CM Club: Advise please - fees & charging

[KatyMac]

I am re-writing my brochure

How does this sound

"As we has become better known and popular, we have move towards not charging an hourly rate and now calculate our hours monthly (per calendar month, pcm). We are open between 7:30 am and 6:00 pm for 50 weeks of the year and there are no additional charges for meals.

These are: Fee pcm
8am until 12noon £ 62.50
1pm until 5pm £ 62.50
6 hours (with either lunch or dinner) £ 93.50
8 Hours (may include 2 meals) £116.00
10 Hours (including 2 meals) £145.00

So 2 full days would cost £290 pcm, and 3 and a half days £497.50 pcm. Please contact us for non-standard sessions.

Fees are due monthly and payable by bank transfer or standing order."

I think you may need to clarify the pricing a bit more.

For example, 8am to 12 noon 5 days per week, isn't £62.50 per month (is it?), but 8am to 12 noon 1 day per week, per month is £62.50 - sounds more realistic.

"As we has become better known and popular, we have move towards not charging an hourly rate and now calculate our hours monthly (per calendar month, pcm). We are open between 7:30 am and 6:00 pm for 50 weeks of the year and there are no additional charges for meals.

These are (per day): Fee pcm
8am until 12noon £ 62.50
1pm until 5pm £ 62.50
6 hours (with either lunch or dinner) £ 93.50
8 Hours (may include 2 meals) £116.00
10 Hours (including 2 meals) £145.00

So 2 full days would cost £290 pcm, and 3 and a half days £497.50 pcm. Please contact us for non-standard sessions.

Fees are due monthly and payable by bank transfer or standing order."

Is that better or does it still need clarification?

Or should I add in "5 mornings would be £312.50"?

I don't know how to phrase it... it's a tricky one. But I like the concept

As it is your brochure, you can include as much information in it as you like - so why not just put down lots of examples, based on what your current clients require.

Has CIS given you any guidance as to how much data the Cost field on iCHiS can contain? (iCHiS is the system used by a lot of CIS, data published on ChildcareLink).

Yeh - an hourly rate

How about
"As we has become better known and popular, we have move towards not charging an hourly rate and now calculate our hours monthly (per calendar month, pcm). We are open between 7:30 am and 6:00 pm for 50 weeks of the year and there are no additional charges for meals.

These are (per day): Fee pcm
8am until 12noon £ 62.50
1pm until 5pm £ 62.50
6 hours (with either lunch or dinner) £ 93.50
8 Hours (may include 2 meals) £116.00
10 Hours (including 2 meals) £145.00

So 2 full days would cost £290 pcm, 5 mornings would be £312.50, and 3 and a half days £497.50 pcm. Please contact us for non-standard sessions.
Fees are due monthly and payable by bank transfer or standing order."

1 Morning Per Week (8 am - 12 noon) : £62.50 Per Month
2 Mornings Per Week (8 am - 12 noon) : £125 Per Month
1 Day Per Week (8am - 6pm) : £145 Per Month
2 Days Per Week (8am - 6pm) : £290 Per Month
3 Days Per Week (8am - 6pm) : £435 Per Month

Could in theory list all possible combinations.

Small space - I have already over run

The field can contain more than just an Hourly rate.

Example:
Childminder (Mrs Hatton - Caister-on-sea, Norfolk)
£3.50 Per Hour
£35.00 Per Day
£175.00 Per Week

Clever you

Gosh maybe my rates are too low

Small Space? A digital brochure can be as big as you like - so no need to worry about space for something on your website.
If the Printed brochure you are doing is say a 3-Fold A4 Double Sided, then list perhaps list the popular examples and ask them to call or visit website for more details.

I've sent it to you

I can't fit anymore in

Good idea about the website

Or consider a bigger printed brochure... many years back I used to do an A5 sized printed brochure. A4 page double sided = 4 sides once folded. Cheap and easy to produce at home on a inkjet printer. May even have the MS Word template around somewhere... it's just 2 column A4 landscape.

You may need to do different format of pricing for CIS and for the brochure - so parents can compare pricing better. So Half Day, Full Day, Week etc.

That is 4 sides - isn't it?

Thanks, got the e-mail.
How are you intending to print the brochure? When do you need it by (I'm not working the next few evenings, so could have a play with layout if you like)?
I got 4 pages... but I can't see one which is the clear starting page. Is the brochure meant to read like a book, or is page going to be used separately?

Well when I print it out

page 1 & 2 are the inside
Page 4 is the front & page 3 is the back - but that's on my printer

I'm only about 4 weeks behind atm - so no hurry

Katy I had a heart attack to start with didnt notice the PCM and thought you were charging £62.50 a morning

I wish - that does worry me - that people won't read it (not you - prospective parents)

Nick I would appreciate any suggestions - but I'm off to bed now. I'll catch you soon?

shoshe has raised a good point - parents looking at several childminders may be thinking hourly rates, and thus be confused.

While I like the monthly idea, it is going against the usual method of advertising an hourly rate. Being the first in a market to change pricing structure is hard - it may work, it may not. It's a risk.

Parents I feel are more likely to want to know a monthly cost, as most parents who work will be paid monthly. But will those parents shop around childminders based on price? Will they find it confusing not knowing an hourly equivalent rate?

Take the risk and see how it goes I suppose. You may change the entire way that childcare (at least in your area) is priced.

I charge £3.50 per hour for part-timers like b4 and after schoolers , £25 per day (under 5's), £20 per day (over 5's in hols) or £115 per week full time school hols with reductions for siblings.

These include lunches and snacks, also covers fuel costs, wear and tear of house and material costs for activities.

I live in Tameside, Greater Manchester which has a high proportion of low paid workers so I try to keep my prices affordable but at the same time cost effective.

Are there any other cms that charge more or less the same as myself?

I charge a bit more Mum2luke - but I guess we are in different areas

I am trying to find a different (perhaps more relevant) way of charging

I could put "approximates to £3.50-£3.75 phr" but that brings in the whole BH/holiday thing again - because that affects the cost

Katymac - Have sent you a revised version of the brochure you sent me.

Have separated out fees for Part-Time and Full-Time. It now seems to read a lot clearer, hope you agree.

I think getting away from an hourly rate is a great idea. It's just going to take some persistence in getting the message across to parents, CIS etc.

Thanks Nick - I will have a play - it does look better, I'll just have to see if it fits

Have a play with the latest version I sent... it is still on 4 pages, just reordered a little. Have fun playing with the layout - I'm going to make some supper, as I ate early with the children today and I'm feeling hungry.

Hi, I know we are concentrating on the prices but the opening paragraph needs modifying e.g
As we has(have) become better known and popular, we have move(d) towards not charging an hourly rate - hope this helps!