Doing everything wrong?!?

[Poppy]

Hello. I am officially supposed to be starting my daycare next week. My mat leave is officially over and I have set up my entire basement into the daycare. Our house is clean and safe and I have spent a lot of time and money setting it up to model a centre type setting.

I am a teacher an an ECE and so I made my rates just slightly higher than the average in my area.

I have done a bunch of interviews and everybody says how much they like my set up and how they are impressed with my qualifications.

Not a single person has come back to actually register. I am entering panic mode as the mat leave pay is now finished and I assumed I would be up and running by now.

I lowered my rates to the average in my area, even though I feel that I am worth more. I even have offered different "incentives", such as "date night". I just can't secure any families.

I have a very detailed parent handbook which I was handing out at every interview. I wonder if that could be intimidating?

Do you think parents are turned off by being the first families to register? I wonder if it could be because I have no other kids signed up so they are hesitant.

Do you hand out your policies and procedures during interviews?

Has anyone tried any "promotions" to secure families? Like, "first week free if you sign up now". Should I lower my ares even more??

Any thoughts or input would be appreciated. I am close to having to pack it up and go back to work before even starting! :) Thanks!

[Teagansmom]

Hi, I'm sorry it's been hard for you. I'm not sure where you are from but I myself have recently been through this after relocating to a new city. I do hand out my policy and handbook, I know it could be a pain but in the end I think it's worth it to get the right families in.
Have you tried setting up a website? I feel as though parents may think you take your business more seriously. When interviewing for my first spot I really emphasized how great it was for the first child as we had more one on one time to bond and adjust to our new situations. I found this helped a lot. Also let them know that you have other interviews lined up.

Good luck

[Lee-Bee]

I too am a teacher and an ECE. I opened in January. I started advertising last October and did many interviews before my first family registered (with 2 week deposit) in late November for a Feb start date. I am receiving about $15 a day more than the other daycare near me but have the education, experience and the facilities to draw in families willing to pay that much. After that first family sign on they rolled in much faster. It's painful in the early steps. How long have you been advertising and interviewing?

In the beginning focus on signing on one family. What can you do to get that first family to trust in you? That will be your biggest hurdle. Sell yourself and your daycare. It sucks, it's painful but you need to sell yourself. BUT you need to do it in a way that makes them trust you not makes them think you talk too much lol. Most of my families coming through commented on how the children were comfortable with me, how the kids connected with me. My interviewing skills are not perfect because I forget about the policy and I am on the floor playing...chatting with the parents about important things but the main point of my interviews was to have the parents see that the kids are comfortable with me and I am comfortable with them. The policies and nitty gritty details follow in emails and a second interview. I just wanted to win their hearts!

[Poppy]

Thanks Teagansmom - I am just in the process of starting my website. Hopefully that will help. That is a great point about having more one on one time with their child. I am definitely going to emphasize that tomorrow!

Lee-Bee - I'm now wondering if maybe I shouldn't have reduced my rates since I know I'm worth the original rate. I just don't know if my area agrees!

I have been advertising and interviewing for about two months. I did leave it kind of late as I wasn't anticipating that it would be so difficult.

My last couple of interviews have been far more relaxed and they have said they are "interested" but just won't commit yet. I tell them that it's first come first served and that I'm doing quite a few interviews. It's so weird. My kijiji ad has 150 views last week.

Thanks for your advice. I guess it's just a matter of trying to secure that " one" family to start and the rest will fall into place.

I have an interview tomorrow for a woman who wants part time care. 20 hours a week but really strange hours. Like, 3 hours one day and 6 the next. Basically there is no way I could schedule another child around this. And it's for an infant spot. I don't want to give up my infant space (as those are the only people contacting me at the moment and I know it will be filled soon. I even have a lady who says she is very interested in it but "busy" at the moment.

I also can't turn any one away as I need children. I have no idea how to deal with her. Maybe I can out her off for a bit by telling her that I won't make a decision until next week.

Thanks again for your help! :)

[5 Little Monkeys]

When I started my home daycare, I was currently nannying for a family of 2 (well 4 but only 2 needed care). One was in school full time but the youngest one came to my daycare once I opened. This probably helped the parents feel at ease but he was only part time. I filled my infant spots quickly with full time children but I still had my 4th spot left open.

A couple of things I did...

*I looked at other dc ads in my area and charged near the higher ones. I'm only allowed 4 children so I needed my income to be high enough to be worth doing. However, I offered a $10 less per day fee if they scheduled their child out for any days. This was my incentive for parents to choose me.

*I advertised on a local website classifieds and facebook and answered everyone's ad's who were looking for childcare.

*I ended up taking a single mom who needed very casual care at short notice. She had a part time job subbing as a teacher and had a family member in hospital who if needed her, she would have to go instantly. I agreed to take her on for as long as I could but she knew if someone full time came along I would have to stop care for her. She ended up getting a more regular job and sent her child here more regularly.

* I had one other thing going for me (and still do) and that is that I have no children of my own. Many of the parents tell me the reason they choose me is because they know that I am doing this because I like what I do and not just so I can stay home with my own children. (nothing wrong with that though!! just another incentive for parents to choose me. If I have my own kids, this will be out the window lol )

Looking back now, if I could change things, I would NEVER have accepted part time children. It's great if you can find 2 children to share the space but what happens when one of those children leave?? It's very difficult to find a child to fill that exact part time space that is opening. I am hoping to phase out the part time spots but unless they all leave at the same time, it's hard to do so!! I would love to charge them all full time but if the space isn't available than I can't do so. So my advice....no part time!! I took part time because I was like you, I needed the income and I needed it now! I wish I had thought about it more long term and charged full time regardless of days here.

Get your name out there, ask friends, family, ex-coworkers to spread your name around. Have references available. Oh something else I have done...here in MB we have wedding socials where companies can donate prizes for a silent auction. I have donated 2 or 3 children themed prizes and attach my name and number to it. It has gotten me a few calls!

Do you go to any playgroups? Can you put up posters at childrens museums, play places, churches, etc?

Good luck!!

[torontokids]

It sounds like you are getting interest but something is putting them off. This may very well be that you don't have any kids currently. I know as a paretn when I was looking for a home daycare for my daughter I was turned off by those without kids or kids much older then my daughter. I was sending her to daycare because I had to of course but also to socialize with kids her age.

When I started I did not have a hard time getting that "first family" only because I lucked out with a woman who was desperately in need of care fast and I was about to open (she was going through a divorce and the husband was no longer an option to stay with the kids and she was home from work until she found something). That being said she didn't pick me because she didn't have other options. I found her though because I sent over packages to the school across the road for b&a care and it worked out well because I got her older child and she had a boy the same age as my daughter.

I would recommend you advertise for b & a (it sucks but it gets your name out there) and just do it until the end of the school year. There are always families looking for this care and it can be hard to come by and you will easily find infants and they will more likely sign on with you having other kids in care.

Do your website, include this in your kijiji ads but don't pay for it, just put it in the text

call your local centre and ask if they'll pass your info on to the families they can't accommodate.

Try and connect with other providers, they may have families they can't accommodate at the moment.

Go to early years centres and connect with other moms. I have had so many referrals from people I have never even interviewed. They meet me at a drop in and maybe I don't have a spot for them but they pass my name onto someone else.

[torontokids]

If you want to raise your rates. You can do this but maybe wait until after you sign your first family at the lower rate and have the new rate for the other families. You want to be careful though, you don't want to seem wishy washy.

Look at your hours, fees, set up and see if anything needs tweaking. Have a friend come over and look for things you have missed.

Have clear ideas how you will handle certain situations. Use language like "we do this" rather then "we will do this" make it look like/sound like things are up and running. Use examples from your teaching etc

[Momof4]

I had a few thoughts while reading your original post. You mentioned that you have modeled your home daycare after a centre but have you considered that people choose home daycares for the intimate setting and atmosphere? If they want a centre, they will go to a centre. Are you stressing the reasons you want to take care of fewer children and what you want to offer the families that set you apart from others in your area? Pointing out that you will run the daycare somewhat like a centre but also pointing out the benefits of what you will offer in your home might be the ticket.

Read the websites and ads of the people near you, find your niche and stress it. We are all different with pros and cons in the eyes of the parents, so they look for the things that appeal to them and their vision for their child. Are you a fantastic crafter, intend to teach lessons, themes, or run a play based daycare, etc?

If you reduce your rate a dollar or two a day for now to get the first families and put your rates up in a year, would that be an option for you? Sometimes it will get you off the ground with great references after all the families find out how fantastic you and your daycare are for them. Wishing you good luck.

[AmandaKDT]

I have my bachelor of education and several years teaching experience. I used this as a selling feature when I opened my daycare a year ago but at the same time I didn't charge anymore than any other daycare. I had no trouble filling my spots. It would be nice to charge more, but I didn't want to have trouble filling my spots. I also wanted to provide quality affordable care since I had great difficulty finding it for my own daughter when she needed to go to daycare.

[Fun&care]

I don't mean this to sound harsh although it may....you really are only worth what people are willing to pay for you. The fact is you have no experience running your home daycare and that is off putting for parents. Keep your rates for sure at least on par with the going rates in your area if not slightly lower. Definitely not any higher although with your education I'm pretty confident that after a year or so or when you start having turnover you will be able to raise those rates. I agree also that you should say "this is how we do things" vs " this is how we WILL do things".

The fact is you can be doing everything right and still have a hard time...it's frustrating. Keep in mind that as a provider there will be times like this throughout your career where it feels like no one is "biting". I myself have not been getting ANY calls lately although this winter I was getting several inquiries per week.

The one last thing I want to add is you mentioned you wanted to make your daycare feel as much like a center as possible. Keep in mind that the people you are interviewing are looking for a HOME DAYCARE. Being an ECE and having a nice setup is great, but you have to balance that out somehow and remember that this is home daycare and really sell things like smaller group, homey feel, kids developing stronger bonds and just the more relaxed, less rushed atmosphere that home daycare has to offer (among other things!).

Good luck and try not to stress about it!

[Fun&care]

Momof4 we were typing at the same time!

[Poppy]

Thank you all for your great ideas! Wow...you have been very helpful. I totally agree that I have overlooked the whole reason why parents choose a home daycare. I am definitely not selling the fact that it is a home daycare. I have an interview this evening and will use that approach. Great idea!

My gut also says that it does have to do with not having any children yet. I know that I would want to send my daughter to a place with other children her age....not to sit around with the daycare provider and one other older child. That makes sense.

Thank you again for all your help. Definitely very useful!!:D

[Lee-Bee]

[QUOTE=Momof4;64773]I had a few thoughts while reading your original post. You mentioned that you have modeled your home daycare after a centre but have you considered that people choose home daycares for the intimate setting and atmosphere? If they want a centre, they will go to a centre. Are you stressing the reasons you want to take care of fewer children and what you want to offer the families that set you apart from others in your area? Pointing out that you will run the daycare somewhat like a centre but also pointing out the benefits of what you will offer in your home might be the ticket.

My daycare is completely separate from the rest of my house (aside from nap rooms) and the daycare is set up exactly like a daycare centre. My families all made note of really liking this. Many families won't like it sure...but from what I found in my interviews is that the families that are able and willing to pay more are looking for home daycare that is a small group but still centre like.

So this could very well work for you...BUT it may limit the amount of families that want to sign on...meaning it takes more time!

I do believe the website is key. All my families read mine thoroughly, all commented on it and knew that this was a good contender before they came. My website was done by myself but with a paid domain name and took a TON of time. I wrote it very detailed yet slightly vague so it sounded like I was up and running when I wasn't. When they came the first thing I told them was that I was coming off mat leave with my daughter (who was in my arms) this helped ease the 'shock' of arriving at a daycare that wasn't yet opened. When they asked if I did daycare before having my daughter I simply said that we just moved a year ago, our last place was a condo that was too small to have 5 children in all day but that I did x,x,x,x which directly related to childcare. It again was enough to ease their minds.

[Momof4]

I also believe that a website is the best selling tool you will have. In the past I helped a few other new providers by advising them to put action shots on their website, children playing, creating, and having lots of fun. One person didn't have anyone signed up yet but she used shots of her own daughter playing (shots from the side and behind so her face didn't show). I think it makes a world of difference from just putting up shots of your empty rooms. Parents tell me they fall in love with my daycare as soon as they see my website because I have so many pictures on there, but it really shows them that I keep the children busy learning and playing daily.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I agree with you Lee Bee. I have a lot of parents comment on my home daycare set up because it is in the basement and it is essentially a mini dc centre. I have a full kitchen, bathroom, play room, nap room and a fairly consistent structured routine but with the extra cuddles, lesser kids and more intimate relationships that they are looking for in a home set up.

I would emphasize that you are hdc that can offer more one on one time with their child but that they will also benefit from a structured dc centre-like atmosphere. It's what works for me :)