Unlicensed home daycare ratios

[Suzie_Homemaker]

I agree with LeeBee. I think initially, when we all begin this journey, we are so focussed on filling the spaces, that we sometimes fail to assess if our actions are the wisest.

I have always only taken full-time children but was saved a lot of lessons from a good friend who had a day care for any years before I opened. I have bent my own rule a couple times over the years - parents on mat leave or those wanting 4 days so grandparents can have a day - and it's always bitten me.

What I would say, is that if you decide to take part-timers, do so in a way that protects your income and your ability to pay bills. There are ways that you can minimise the impact of part timers on your lost days.

Rotating shifts - contract for pay a min of say 3 days a week and if they attend more than three, then they pay the additional days. However, they pay those three days even if they only need 2 days some weeks. Their schedules are usually available a good month in advance so require that. No option for the parent to send their child for the three days unless her schedule reflects that. The financial gain of the occasional three days pay for 2 days work is compensation for the potential loss every week of the unused days.

Higher rates - Don't be afraid to charge a higher daily rate for the additional flexibility of only having to pay for fewer days.

What I think a lot of new providers miss until it's too late, is the understanding of the knock on affect of part-time. If they want say three days a week on Mon, Wed and Fri, that means you have to find a different client to fill Tue and Thurs to have that space at full time capacity. It's quite hard to find someone who wants just two days that happen to be the exact two days you have empty. And then, if one of those two client's leaves, your back in the same situation of finding a new person for those set days. The first ever client you take PT, likely picks the days they want but then you are stuck with that division of the space indefinitely.

Try to think of a full time 5 day space as being a 100% space. If someone comes wanting 2 days, that's a 40% income for a 100% space until you manage to find someone else to slot in. Is 40% income worth it to you or are you better off declining the part timer and waiting for a FT client to come along? If it takes you a year to find someone wanting those empty days, that's a loss of 3 days a week x 52 weeks = 156 days income. That's the equivalent of over 31 weeks FT lost money! It's unlikely if you turn away that PT'er that it will take 31 weeks to find a full time client but it's not unlikely to take a year to find someone who wants the exact three days you have empty.

Think about FT care in your business hours as the basic service. FT care = 100% capacity on each space and the fees are what your area demands and what you need to profit and earn. When you are under capacity due to vacancies or PT empty days you are losing money but working the same hours with fewer children. Anytime a potential client wants to vary your normal service with longer hours, fewer days, etc then you should consider if that requires more than basic fees to make the agreement worth while to you. Don't be afraid to decline a request.