Saturated with daycare providers...nothing I can do about them.
So...I am trying to keep upbeat and positive with my business so I am going to be having a bit of a "refreshing" of my daycare since the last 6 months have been my hardest in all my years with multiple babies, all of which have had major transitioning issues along with a toddler whose parents are going through such a bad separation that his behaviour has been terrible. Things are just starting to settle down so seems like a good time to "shake things up" :) Obviously changes are going to benefit the children but also myself and who doesn't like a new lease on life and a good old shake up. Yesterday I did one of my random internet researching sit downs to update myself on the home daycare situation in my area. I found on daycare bear, within a 10-15 minute drive, so the bordering areas of either end of my town, there are 27 daycare providers advertising open spots!! 27 holy smokes that is a lot for my area. A year ago there were 12-15 providers up from a couple of years prior when there were at most 4 of us actively advertising online. A lot of the newbies are advertising as stay at home mums and charging on average 10 to 15 dollars less a day than us old timers. Anyway, this is brought up lots on this forum and quite frankly there is nothing I can do about them so I'm opting to change my attitude towards the whole situation. There are a few new providers who have relocated to my town and are charging comparable rates which I am happy about. I am going to for sure be making some changes to maximize my program and minimize my costs. Just little extra touches which may not seem like such a big deal but I hope in the grand scheme of things will be enough to show prospective families that this is my business and I run it like one and hopefully it will show and really make them see my worth. I am excited to share something positive with you as I am full of enthusiasm.
Some of these things if not all of them will be things people already do and are things I have done in the past or I am currently doing but am revamping.
I am going to start following a more structured learning program. I currently mainly do free play which the kids love and I currently enrich it with treasure baskets as my group are very little, sensory and malleable play equipment and then themes around holidays limiting crafts. I am going to put together a more structured plan of activities through resources that are available at my local resource and lending library. I have had experiences with 2 other regional resource centres where most product available for loan is geared at preschool and older but my local centre has almost everything in an "infant and toddler" edition too which I think is fantastic. I also always incorporate more of a preschool program for those in their last year of care prior to commencing kindergarten and as I have all boys, this one little guy does not like pen and paper so we will be working on numeracy, abc's etc through the learning kits available for me to borrow with lots of manipulative toys. It enriches my program substantially but someone else has done the work for me. I have had a couple of programs prior to this which have been equally wonderful, but I have compiled the activities myself which is a lot more work and quite frankly I am bored of the same old same old year after year. A lot less work but a lot more fun. Still not to many crafts as in not weekly but still following themes with themed toys, stories and games which are all fully prepared with a teaching learning guide that is super easy to follow...I'm very excited!
I am revamping my website. I have had so much positive feedback from my current one which has always made me laugh to myself to be honest as it couldn't be more basic but as long as the parents like it then fine. I have to step up my game with the initial "sell" if you will because it's not like I have an abundance of enquiries and it's just that people come and don't like me, it's just tough to even get interviews and when I do and they are interviewing others they like just as much who are charging substantially less, it's no wonder they go with them.
I am going to add extra sections to my website like photo's and a resources and links page to help people in their search for daycare with helpful hints and links to useful websites. I'm also going to do a monthly blog post/online newsletter. It will be in a format that will not only let current parents know what we did this month and our plans for next but it will give prospective parents some insight into what a daycare day would be like with me and also give them an idea of what I do.
I am altering my meal plan to eliminate organic produce and honestly, I'm just not going to think about it to much. I will include in my website photos pictures of wholefoods, meal prep and the children enjoying their meals. Sounds BORING lol but I think for those who appreciate the nutritional aspect of childcare, they will appreciate seeing evidence of my hard work and effort that I put into providing healthy food and those who don't will skip over it. I also have had all current parents and past write a blurb to publish on my website.
I am finally getting my bloody sensory wall done too...For goodness sake it is long overdue. So my playroom will have a revamp and as a result new pictures for my website of a very unique playing experience. I'll be sure to post the finished thing on here also...sounds like de ja vu as I've said that before but I'm getting my act together and getting it done!
I have already arranged to have the fire department and the health department come through my house so that I can offer new parents some extra reassurance with the whole Bill 143 issue and licensing issues that make the whole industry somewhat unsettled at the moment. This will be in addition to already having my CPR and First Aid always current and up to date and the ongoing option for police checks at parents requests. Some parent's won't care, correct, but others will and when they are faced with so many options for childcare, I want to give them every possible reason to choose me over another provider who charges less because they will see very clearly how serious I am about my daycare and I will have offered them every bit of reassurance possible. This isn't me saying that people who don't go to these lengths aren't providing equally good care as I am, absolutely not, this is just me pulling a few extra stops out in a very competitive market in the hopes that I can fill my spots or at the very least get interviews. In August I will have had a full 12 months of an open spot and another one to add to it. If I have any hopes of giving up work and getting my degree I need a good solid year minimum of making a decent income although I do plan to stay doing this longer and just study part time but it all depends on turn over and how full I am. I will still stick to my policies without wavering and the same for screening prospective parents but when I meet with a family or when they initially come across my advertising, I need to make myself stand out in anyway I can.
I thought I would just share this optimism with folks amidst recent days where things have been a little negative in places and amidst all the bloody spam lolol In order for me to be happy and productive I have to throw myself into things with a better attitude and determination. We all get stuck in a rut at times so this is me pulling myself out. :D
