Panicking..Can't find any cients

My daycare is opening in January and I don't have any clients yet!!! I started advertising a few months ago. I had one interview in October that I thought went great and never heard back from them. I had another interview today and it didn't seem very promising. My mat leave (I have 2 children 3 & 11 months) was up a few weeks ago so not having any daycare kids signed up yet is scary! Any advise? I have my ece, first aid & cpr which I tell parents, a lovely daycare area in my house, spacious yard...what am I missing here? Didn't think this would be so hard :/

Where are you located? Are there lots of home daycares in your immediate area? Sometimes it can take 6 mths to get that first client. Take another look at your ads and where you are advertising, do you have pictures of your space in your ads? Keep your chin up, the right clients are out there. January in usually a good time to get new clients.

Thx for your reply. I'm in bridlewood trails near soho west. I advertise on here, kijiji, used ottawa and have flyers up in the area (which most of the number tabs have been torn off but no calls??) I do have photos up of the space as well. I also figured January would be a good time to start which also makes me nervous that it's this slow..

I got my first client 2 weeks after I opened, my 2nd a few days later and my 3rd 2 months after I opened. The first year is always hard to get clients. Just keep advertising. do you have a website, it helps too.

I started my daycare at the end of my mat-leave too. I was very scary as well, I hate not knowing if I will be able to pay my rent or not. I now only need one more full timer to be full.

do you have a police check? I know a lot of providers who don't any have never been asked. I have been asked by almost everyone who I have interviewed. I think it depends on where you live if you get asked or not. it does cost money, so if you are not getting asked don't worry about it. I am with 2 agencies which is why i had to get one.

ps all my kids are from agencies I cant seem to find any private ones, but I am looking. if you really want to do this I would talk to the agencies in your area. After talking to them take some time to decide if an agency even temporary would be for you or not. I only plan on staying with the agencies until I can get private clients. they are good and bad to be apart off. the pay is less then private, but some pay is better then nothing.

In your ads are you referring to yourself as NEW cause if so that is the first thing I would change ... I learned when I started out that being a newbie is not a selling feature in this industry as far to many clients are wary of someone jumping into this only to change their mind a few months later ~ experience and commitment to the business seem to be the BEST selling features.... I had trouble getting interviews and when I removed the 'new' and focused soley on that I had my ECE and over 20 years of experience and changed it to just say 'a full time or part time opportunity' verses saying 5 spots opening ~ I got lots of calls and was able to get them in and SELL MY PROGRAM in the 'interview' and show them my commitment and dedication to my new business.

Do you have a website ~ if not definitely get one as again this shows clients you are committed enough to this venture to take the time to develop an online presence for your business.

It is definitely hard getting that first client to take a chance but once you have that than others tend to quickly follow ~ I was full less than 3 months after opening which was perfect cause I had saved myself a 3 month 'buffer' to make up for the lost income and was full well before it ran out on me!

awww that would be scary but try not to panic. I started advertising in April of 2009 and didn't sign my first family until September 2009. Once Sept 09 came I signed 3 families in one week.

So for MONTHS I was starting to be the joke of my extended family and they would jokingly ask me if I had signed any families yet and then boom - the 3 families signed at once and I was up and running and busy ever since.

Make sure you have a well written ad on this website telling about your program, include pictures of your daycare space in your ad. Practice your interviewing presentation and don't seem panicked during interviews. It sounds like you have only had 2 so think of each one as practice.

Try to have some things to show the parents during the interview i.e a daily log or your menus or newsletter or theme ideas or something to make you seem like you have thought through a great program and they can envision their kids in it. Highlight all your strengths like what you serve for meals, do you go outside a lot, do you plan to do themes or go to early years, etc?

Every area has peak periods. People may be thinking about Christmas now and you might get calls in January. Hopefully you can hang in there. If you are doing everything you can then eventually they will come :)

Inspired by Regio has great advice - make sure not to highlight that you are new and don't mention it unless you are flat out asked by a parent. Don't say how many spots you have - just that you have a spot for part of full time children. Definitely stress your ECE background and any relevant experience with children in your ad

Oh another help being new and low in ratios ~ get yourself out to local playgroups, library events and other places moms on mat leave congregate and show them how awesome you are with your own kids ~ keep some business cards or maybe a sign on your stroller that you do daycare .... word of mouth and referrals are the BEST form of advertizing ~ two of my first year clients were referrals from my local OEYC!

I'm not to far from you and this summer and fall was unusually slow. Like everyone else said the first year is hard ..... I went the whole first year with one full tine one part time and one b and a ..... then in dec I got lots of calls and booked 7 interviews and filled my 3 spots.... I have had a bit of change over but I have remained full ever since until sept when one child went to jk. I had two interviews in oct ..... and filled that space and have the other one waiting for a spot in the spring . It will come and the first one is definately the hardest. But like the others said take "new" out of your ads and dont say how many spots you have open. Just say you have a full time space available.

Seems things are slow everywhere right now, not to mention I have always found the very best advertising is word of mouth, in which case you need to get a client or two who are willing to go with you due to the fact that you are pleasant and have some credentials then they will pass on to friends and family and coworkers how great you are and before you know it things will be good. The problem is really, getting those first few clients under your belt, think about it from a parents perspective, if you have two young kids of your own and no time experience in direct child care along with raising your own two, someone will have to be willing to take a gamble that you are qualified or able to do a proper job, ECE or not, from a parents perspective the first and most important thing to look for is ability and experience and those are the two things you are working toward right now, ability comes when you SHOW parents how good of a provider you are and of course experience come with time. Hang in there! it's so worth it, but a little dif to get started. :)

ty you everyone for your replies!!! i still have no children! but i did come to a revelation on xmas day..my basement needs renovating! my basement is finished except for the middle furnace room where the kids walk through to get the main playroom. i realized this was a major eye sore and looked unsafe from a parent's prospective. so my husband & i have started renovations..we are totally finishing the area..putting up a wall so the furnace/water heater are in a another room alltogether. so now the play area is much bigger and it's going to look great!!! here's hoping i get some calls/emails soon!!!!

I am in Orleans and calls have been few and far between for awhile. The calls I have been getting are for unusual hours, or unusual demands, etc. I am really not interested in getting into that kind of nonsense. There really seems to be an oversaturation of caregivers in almost all areas of the city.

Have you joined CCPRN yet? www.ccprn.com
Check out their childcare connection meetings which are free and are a good way to meet parents and other caregivers. I went to the Orleans one in November and although there were 2 parents and 7 caregivers there it was still good to talk and share stories of our daycare search - and at least know I was not alone in my search.