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What Do You Charge for Childcare Services? 4 Pricing Tips

Writer's picture: Standout DaycareStandout Daycare

Every business needs to know how to price its products or services, and a daycare business is no different. Setting the right price for your daycare services is vital because it will reflect your operation costs as well the value you associate with your services.

Set the price too low and you might struggle to break even. Conversely, if you set the price too high, you risk losing potential clients to competitors who charge less. So how do you determine what price to charge your daycare clients?

In this guide we will delve into the different factors to consider when setting the price for your daycare services..

1. Determine Your Expenses

The first factor to consider when choosing how to price your services is to understand your expenses. Consider making a list of the different costs you must bear in your operations. This includes the cost of paying the rent at your daycare building, paying daycare workers, purchasing supplies, and other day-to-day expenses.

Once you know your total monthly expenses, you can divide this amount by the number of clients you have. This will tell you the minimum amount you need to charge each one to break even.

2. Consider the Value of Each Service You are Providing

Running a daycare is no easy feat, and there are likely dozens of parents out there who are grateful that you are providing them with such fantastic services.

By hosting their children, you are assisting their mental development and teaching them skills that will benefit them in the future. With this in mind, it’s safe to say that you are providing valuable services that are worth charging for.

You can also allocate your pricing based on your qualifications and background. If you’re a professional educator with many decades of experience and many certifications, you should be able to get away with charging a high price for your services.


3. Consider Your Competitors

Chances are, your daycare isn’t the only one in your town. So consider looking at the competition and learning how much they are charging parents. You should be able to charge roughly the same amount in most cases. You can even attempt to charge a slightly lower price to potentially win over some of their customers.

It is also worth understanding the quality of services your competitors provide. So if their facility is nicer than yours or if they have professionally trained staff with many decades of experience, they might be able to get away with charging clients a greater amount than you can get away with charging.

In either case, you should strive to get a full picture of the services they provide before using them as a baseline for setting your prices.

4. Think About the Clients You Plan to Target

Your clients are the last and final factor to consider when you are deciding your childcare prices. After all, these are people who will be paying for your services, so it is important to understand who they are and how much disposable income they have to spend on childcare.

There’s no point in charging a high price if your daycare is located in a low-income neighborhood where the average household income is lower than the state average. So you should consider learning about your target audience and then set a price you believe they would be willing to pay.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are many factors that will impact how you can price your childcare services. The tips mentioned above should help you get started, but it is important to remember everyone will hold a unique opinion on how much you should charge. At the end of the day, you should go with the option that will be sustainable into the future.

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