Daycare advertising. ..

[Cute Bunnies]

Hello everyone 😊

Just curious to know ...how long it takes to get kids in a newly setup daycare!! what could be the tools and techniques to advertise your daycare, when you are new to the area or city ??? I have opened in March and got 1 part timer ..2 days a week but now just waiting n waiting for more 😕😕😕😕.. How long my other lovely providers took to get their first kid in daycare Thanks in advance

[Suzie_Homemaker]

If you are going to take anyone who wants to come, if you are going to extend hours to suit them, if you are not going to be choosy, allow 6 months because every area has lean periods/years and there's no way to predict the demand for your own location.

If you are going to be selective, if you are going to define your boundaries of service and seek only those who fit it, if you are seeking people who are a good fit and happy to turn away those who aren't, then allow a solid year.

You can't force people into your dayhome but you can make yourself appealing to more, which with advertising, will bring more inquiries. Some serious, some tire-kicker.

So do some research. Find out what parent in your area want as a min. And at least have that. Find out too what they want ideally, and decide which bit you can offer.

Here, parent want a minimum, police and criminal record check for everyone over 18 who is in the house, insurance, infant CPR and first aid, references, receipts, meals included in fees. They want reliable carer. They want someone who will invest in development of child and treat it as their priority vs watching kids while doing housework.

What they don't want is new parent with no experience of offering child care to large groups of unrelated children (i.e. babysitter a couple siblings, for a few hours on odd occasion, does not count for much locally). What they don't want is a new parent who is topping up their mat leave. What they don't want is a carer who gives KD or other packaged food, they want home cooked nutritionally healthy food. They don't want carer who goes to appointment and leave children in care of mother/husband/someone else - although that common in other areas.

Find out what your local market expects and that is normally driven by other carers and their service level which then becomes the parents experience and expectation going forward. Make sure your fees fit with local market too. If you have no experience running dayhome and no proven track record, no experience/child qualification, no dedicated space, no yard (apartment), no food offering, no references, etc then don't price yourself top of local scale as your competitors have you beaten. Likewise, don't under cut your competitors so much that you alienate them. My community is great for all in-home carers supporting each other. If one is full and is having to turn away parents, they often will give names of people they know with vacancies.

[sandylynn]

Actually Suzie_Homemaker....m y kids LOVE LOVE LOVE to have KD once in a while and I DON'T have a parent who objects to it in any way!

[Suzie_Homemaker]

Actually Suzie_Homemaker....m y kids LOVE LOVE LOVE to have KD once in a while and I DON'T have a parent who objects to it in any way!

Actually sandylynn, that might be true for your area, but not here. Which is why I was really, really, clear that in my area, this is something that parents don't want. I am sure most children like KD but here, in PEI, parents expect home cooked nutritious meals and it would be expect that if providing mac and cheese, it was home cooked not full of additives or mystery ingredient.

The points I made thought were clear about my local market where:-

So do some research. Find out what parent in your area want as a min. And at least have that.

Here, parent want a minimum, police and criminal record check for everyone over 18 who is in the house, insurance, infant CPR and first aid, references, receipts, meals included in fees. They want reliable carer. They want someone who will invest in development of child and treat it as their priority vs watching kids while doing housework.

What they don't want is new parent with no experience of offering child care to large groups of unrelated children (i.e. babysitter a couple siblings, for a few hours on odd occasion, does not count for much locally). What they don't want is a new parent who is topping up their mat leave. What they don't want is a carer who gives KD or other packaged food, they want home cooked nutritionally healthy food. They don't want carer who goes to appointment and leave children in care of mother/husband/someone else - although that common in other areas.

Hope that clarified. I absolutely would have complain from parent if KD served but if you can get away with, and if parent okay with that, then that is reflective of YOUR area, not mine.

[ebhappydc]

Just two things about KD - added pureed roasted/cooked butternut squash to the mix makes it a little bit better (not much) and my own kids didn't notice it when i used to buy it.

One of my kids got so addicted to the stuff he would ride his bike to get a few boxes, make himself, and eat the whole thing (i figured cuz he was growing so much - 6"2 at 16 and 150 lbs) so i didn't think much of it.... well at annual doctor check up, his skinny self presented high blood pressure - in a child! i was shocked.... doctor said "how's your diet?".... I was embarrased cuz i always offer healthy choices to my kids, but when they grow up, they order themselves whole pizzas, eat hotdogs at their friends, eat entire boxes of KD.... Doctor said, "Smarten up, or you'll be in here before you're 30 with heart disease!". Doctor says he's seeing more and more kids developing high blood pressure these days ... i don't buy the stuff anymore, and neither does my son luckily. Kids can get high blood pressure, even if they're skinny.. .... just thought i'd put it out there.

[ebhappydc]

Edit: sorry cute - didn't mean to make it about KD - when I first started I advertised on bulletin boards in local schools and found d that to be helpful.

[Cute Bunnies]

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions.... glad to be part of this lovely group of care providers