Since your caregiving business is all yours, its up to you to determine what to charge your clients. Planning ahead and doing a little research are important steps in order to set rates that will make you profitable, but which are still fair to your customers.
Caregiving fees vary based on location, the caregiver’s credentials and the level of service. Startup caregiving businesses may begin on the lower end of the spectrum and work their way up after a certain level of experience and reputation has been achieved.
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Whether you’re planning on running a senior facility, family day care or pet sitting service, the following tips will help you establish a price point that clients will be comfortable paying, and that will keep your business afloat.
- Check Out the Average Caregiving Rates in Your Area
A number of factors will determine what price point is fair to charge for your services, including location. Much like housing prices will fluctuate depending on specific neighborhoods, prices for your services in this industry will also depend on where your business is based.What eventually determines a caregiver’s rate is the market place, says Hulya Koc, mentor and counselor at the San Francisco Chapter of SCORE, the mentoring arm of the SBA. You could have all the qualifications in the world, but if in your neighborhood end users of your services have low purchasing power unfortunately you are bound by that limitation, she says. Its all about supply and demand.
That being said, checking out what other similar caregiver facilities in your area charge is a good place to start. For instance, according to the 2012 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services and Home Care Costs, the average hourly rate for home health aides is currently $21.
Koc suggests checking out the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, local job listings, a county child care coordinating council and even the Early Childhood Education (ECE) department at your local community college to get a broader sense of current rates.
You should also check out what individual caregivers in your area are charging, to get a benchmark of families’ options. Here are rate calculators for babysitting, housekeeping, senior care and pet care.
- Evaluate How In-Depth Your Services Are
What types of services will you be providing to your clients? Will you be running a non-medical care facility, or will you be offering medical services and care? Caregivers who offer additional services beyond their primary role, such as house cleaning, bathing, administering medication, shopping, running errands or driving to doctor appointments, can generally charge more.You also need to think about the amount of work youll be doing. Sometimes I add a few dollars more to the hourly rate if there is more than one kid, says Kelly Johnson, a babysitter from California. Housekeepers and in-home senior care providers should also consider how far you have to drive to get to the job, how many hours youll be working each day and how many times per week when setting rates.
- Consider Whether Your Business Is a Startup or Already Established
If you’re starting from scratch, you might want to consider initially setting your price point on the lower end of the average scale in your area. As your business starts to grow and establish a good reputation, you can gradually increase your price point.If you’re planning on purchasing an already-established business that’s already in operation, you may be able to keep the rates that were being charged by the previous owner, or even increase them based on the level of service you provide to your clients. Ultimately, your credentials, education and training, as well as those of your staff, will determine whether or not you can realistically charge more for your services.
If you charge too much, you may scare off potential clients and make yourself uncompetitive with large-scale caregiving businesses. Yet if you charge too little, this can seriously affect your bottom line. Finding that happy medium is critical to the success of your caregiving business.
Brenda Barron is a writer from southern California. Learn more about her work at Digital Inkwell.
