Tip for taking care of 18 months kids

[Suzie_Homemaker]

I would be interested to know if you are getting initial inquiries or not.

i.e. are your ads producing interest that fades once they speak to you or come for interview or are your ads not producing any interest?

There is normally a process which takes you from having a space to filling a space. Each step of that process decides if someone is coming to you or not so you will have to review each step as if you were a potential client.

Your ads
- Where are you advertising and are those ads being seen?
- Are you getting calls about your ads from potential clients?
- Do your ads reflect your service? i.e. If your ads are all polished and professional and make it sounds like you are experienced and established, are they then learning that you have no experience, no clients etc? That would be a concern to a client as they might wonder what else wasn't as the ad suggested.
- How are your ads worded? If you present yourself as a stay-at-home parent, looking to take a couple kids in, with X number of spaces open, that attracts a certain type of client who doesn't view this as a business but more so a babysitter looking to make a bit of cash. If that's what you are, that's fine but if your ad presents that and then you are charging the same rates as someone who has years of experience, an established reputation, and a child care related degree, then that type of client isn't interested in paying those fees.
- If your ads say you have 5 spaces and if 5 is the limit in your province, then parents who are looking for quality care do the math and realized you have no one signed up. Consider removing the number of empty spaces from your ad and either state you only have one space (if that's true) or state "spaceS" without going into detail that deters clients because you barely have anyone.

Interview
- Does your space and documents reflect the same type of service as your ads?
- If you are presenting yourself as a professional, are the play areas set up, is the equipment in place, can clients see the environment their child will be in? Telling someone that once you open it will look different than it does now, will again deter client's. They need to see the space as it will be if their child comes to you.
- Safety - if you are taking small children, are the common-sense safety precautions in place? If you have a TV or any thing electrical with wires visable, or a stair way with no stair gate, that's a concern.
- Do you have all your checks available and handed over voluntarily at interview? While not all provider's do this, if you are new and setting up and therefore don't have a track record, parents need to see that you have a clean criminal record, aren't on the child abuse register, have first aid training and are taking this seriously.
- If you have pets, consider shutting them away. If you are interviewing during your evenings and weekends, then don't have your own children behaving like brats in front of potential clients.

Documents
- Are you operating within the laws? Not giving a receipt might not seem like a big deal to a new provider but it is a big deal to a client. They can claim a tax allowance of up to $8,000 of day care expenses so you are costing them money and committing tax fraud. State clearly that you will be issuing a valid tax receipt so they aren't left wondering.
- Do you have a contract to show them or some wishy-washy verbal agreement?
- Are your policies documented for them to see?


It would be really useful to know at what stage things are working in order to be able to help direct you.