finleysmaid Posted May 16, 2019 Posted May 16, 2019 So for the last 2 years we have implemented a 5 am/5 pm or 5 full day rule for bookings. This has worked quite well to protect our funds but we are now at a point that we would like to try and be more flexible with new parents I am considering charging a higher fee for doing less hours.....so for 3 sessions say £20 and then for 4 sessions £17 etc...has anyone done anything like this and have any info?
Stargrower Posted May 16, 2019 Posted May 16, 2019 Not sure I understand (so in other words, we don't do this! )] Wouldn't people just do more hours if it costs less??
finleysmaid Posted May 16, 2019 Author Posted May 16, 2019 2 hours ago, Stargrower said: Not sure I understand (so in other words, we don't do this! )] Wouldn't people just do more hours if it costs less?? not sure I have even sorted it out in my own head We are having some parents who are taking up paid sessions (so under 3's) they would like to attend for 3 sessions (which we currently do not offer...only 5) I am happy for them to attend 3 if they wish but we cannot afford to have 2 sessions empty. So I was wondering if we might charge a premium if they only wanted 3.... If they wanted 4 then the premium would be less as we only lose on one session. Once funded they take 5 Clear as mud????? 1
louby loo Posted May 16, 2019 Posted May 16, 2019 I understand First I want to point out I originally read your post that you off 5am - 5pm... blimey I thoughts that's an early start! Anyway- we offer whatever they want, so I can't really help. If we made them do 5 paid sessions we probably wouldn't have any of fee paying children.
finleysmaid Posted May 16, 2019 Author Posted May 16, 2019 18 minutes ago, louby loo said: I understand First I want to point out I originally read your post that you off 5am - 5pm... blimey I thoughts that's an early start! Anyway- we offer whatever they want, so I can't really help. If we made them do 5 paid sessions we probably wouldn't have any of fee paying children. Thanks louby loo it might be a bit of madness kicking in after the day ive had ! We have insisted on the 5 and actually after a few moans most have decided they like it (its also a lot easier for the staff!) we had two who decided not to attend because we said they must do 5...one went to a local playgroup for one session a week , so don't feel I missed much there! I suppose you could look at it like a hotel room...the more days you stay the more discount you get! 1
thumperrabbit Posted May 16, 2019 Posted May 16, 2019 We trialled this quite a few years ago but unfortunately at the time we had a few families who were paying for 5 mornings so they weren't too happy! In the end we just did a few 'special offers' a couple of times a year so they didn't lose out too much. 1
zigzag Posted May 17, 2019 Posted May 17, 2019 We don’t do this, our parents can take up as many sessions as they want. I do however try and deter people from just doing one session. We live in a very rural area and to be honest if we implemented this, people would just wait until the children were funded. I think in these financially difficult times we all have to make changes to continue to operate and I don’t think parents understand the difficulties that we all face to make ends meet. 1
Stargrower Posted May 17, 2019 Posted May 17, 2019 Ah yes I see what you mean now Finleysmaid (sometimes takes a while with me!) I guess you could trial it and see what the response is. When my nephews went to nursery in London, there was such a demand for places that you had to pay for a full time place (as in 8am - 6pm Mon - Fri) no matter how many days you wanted!
finleysmaid Posted May 17, 2019 Author Posted May 17, 2019 3 hours ago, Stargrower said: Ah yes I see what you mean now Finleysmaid (sometimes takes a while with me!) I guess you could trial it and see what the response is. When my nephews went to nursery in London, there was such a demand for places that you had to pay for a full time place (as in 8am - 6pm Mon - Fri) no matter how many days you wanted! yes some of our competitors operate like this....any often they are full year too!
sunnyday Posted May 17, 2019 Posted May 17, 2019 Actually fm that all makes perfect sense to me - why not 'give it a go' 1
lynned55 Posted May 20, 2019 Posted May 20, 2019 I would like to offer 5 AM or PM sessions but worry about forcing five sessions on people when they cannot afford it. We do live in a fairly affluent area but seem to be getting more and more coming in saying I only want 15 hours. In fact we seem to have a clear divide now with half our group from 2 parent both working & the others from either 1 parent and/or Mum at home. Times are certainly a-changing
MarshaD Posted May 25, 2019 Posted May 25, 2019 Yes we too offer what parents want and push for a minimum of two. Would lose too many if we didn’t. Only one of my exclusively private parents takes five sessions. We also offer three, five, six hour sessions, whole days and extended days. If you already fill on five days sounds like you can afford to give it a try. Good idea. Might give it a try myself next fee rise.
finleysmaid Posted May 25, 2019 Author Posted May 25, 2019 The other option is to have a flat fee for the week and they can book for 3/4or 5 but still pay the same!! (£75 approximately at the moment is the thought)
louby loo Posted May 26, 2019 Posted May 26, 2019 On 25/05/2019 at 11:58, finleysmaid said: The other option is to have a flat fee for the week and they can book for 3/4or 5 but still pay the same!! (£75 approximately at the moment is the thought) We can't be that fussy- or we'd lose a lot of children. We have a minimum of 2 sessions, most do more and once funded most do the full 15 + hours. We've had a couple of two year olds lately asking for 1 session we agreed as we had space (and one was better than nothing) ...... within two weeks both had 'upped' their sessions once the parents found they liked the free time to themselves! These children will usually stay with us a long time and once funded end up doing the full 15 hours so helps us to plan occupancy longterm. 2
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