Thinking About Starting In-home Child Care in Leawood, Advice on What to Charge.

A.,

My advice as an advertising a marketing specialist would check the demographics in your area to see if there are enough children with in a 2-10 mile radius of your location to support a high end daycare. Leawood does trend to a higher income level, but my impression is that most residents might not have children who need child care. My other thought is that you need to make sure there are no restrictions on having an in home daycare run out of your home. Even a small number of parents coming and going from your home will increase traffic and draw attention, so be sure your neighbors are OK with your plans.

As a parent who is strapped for money at the moment I personally would not pay the extra money. Our daughter attends daycare at a church which provides many of the services you mentioned. She receives bible instruction, attends chapel every Wednesday, and the school regularly goes on field trips. Breakfast, lunch and two snacks are also part of the deal. The cost to me is only $132 a week. Granted many parents do want their children to receive more one on one attention, but the big question is are they willing to pay almost double.

However, I would suggest that you consider taking on special needs children if your set up will allow it. Many daycare groups will not take on children with mental and physical handicaps. A smaller home care situation with more one on one attention would be perfect for a child that can't be monitored well in a large classroom situation. It is a small niche market, but parents of those kids would probably pay more and travel farther for that kind of service.

Good luck with your business!

J. N.

I live near your target area. My opinion is that it is a little high. With a nanny, you generally get care for more than 1 child and often there are other perks involved, such as laundry or basic housekeeping. Plus, you never have to leave your home and if the child is sick, the nanny still comes. I think $200 for a preschool aged child and $250 for an infant would be the max you could get. Good luck!

I personally think that $300 per week is a bit much. There are other centers out there that are less expensive. I understand your wanting to take the kids out on educational field trips, but everything else you mentioned is state mandated. I could probably justify $200 per week, but I think $300 is too expensive. Just my 2 cents worth. Sorry if I offended you in any way.

I live north of the river so I'm slightly less than what I see advertised in your area everyday. There are TONS of people in your area that are doing it for 140-160 per week. I charge 120 where I am.

We also provide field trips, tons of them actually and all for the the 120 per week I charge. We also have 2 adults to 4 children at any one time, 5 when my own home schooler is counted. Homeschooling is a huge plus with us because the younger kids learn right a long side my daughter and she loves to take over at times and play school with them. She is GREAT with them.

I think you'll find that most people would not be willing to pay 300 per week when they complain constantly about those charging around 200 per week.

The other thing you will face is that the competition in your area is miserable. Most people can not stay full even when they've been in business for years and years.

I don't mean to be discouraging. It's just that you haven't listed anything that is considered that special or unusual in the daycare world. You will have to come up with something super unorthodox to charge that high.

Suzi