Hold Spot Year in Advance?

Hi ,
I received an inquiry this morning to interview for a spot for next October 2018. I do have daycare kids leaving for JK that September and I'm currently full until then. I haven't held a spot that long before, as so many things can change in a year. Ive held for 6 months before and have gotten burned. Since I'm full til then I can't really charge more than a deposit right? I do think that families start looking for care a year in advance though and I wouldn't want to pass up a good family. Have you interviewed that far in advance and held spot that long before? I usually start interviewing in spring for same year Fall spots. Comments? TX!

I don't personally, take them that far in advance, but it's up to you. Your own daycare circumstances or enrollment could change before then, and you might need to fill the spot sooner than anticipated. Your own family circumstances may change, and you may not even be continuing on in this line of work a year from now. I like to assess a child's development at about 6-7 months old, to get a sense if there are any delays, to see if the child will fit with the needs of the rest of the group, so the earliest I interview is about 6 months old(assuming they are looking to start around 12 months) Everyone is different, so make your choices based on what your needs are.

I never even considered the developmental part of the equation... I had a few interviews this past summer for current spot where I was glad to meet child and definitely not enrol. I suppose I could offer a tour and tell them enrolment starts next spring. I'd do the tour just for exposure/advertising.

Edit:. I'm just re-reading her inquiry and it says her son will be one year old on Thanksgiving Day Oct 9, which is this year... I have to go back to her as her message doesn't make sense now asking for care next year.... my website indicates I'm full now, so I don't get her mssg. Good points about holding for a year tho.

Maybe she is staying home till he is 2 ??
I have interviewed one parent while she was Preg. and she turned out to be a great client, but I have also found that parents who have the tour too early are just shopping around and forget about you if you were their first daycare to visit.
so be careful, find out when she need care and ask questions and feel her out.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ebhappydc

Hi ,
I received an inquiry this morning to interview for a spot for next October 2018. I do have daycare kids leaving for JK that September and I'm currently full until then. I haven't held a spot that long before, as so many things can change in a year. Ive held for 6 months before and have gotten burned. Since I'm full til then I can't really charge more than a deposit right? I do think that families start looking for care a year in advance though and I wouldn't want to pass up a good family. Have you interviewed that far in advance and held spot that long before? I usually start interviewing in spring for same year Fall spots. Comments? TX!

---

I don't hold empty spaces but I do contract for a space that I know is opening up in future, especially the September spaces from kids aging out because I prefer to know those are filled. I don't like getting caught up in the battle of everyone fighting over the same handful of people wanting care in that month when many have spaces to offer.

So what I do is make it clear that with a deposit and a contract, they can take the space BUT they are expected to pay for it the second it becomes empty. I will not double-dip on a space and charge a client for a space that is still occupied but come the second week of September, when the older child goes to school, the space is empty and I would expect it to be paid for even if the new client didn't need care until October.

The new client has the option of knowing that they have care secured so far in advance but there is a cost to that. I have the comfort of knowing my September spaces are filled. I do tell the new client that the space is there's from the moment they begin paying for it and so they can use it if they want to. This helps if a parent wants a slow phase in too.

The other option which I don't use myself, is the parent pays a retaining fee from the time the space is vacated until the date they want to start care. If they paid 50% of the fees for you to keep that space sitting empty until their preferred start date, at least both you and they are taking the financial hit and they can see you are committed to them and you can see they are committed to you. I would be really clear though that with them only paying a portion of the fees, they cannot use the space, there's no drop in phase in days during that time either. Maybe that would better suit you.