Quote Originally Posted by Van View Post
You could keep them in mind for the spot and not do deposit just yet and then when you are ready to fill the spot get in touch with them and double check with them IF they still want the spot at your daycare. Give them enough time so they can give the required notice at the temp daycare.
If they don't want the spot at your daycare then you can advertized as planned...... but they may want the spot as you are closer to them.
I did it the other way around!

Because they wanted September space and I do everything possible to avoid that high competition time, I try to fill September spaces as far in advance as possible.

For my client who was going elsewhere for temp care, I took double the deposit I normally would because I was concerned that once settled in the temp space, they might not want to move. Because it was the parents who wanted this space, they understood my reservations. They were happy to pay double my usual deposit, understood it would be non-refundable if they changed their mind and also that if they didn't tell me 6 weeks before their start date here, they would also pay for those 6 weeks while I sought someone else in the busy market.

This was their proposal to reassure me that this really was where they wanted to be and that even if their temp place was wonderful, that they were totally committed to coming here.

All in all, if they had changed their minds, it would have cost them 2x normal two weeks deposit, plus 6 weeks of fees = 10 weeks. Having that offer from them, in writing, made me confident that the temp care wouldn't cause me issues down the line.