I agree .... I would not offer 'incentives' to attract clients .... honestly there is a fine balance in childcare with picking your fees ... most clients think that childcare is 'difficult' to find so if they see a provider who is having to offer incentives, discounts, and put themselves on SALE so to speak this little flag goes up!

For MOST that little flag is RED that this does not seem right - why are they having to put themselves on 'sale' something must be 'wrong' that they cannot be full and they do not respond to the ad.

For OTHERS that little flag is GREEN and it says to them 'awesome someone who is desperate for my business - I can get SPECIAL for a reduced rate' and then sign up and are nothing but a PITA for you expecting to be able to PUSH for more and more while paying LESS AND LESS.

So which kind of client do you want to ATTRACT ... set your prices FAIR to you and VIABLE for your business and stick to that ... attract the kind of client who VALUES your program for what it is and does not think they should get a DEAL in order to sign with you!

I also agree that the first year is HARD to get full for many - parents are reluctant of the 'commitment of a newbie' which is one strike against us when we are new and then strike two is that the highest demand for children is infants and while you can often get 1-2 of those right off the bat the next clients who come looking are more and more reluctant to place their kid somewhere that already has 2-3 infants ... assuming you have on of your own there ... cause they just do not imagine how someone can 'handle' so many children that young .... however once your current crew gets a bit older near end of first year others with infants will sign on or the more you advertize the chance of finding that 'older' child might occur.

Sending you filler up vibes!