a parents dream babysittier  | |  i am 19 years old and i do child day care for people in the city of Los Angeles i currently have 9 kids that i care for all ranging fron 8yrs to 13 mos. i charge $25 for 24 hours and every hour your late costs and extra $5 what my question is; are there any tips that you can share with me to improve my business? am i doing something wrong? what should do to improve?
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| | | | | | | | 1.  hairypits (212) | 7 months ago |  I've got to ask...are those charges normal in the states? I am in the UK, and the normal rate to be paid for childminding is £3 to £5 per hour. I currently pay £52 per week for a childminder to have my two little boys 2 mornings per week (8 hours in total). That is for a full qualified fully certified childminder.
Babysitting rates are normally around £5 per hour as it would normally be in an evening but babysitters don't have any formal qualifications.
To me if you are qualified you are undercharging. If you don't have qualifications then I think you should maybe undertake some in order to make you more desirable to potential new clients, then you could employ an assistant and take on more children.
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| sourcherry (94) | 7 months ago | I only charge 25 for 24 hours because of the economy in California, and all of my clients are either family or really close friends. I dont feel that im undercharging whats so ever i want my customers to want to come back not find some one else. | |
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| | 2.  katsmeow1213 (4923) | 7 months ago |  If you're watching all 9 kids at once, I would not want to leave my child with you. 9 is a lot of children for 1 person to handle.
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| hairypits (212) | 7 months ago | yep I agree wholeheartedly with you katsmeow. In the uk there is legislation in place that childminders cannot have more than 6 children in their care at any one time and a maximum of 3 of those can be under 5 and only one can be under 12 months old (of the 3 under 5). | |
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| katsmeow1213 (4923) | 7 months ago | Here in my state you must be certified with the Child Care Council in order to watch 2 children who are not your own, and you have to go through a lot of hoops to become certified with them. They won't certify you if you don't have a fenced in backyard! I don't know if there is a limit to how many kids a certified provider can watch at a time, but if I were looking for a sitter, I'd want one that doesn't have a lot of kids in her care to ensure my children's needs were met. | |
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| sourcherry (94) | 7 months ago | well first of all i dont watch all 9 kids at one time 5 of them are my nieces and nephews the other 4 are actual clients. And not to be mean Katsmeow you personally don't me or what I am capable of doing and for you to insult me and say you wouldn't leave your kids with some one like me is just mean. I am good at what I do call any of my clients and they would tell you the same. And also for you guys to say!m undercharging I think of it like this i may charge cheaper but I get more business than any other person i know that babysits and more money. All I wanted was some advice for my business not insults now please don't comment again if your going to help me thank you | |
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| katsmeow1213 (4923) | 7 months ago | I wouldn't leave my child with you because 9 children is a lot of responsiblity. It has nothing to do with what sort of person you are, but NOBODY can handle more than 9 children at one time! | |
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| hairypits (212) | 7 months ago | I'm sorry sourcherry but I think it would be irresponsible of any parent to leave their child with someone who had 9 children in their care and that was the only point katsmeow was trying to make. She wasn't being insulting - and neither was I - I have clearly given you some advice on what might help you further your career. Certificates for things like Food Hygiene, Property Safety, First Aid, Childcare and so on go a long way in the opinion of parents - speaking as one myself. When you say 24 hours, is that spread out over a week or is that in one go? | |
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| sourcherry (94) | 7 months ago | you guys are entitled to your own opinion. every one i know supports me and think i am doing a good job if i werent they wouldnt leave their kids with me now you guys probably raise your kids like every one else and from what it looks lie your both over protective of your kids wich is understandable because your parents its in your blood BUT! like i said before i dont watch all of them at 1 time the most would be three so please stop saying you know for a fact i cant do because i can and i am. oh by you both saying you wouldnt leave your kids with me i really dont care what that soposed to make me upset i will still make money babysitting with or without your kids.
happy myloting | |
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| katsmeow1213 (4923) | 7 months ago | First of all you did not say you weren't watching them all at once...
I am not "overprotective" just doing what's right by my children.
And you are getting awfully defensive for absolutely no reason what so ever. Nobody is attacking you, just pointing out our observations about your post, in which you asked for advice and we gave it. | |
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| sourcherry (94) | 7 months ago | im not getting defensive at all i just want to make sure you understand my point which by the looks of it you dont if you look in the previous comments i did state i dont watch all 9 at once. look i understand what you saying and your entitled to your own opinion but at the end of the day im going to be and your going to be you leave it at that | |
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| agv0419 (2403) | 4 months ago |  Sometimes babysitting is very rewarding job but at the same time it is very difficult. I'm also experienced to babysit and I like babies. Babysitting here is not common because sometimes the parents left there babies with their parents or to their relatives.
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| | | 4. owlwings (5345) | 1 day ago |  It seems to me, Sourcherry, on reading this discussion from the outside, as it were, that you are being rather defensive. The other responders are making valid points in answer to your questions: "Are there any tips that you can share with me to improve my business? Am I doing something wrong? What should do to improve?"
In the discussion heading, you did not imply that you were minding the children of relations and friends and it seemed as if you were wanting to run a business open to anyone. For that, in the UK, you need to be a certified child minder and I'm sure that the same applies in CA as well (though the certification process may be slightly different).
I have no doubt that you are a genuine and lovely person and very good with children. Neither Katsmeow or Hairypits are insulting you or trying to make you upset. They are simply saying that, based on what you had said already (at that point it wasn't clear that you never minded all 9 kids at once), they would want to be very careful before employing you. Their comments were meant in a critical but constructive way.
Since you obviously love caring for children, you could certainly improve your business by taking the proper certification and, perhaps, eventually opening your own day-care centre. Depending on the number of children you cared for, you would probably need to employ one or more helpers and your premises would have to meet certain standards. Book-keeping and other administrative paperwork would have to be done; you would certainly need to take out insurance and you might have to pay an accountant. There are a great many overheads and hassles involved in running a proper business ... but there are also a great many benefits in making it legal.
What you charge your family and friends, of course, is your own concern but, if you want to improve and build your business, you will need to charge more than about $1 an hour per kid or, if you say you never have more than 3 at a time, between $3 and $4 an hour in total (come on! The minimum wage in CA is, I believe, $8 an hour and any 19 year old working in a store or a fast food joint earns more than $5 an hour!)
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| owlwings (5345) | 1 day ago | Sorry about the italics! I put an I in square brackets when quoting you and it turned everything after into slantin'dicular. | |
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