Sitting Connections is my new business I plan to start advertising in another month. I recruit, interview and screen potential caregivers for families needing babysitting, house sitting or pet sitting services. The sitters will be independent contractors. I plan to have families register with me and pay an annual fee of $35. EAch time parents call me requesting a sitter I will bill them $5 and they are to pay the sitters directly. I really need some accounting help to work payments and rates out. Should I set an hourly rate based on number of kids or type of service up-front or have families pay me a placement fee each time and let the sitter determine her rate? What would be the best set up financially?

I personally would choose to have the sitter pay you a placement fee and choose her own rates. This will work better for most people because it offers more flexibility.

Okay. I thought about charging the sitters a fee- to cover their background checks but wasn't sure if that would go over well in the small area where I live. But I'm thinking of doing this now. Thanks!

>Okay. I thought about charging the sitters a fee- to cover
>their background checks but wasn't sure if that would go over
>well in the small area where I live. But I'm thinking of doing
>this now. Thanks!

If you're going to list someone and then offer them to the prospective customers, I agree, charge them for their background check. But I would think that if you're doing the placing, then the sitters rate should be negotiated with you, not the customer.

When I hire a temporary employee using a placement agency, I pay the placement agency the fee, not the temp. And the temp negotiates their fee with the placement agency based on their skills, qualifications, etc.

HTH.

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!

Yes! I thought about how the temp agencies work- the temp doesn't pay a fee to them. I was a little skeptical about charging the sitters because I cannot guarantee that they will work. Not sure how to work this out now. It will be expensive for me to pay for the background checks in the long run.

The trick would be to ensure that in order to list with you, the sitters would have to submit the background check to you. Then you aren't actually charging them anything.

Use the line; "we have standards that we need to maintain".

As for the sitters not working... if they don't work, you delist them. This way, the customer has control over whether or not they are happy with the sitter and you have a control over whether or not you place the sitter.

T

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!