at the same rate we wouldn't even have nickel and dimer parents or providers because daycare would just be whatever cost the market dictates in your area.

Now, here is the part where I say, don't take this the wrong way...............

I ALWAYS warn parents looking for care away from providers who start out undercutting everyone else in town. Because one of two things ALWAYS happens. Either the provider will quit because she is not making a sufficient profit to pay for her own living expenses or, as in your case, they increase the fees to a level that is comparable to their market. Either way the parents WILL and DO lose out on that "cheaper" care that lured them in in the first place.

Parents WILL be upset - at least some of them. Some of them might even leave. But, as much as I do think it is the providers "fault" (and I use that term loosely) for not anticipating a fair and equitable fee it is also the parents's faults too for taking on care that is so obviously cheaper than the going market value. They assume some risk by choosing the cheapest provider in the city.

The short answer is live and learn. You have now learned from your past mistakes of offering too low a fee for what you do. Now you are fixing your mistake and moving on. The parents are learning that cheaper care isn't really worth the risk and that all daycare comes at a cost because that cost is necessary.

You change your fees and move on - with our without your current families.