Unsure about raising your daycare rates?
Worried raising daycare rates will hurt (rather than help) your daycare business?
Well, you're not alone.
Statistically, 95% of all daycare providers worry raising their daycare rates will lead to parents withdrawing their children from care.
But, with careful planning you can raise your rates and keep up with the cost of inflation.
However, the key is to know when (and how) to raise your daycare rates.
In general, here are the WORST times of year to raise daycare rates (and what you can do about it):
#1. Before your daycare has been open for a year.
Raising your daycare rates before your daycare has been open for a year comes across as a quick money grab to parents and may do more to hurt (rather than help) your business.
Rather than raise your daycare rates 3, 6, or 9 months after opening use the first year to build your daycare business and reputation and strategically plan to raise your daycare rates the following year.
#2. In January, at the start of a new year.
While January may seem like the best time to raise daycare rates, strategically January is one of the worst months to raise daycare rates as many families are still recovering from holiday spending.
#3. In June, halfway through the year.
June marks the start of summer and many parents, see a rise in the cost of living (food, child extracurricular activities) for the months of June and July. Raising daycare rates during the month of June may lead parents to look for alternate care.
#4. In the months of November & December (around Thanksgiving, or Christmas).
Holidays are a special time for families and any childcare rate increase during the holiday season runs the risk of alienating families and can cause many daycare parents to withdraw their children through care.
So, when is the best time to raise childcare rates?
Typically, the two best times to raise daycare rates is in Spring (2-3 weeks before Easter) or late summer/early fall (mid-August to mid September).
For more information on the best time to raise daycare rates, check out the following blog article:
THE BEST TIME TO RAISE DAYCARE RATES
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