Are You an Overworked and Underpaid Home Daycare Owner?

If you're a home daycare provider you may be used to being overworked and underpaid. Depending on how long you have been a home daycare provider you may have just come to accept this as a part of the job. With the recent economic crisis, you may be thinking that there is no way you can charge higher rates for your services. However, there is a very fair and practical way that you can charge higher rates for your home daycare services. Here's how:

1. Care for fewer children.

If you are used to caring for a house full of children, then it may not make sense to you that you can make more money by caring for fewer children. However, there are a certain number of parents that are not looking for a warehouse for their children. They are actively seeking out a home child care provider that has a low limit on how many children she will care for. These parents want the kind of care that a nanny can provide but they may not be able to afford a full-time nanny. By caring for fewer children, you can charge a higher rate because you become more of a private home daycare provider and therefore you will be able to raise your rates accordingly.

All you need to do is set your rates lower than what a private nanny in your area would charge, yet significantly higher than what you charge to care for a house full of children. Imagine only having to exert half as much energy as you do each day, change half as many diapers, prepare half as many meals, but have twice as much love and attention available for each child you care for.

2. Offer premium services.

If you want to charge higher home daycare rates, you will have to change your perspective to that of the parent. Think of those hard-to-find services they greatly desire and are willing to pay for. Here are some options:

A. Date night childcare:

One thing that is very desirable to a busy and overworked parent is time for themselves or a night out with their significant other. Consider the possibility of providing date night childcare on one or two predetermined nights per month. You probably have everything you need on hand already. Pop some popcorn, buy ingredients to make homemade pizza, and pop in a popular children's video. If you care for older children, then you can have a board game night. The parents will enjoy the night out and they will be happy to know that their kids are having a ball while they are safe and care for by a trusted adult.

B. Preschool curriculum.

If you don't already, implement a structured preschool curriculum. You can do this by ordering pre-made kits that include teacher's guides, crafts, and charts. If you don't want to incur the expense of preschool curriculum kits, then it is possible to put the supplies together yourself using free resources on the Internet.

Don't let the recession psyche you out into thinking that you cannot charge higher rates for your home daycare services. Parents are willing to pay extra for your services if you offer an attractive package. People are spending less money overall because of the recession, but they still make room in the budget for things they really want.