Quote Originally Posted by nschildcare View Post
cfred... the one month's fees you receive upfront: does that go towards their first month of care or that is the deposit they are paying for you to initially accept them and hold the spot?

I wish I could do this. I have told people that the longest I will hold a spot is 2 months without pay. No one has ever jumped on that to hold a spot, lol.

I think your area will factor in heavily. How many home daycares there are in your area, what you are offering, hours, availability, rates, etc.
The one months fees are held against their final month of care. However, should they give up the spot, they forfeit that right and the money. The $200/mo is just money in my pocket. I used that amount to test the waters. I intend to raise that in the future...probably to $400.

My neighbourhood has several home daycares. One is 3 doors over from me in the same townhouse block. Another is a 5 min walk around the corner. I think there's another right on my street as well, not to mention there are 2 daycare centres in schools (one primary and one highschool) - one of them is on the other side of my back yard fence, the other you can see from my driveway. This neighbourhood is saturated with daycares! In this area I think you're right...it comes down to specific services offered, hours and the stars aligning