To charge £6/hour for childminding in Tunbridge Wells

[pingu2209]

For those of you in the Tunbridge Wells area/villages around. Would you pay £6/hour for childminding?

This would be between 8-6.

Any time outside these hours would be time and a half, based on half hourly increments.

Salad - I don't think I understand your ratio idea.

I don't really either I'm not sure It'd work in practice
I guess when the first interested family come to you you say £6/hr if you want me to keep my ratio down to X:1 on the days we have your child, then I will guarentee never to take X on that day (then you have to find others who will pay £6 on those days), or less/hr if you don't mind me filling my ratio (then you charge everone else interested in that day the less/hr)

Might just be a way to gauge how people feel about more/hr with less kids or less/hr with more kids, once the first few people decide which they prefer then you price everyone else accordingly and do your ratios accordingly???

Lots of parents in that area could easily afford £6 an hour. These aren't necessarily the same parents that would even consider using a childminder. The requirements may have changed but the attitude towards them from some people hasn't. The lip curl from one of my SILs when you mention childminders is something to behold. Amongst her circle of friends it is very much Not The Done Thing. It's seen as normal to use full time nursery care then private school with wrap around care.

Forget that Salad - I do get the ratio idea - it's getting late!

The issue for the childminder is that the work for each additional child increases. The amount of care for each additional child increases. There are no economies of scale for the childminder to be able to pass on to the parents.

I do understand the train of thought that says that it seems unfair for a parent who (say) earns £12/hour gross to pay their childminder £6/hour net. Particularly when the childminder may be looking after 3 children, so is receiving £18/hour, so is infact earning more than each of the individual parents.

However, the £18/hour the childminder is receiving is also a gross income and tax, NI and expenses need to be paid from that. BUT £18/hour gross is still more than the parents £12/hour gross.

Basically ask the first few people who come to check you out whether they prefer small ratio and larger hourly rate, or full ratio and less/hr

(personally actually I think the social aspect is important so would prefer more kids, as even a full CM ratio isn't a lot)

Narked you have a massive point and one that has not gone without previous thought. I know many people who fall into that category. They used the local nursery for when their child was 2+ and then used a private school nursery from 3+ and then used the wrap around care with their child's private school.

Pre age 2 they used a nanny.

This had occured to me.

I'm in south east London and pay 5.50 per hour. That includes all food, activities, toddler groups etc except for nappies and formula. I think we get great value for money - it's the same price as the local nurseries and my son comes home every day with muddy knees from playing in the park, or craft he's made, or big smiles having been to the petting zoo/aquarium or something else really fun and exciting. We get great care and are happy to pay for it.

I think a full childminder ratio is a lot - 6 children in total under 8 is a huge amount, especially on days out.

Most childminders I know have 2-3 children at a time. A few have 4.

I would not want any more than 3. I also wouldn't want just 1. I think it is more fun for 2 children than for 1 child.

I suppose it's about working out how to get the best combo of customers - a good mix. It might be good to ask people what they want from a childminder - number of minders, pets, hours etc and what things they'd prioritise. I'd bet early opening would be the biggest draw. If you'll be dropping your own DC at school anyway, Pre and post school care could work.

I meant it not being a lot in terms of the social aspect for my DCs, not about the work load.
I.e. I'd think a CM with more kids was better value than a CM who ran on a small ratio, as for me the extra kids for DCs to play with adds value IYKWIM

and as ages vary, if they run on small ratios then there might not be similar aged children there at the same time IYKWIM

Mindees. Not minders. Unless you take film stars DC.

i know for my ds1 who was 4 when he was with Cmer, he found it a bit boring at times as the two other children were 9 months (my ds2) and 1 year old so not interesting for him to play with and took up alot of Cmer's times due sto their age and needs. she has actually taken on an assistant now for this reason.

I live in TW and our combined income is good - but we are definitely not minted! I would not be able to afford £6.00 p/h for a childminder. I would not and do not pay this amount and I have excellent childcare with a highly qualified and very experienced CM. I think you are pricing yourself too high, although if you are going to be the only CM in Wadhurst and you say you won't have any competition, so you won't know until you advertise spaces if the cost puts people off.

but conceivably some people might prefer a lower ratio and be willing to pay more for that???

I dunno??

Low ratio wouldn't be something I'd pay more for (even if I could ) but might be something your local families might value?

IfItoldyouiwouldhavetokillyou - how much do you pay for your TW childminder? Are you the Wadhurt side of TW?

I live in TW and pay £5.00 p/h. This includes everything apart from nappies and wipes.

Ifitoldyou. I noticed that there was a difference in the hourly rate between the Tonbridge side of Tunbridge Wells and the Frant/Wadhurst side of Tunbridge Wells. The Frant/Wadhurst side being more expensive for some unknown reason?!

I thought some people may live in the villages and prefer not to have to drive into Tunbridge Wells to the childminder before going to work/commuting. If they wanted they could then drop off at my house and then go to work without hitting city centre traffic. I thought this may give me a premium.

I shouldn't give too hoots what people think but I worry that 'village' life = village gossip. I can imagine I would advertise at £6/hour, which would get a lot of people going. Then if I didn't get any business and drop my fees and then be a bit of a laughing stock.

Maybe...but others will probably think they might as well put their child in the car and take them to a CM close to where they work so that they aren't paying for childcare while they sit in the car. Certainly most parents I know have the childcare near their workplace. There are plenty of CMs and other childcare facilities in TW with places who are charging less than £6.00. Maybe the higher fees in the bottom end of TW (I wasn't aware they are higher) reflect the bigger properties in Frant, Warwick Park etc and perceived higher incomes. Southborough / North TW is not as affluent as those areas. But I don't live in any of those places and I think I pay an average fee for the town as a whole.

If I were you I would advertise at £5.00 p/h and as you become more established and experienced you will be in a stronger position to raise your fees if you know your reputation and a couple of good visits from Ofsted speaks for the quality you can provide. Perhaps to £5.50 after 18 months and then move it to £6.00 eventually.

dont advertise a price, just give it out when people ring to enquire. that way only you and the people enquiring will know what you charge.

As booyhoo says don't advertise your price & if you're getting enquiries but no take up then you can always adjust your prices. I've messaged you as well but suffice to say £6/hr sounds ok & all the c/mindees I know who charge £5-£5.50/hr all add extra for meals (£1-2.25/meal). If you're lucky enough to get someone a full 10 hours they would actually be paying you just 50p more than someone charging £5.50/hr plus £4.50 for meals (& that's not taking into account any extras for activities some charge). Good luck with your new venture.

when I used a CM it was when I had a baby not an older child, and looked around work not around home so their time at the CM was less so if they were unhappy/ill I could get to them quickly, also I BF for ages so a CM near work worked better because it meant I could feed at drop off and not have to express first thing at work IYKWIM

then when he was older I used a nursery near home which was handier for then

so near home/near work both have advantages depending on age of child I think. I think people like to have babies physically/geographically near their work when they first go back to work, then later that doesn't matter so much?

.. and a lot of people where I work use the on site nursery at first, even though they admit that they don't think its necessarily the best in the area (THAT'S an understatement IMO ), but they do like being physically near while at work and even able to pop in

I'm in Sevenoaks, so a similar demographic to TW. £4.50 - £5 ph seems to be the norm around here. It would cost £30k per year to put 2 children with you full time at £6 per hour 7am to 7pm. I'd rather pay a nanny and not have the hassle of drop off and collection. Nurseries around here seem to be around the same level and you do need to be comparable I think.

Some people will probably be happy to pay more for a Rolls Royce service but you are a brand new business with no experience yet. You are totally unproven. In your shoes I'd start with realistic pricing, say £5 ph; you can always increase it for new families if you are proving popular.