Struggling to fill a spot...should I see if wee watch will take me on?

[Doodledaycare]

Hi Ladies,

All my dck are on, or about to go on mat leave. I've had nibbles here and there but nothing solid for 2.5 months. I've never had trouble finding clients until now...doubting myself and wondering if I should contact wee watch and see if I can get some work through them. Anyone have experience with them? I've heard very negative reviews and realize they take a substantial chunk of the income, but I'm worried I won't be able to fill the space in my own.

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

I guess it depends upon a few things. If you sign on with Wee Watch I believe that you will still be allowed to have your own private clients as long as you're abiding by the agency regulations regarding children's ages etc. Maybe you could sign on with Wee Watch as a temporary measure - get a couple of clients in to float the boat financially (so to speak) and then you could fill your remaining spaces with better paying, private clients. Things to consider though: will working with an agency place too many restrictions on you when you're trying to find those new clients (most agencies have regulations regarding the ages of the children that you can care for and it can be really difficult trying to find a child who fits into a specific age bracket) will the agency be pairing you with families that you might prefer not to work with (I've read a few horror stories on this forum about agencies and low income families who are using the agency to get subsidized care for their children and (consequently) have difficulties fitting their childcare expenses into their budget - the only thing worse than no clients are problem clients who don't pay or who pay late) and what are the conditions that must be met should you decide to leave the agency. I assume that when things pick up you could simply give notice to the agency and return to being a private caregiver but I don't know for sure. Just a few things to mull over.....

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

One last thought/information tidbit - my sister works with an agency and you are absolutely correct about how the agency takes a hefty chunk of your income. Average daily rates in my area (Ottawa) are $40-$45/day per child. My sister receives $28/day per child. =(

[Mike]

Best thing to do is ask them about it, but ya, working with an agency restricts you to the 2 under 2 and 3 under 3 rules. I imagine you are doing local advertising.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I have no insight into working with agencies as we don't have that here. However, have you asked all your current families if they know of anyone? Same with all of your friends and family? Have you considered offering something that other hdc's don't? For example, something I offer is a reduced fee if the parent keeps their child at home for holidays.

Good luck!! I know how stressful it is to fill spots when no one is looking! I had 3 spots to fill last year at the beginning of summer. By that time everyone had found care, I thankfully filled them come September.

[Artsand crafts]

what are the conditions that must be met should you decide to leave the agency.

The only condition when leaving Wee Watch is not keeping their clients. The contract reads that you cannot provide care to the clients signed in through Wee Watch for the next 7 months. You also need to return their equipment (playpens, high chairs, etc) and give back the money invested on you if you stay with them for less than a year (such as police record, cpr/first aid fees, etc). That's it.

[superfun]

If an agency is going to take a big portion of the daily fees, maybe you should offer a slightly lower price than you normally would. You might find more families, and you would still make more than paying for an agency

[Doodledaycare]

Monday-2-Friday-Mama...you raise many great points to consider. Perhaps I would be better off waiting for a private client and cutting coupons in the meantime! When all my kiddies return from mat leave I'll actually have more kids than I can take and I've had to turn a family away. I have a wonderful family now that I wish to keep, their children will go to school with mine and it's a perfect arrangement once they return from mat leave. Just have to get through the next little while I guess. Thank you for the advise:)

[Doodledaycare]

Hi Mike, yes, advertising locally, just a little slow this time of year I guess. Quite frustrating!

[Mike]

Good luck and with a little adjusting, I'm sure you'll make it through.

[Tiger_lilly]

Hi,
I had the same issues twice actually.Moving to a different city it took me about a year to build a business..I had only two dck for a long long time,for a year!One was full time and the other part time,but it went on and gradually more came in.i was lucky because parents never complained about it,but I felt horrible.. Some parents even like if there are no many kids at dc so theirs can get all the attention-which works sometimes:)You just have to be patient and hope,it will come.
It is hard because there is no money and your days are not so exiting as if you have 4-5 dck.
Some parents have a hard time putting their little once in a dc if there are no other dck,it's not always a trust issue,but more like 'their child will not have anybody to play with'..which is strange in my opinion,if everybody would think like that we would never fill the spots in our dc.You have to start somewhere.
I would stay patient and wait,don't get desperate and take everyone in your care,it might take some time,but you might get better clients too.it is better to wait for better once then take quickly any body just to feel the space and soon regret for your fast decision.
Good luck!

[mama2_3]

I'm with wee watch. I'll echo the others- you're only allowed 2 under 2, 3 under 3 and 5 total including your own, so if your own combination of kids exceeds that they won't be able to help. From personal experience they mostly only have babies coming into care, so unless you have just one under 2 and 2 under 3 already it probably won't be worth your time. I also get a lot of calls for part timers or weird hours. the pay is crummy and you have to jump through a lot of hoops- police record checks for you + all adults in household, CPR cert, cleaning procedures (toys cleaned weekly with bleach solution, high chairs and change pads after each use), weekly meal plans that must include 4 food groups at lunch and 2 at each of snack, monthly program plan, monthly unannounced visits, end of month form to fill out and activity book to complete, vaccine records for you, husband and all kids, pet's vaccination records, fire extinguisher and CO2 detector (though they do partially reimburse you for all the costs of getting started). The good news, is that wee watch guarantees your pay even if the parents stiff *them* so you don't have to worry about that. And if you are having problems with parents they mediate, often on your behalf. (my parents are wonderful but my wee watch provider MIL has told me this). they also have backup care, so you can take days for appointments and vacations and it doesn't put anyone out. And they lend you things if you need them like highchairs and strollers and playpens.

If I could do it again I'd probably have gone it alone but I liked the idea of not needing to deal with parents and pay and liability stuff. But they really don't send me much business at all. Right now I'm pregnant so I'm fine with having just one DCK and coasting along until my baby is 6 months or so, but after that what I do depends on whether the new bill passes or not.

IMO you'll do better if you look for a part timer instead. 4 days of your regular rate would probably equal a week of wee watch pay anyhow ;)