HELP! Advice from experienced CM's re charging for part-time flexi shifts needed please!

[surfandturf]

Hi all,

I was wondiering if some of you 'oh wise' CM's can advise me what to do about charging for some potential clients?

I haven't started minding yet but am hoping expecting Ofsted will be round within the next few weeks so I've been busy trying to line up some business so that I can get started as soon as possible.

3 families I've have interested at the moment are:

2 year old (full-time) and 4 year old (before and after school only)

14 month old (mum will be working 2 full days per week. She is hoping to be able to give me 1 set day per week, but the 2nd day could vary from week to week)

8 month old (this parent works 11 days per calendar month which incudes some evenings and weekends but she will only require childcare during the hours which fall within a normal working week i.e. 8am-5pm Mon-Fri) Again the days she will need care will not be the same days each week but she can let me know which days they will be up to 3 weeks in advance.

I'm happy to take on all of these children but am a little concerned about the last one as 11 days per month is not a big commitment and potentially some months she may not need my help for the full 11 days which would leave me short financially that month. I would really like to be able to help everyone out plus all these babies will stop me getting broody but I will be running a business and need to be able to pay my bills each month!

Would it be unreasonable to ask her to pay a minimum of 11 days per month anyway and then I still get paid even if she doesn't use the hours?

I'm finding it difficult as obviously I don't want to turn potential work away, but if I get any other enquiries I wouldn't be able to take them on as I have 2 children of my own (aged 4 and 5) who would be with me after school and there is a possibility that occasionally I could end up caring for all these children on the same day which would mean I would be up to my maximum numbers. Arghhhh!!!!!!!

How would you go about it?

I personally wouldn't take on any children that didn't have set days each week. If you take on these types of family, you may get another family come along and says they want a set amount of days each week and you can't do it as you have committed yourself to doing flexible hours/days. You can't help everyone and if you are already getting enquires then the work is def out there and you need to wait for the right families that suit your business. Don't shoot yourself in the foot and restrict your week with odd bits here and there. Hope that helps!!!!

Thanks Rudgey, I thought that might be the advice I'd get

Frustratingly, I've just had yet another enquiry again with no set days .

I think it's because I live near a hospital and an airport so it might be that the nature of most of my enquiries will be like this.

I bet no other minders in the area will accomodate these requests and now there's a newbie they're all trying their luck with me! Seems a shame to turn away so much interest though

I have cared for shift worker's children in the past. There are various fee structures used by different childminders & you need to decide what you need to earn to be viable. Many childminders would charge both these parents for a FT place as they cannot fill the spaces in between. Others might charge in full for the days used and a retainer (often 50%) for the rest of the week, others might calculate a fixed monthly fee based on x hours & the parents pay the balance if they use more hours.
In my case they needed 10 x 8 hour days pm but this could be 0 days some weeks & up to 4 others . I charged a fixed fee which was the equivalent of 3 x 8 hour days per week, payable in advance. I stipulated I needed to know their rota at least 7 days in advance & any extra hours after the rota had been agreed couldn't be guaranteed. At the end of each month I would calculate how many hours actually used & they would pay for anything over the fixed fee, but didn't get any credit if they used less. It suited me at the time not to be full and to have a 'floating space' as I had a couple of SE parents who would regularly ask for odd extra days or to swap days.

If you live in an area with lots of shift workers you could consider advertising a payg flexi scheme where parents book ad hoc childcare where you have spaces. I do this & charge a higher rate for the space. It works well for me. Again I ask for money when they book & if they cancel its hard luck, no refunds!

Thanks CAH, I think I'm going to offer them a flexi scheme as you've suggested and they can just just the book the time a week or 2 in advance and if I have the space available they can have it or alternatively if they want to guaranted the space they can choose to pay me a retainer. Thanks for helping me get my head around it!

What the others said ... For a possible 11 days per month, she is taking up a full time space, so it's up to you if that is a viable business option for you. Personally, I would not be able to do it, as I need to confirm full time spaces. I do know other CMs who are happy to earn a bit less and work some lighter days and would be quite happy with this arrangement.