How to Build a Clientele?

[casg415]

I've posted pictures of the place that I'm converting into child day care, question now is how do i build a clientele? I understand I have to start from scratch. Basically I'm a little worried because if I fix up the house and can't get permanent kids to enroll, then my investment, time, and effort, would all go down the drain. Let me list a few pros and cons:

Pros:
I live in San Francisco. Lots of residence and competitive child care prices.
Curriculum will be given to me by a friend that works for the city
No one lives in the house and everything is set up already
Close to train transportation, freeway, colleges, and middle school

Cons:
No prior professional child care experience, but that doesn't mean I can't show them love, patience, and structure.
I'm weighing the odds if I should hire a person while I assist them. Overhead will be the overall concern.

[Abigail]

I am in the same sort of situation, but don't have the house yet! I started a few months ago as a fill in at a daycare to "get my foot in the door" but in the mean time, I'm working on daycare related things to improve my potential business. Are you licensed? This would be a good thing to do since you obviously have the space and it is just one more plus when families notice you don't have prior experience.

I am CPR and First Aid certified and am currently reading up on a lot of child care related things through Child Care Resource and Referral. I've created a schedule I'd like to follow, decided on the ages I want to enroll (6 weeks-6 years), and decided on rates ($5 above average straight across the board). This gives me a little more confidence. The next task is to create a handbook, which I just never seem to get to! LOL

Hope this helps some. I would recommend you advertise in the newspaper and online if you're comfortable. When I am ready for interviewing, I'm only going to publish in the newspaper and hang up flyers. I'm going to avoid online ads because that is my last resort, ha ha, even though this is online! If you're licensed, CCR&R will list you with their agency and refer families to you. Good luck!

[DBug]

I get most of my business through my website, so I'd definitely recommend making one. It doesn't have to cost a penny, you can build one on webs.com or wix.com. You can advertise here on Daycare.com, and there are a few other online daycare databases. I'm in Canada, so I'm on daycarebear.ca, but I'm sure there are lots in the States. Lots of people will Google daycare in your town as the first step in their search for care. Building your internet presence is invaluable. Even advertising on Craigslist or Kijiji will put your name out there.

The other thing is to post flyers and leave business cards everywhere in your community where parents may see them -- grocery stores, doctor/dentist office, churches, playgrounds, schools, McDonald's, etc. You can't do this everywhere, but I had magnets made (vistaprint.com), and put them on our SuperMailboxes in town. People could just take one if they were interested.

My marketing plan was to saturate our town with my daycare name. I used every possible way I could think of to get my name out there. My plan was that even if a given family didn't need my services, that they would know my name in case a friend asked if they know of any daycares in our area.

And it did take time, but it worked. After about 6 months or so, I was full (with full and part-timers) with a waiting list.

Good luck! Put your name EVERYWHERE and they WILL come!

[casg415]

Originally Posted by Abigail

I am in the same sort of situation, but don't have the house yet! I started a few months ago as a fill in at a daycare to "get my foot in the door" but in the mean time, I'm working on daycare related things to improve my potential business. Are you licensed? This would be a good thing to do since you obviously have the space and it is just one more plus when families notice you don't have prior experience.

I am CPR and First Aid certified and am currently reading up on a lot of child care related things through Child Care Resource and Referral. I've created a schedule I'd like to follow, decided on the ages I want to enroll (6 weeks-6 years), and decided on rates ($5 above average straight across the board). This gives me a little more confidence. The next task is to create a handbook, which I just never seem to get to! LOL

Hope this helps some. I would recommend you advertise in the newspaper and online if you're comfortable. When I am ready for interviewing, I'm only going to publish in the newspaper and hang up flyers. I'm going to avoid online ads because that is my last resort, ha ha, even though this is online! If you're licensed, CCR&R will list you with their agency and refer families to you. Good luck!

i'm currently not licensed but will be going through with the process starting next week. there is a mandatory orientation that i have to go through. so assuming no structural fixtures, i don't see why my home won't be licensed after completing certain requirements.

personally, i'm not a certified CPR or First Aid, hence, i'm debating if i should hire someone that's already certified for the meantime until i can complete the certification. are both certifications needed if i'm looking to take care of 6 kids? can't remember all the details.

a handbook could be beneficial but as a start-up i'm trying to cut my overhead. i guess depending how much it cost to make them, i'll either outsource the work or just bind one on my own, but i do like the idea since there will be less explaining on my part if i can give a handbook to parents instead.

[casg415]

Originally Posted by DBug

I get most of my business through my website, so I'd definitely recommend making one. It doesn't have to cost a penny, you can build one on webs.com or wix.com. You can advertise here on Daycare.com, and there are a few other online daycare databases. I'm in Canada, so I'm on daycarebear.ca, but I'm sure there are lots in the States. Lots of people will Google daycare in your town as the first step in their search for care. Building your internet presence is invaluable. Even advertising on Craigslist or Kijiji will put your name out there.

The other thing is to post flyers and leave business cards everywhere in your community where parents may see them -- grocery stores, doctor/dentist office, churches, playgrounds, schools, McDonald's, etc. You can't do this everywhere, but I had magnets made (vistaprint.com), and put them on our SuperMailboxes in town. People could just take one if they were interested.

My marketing plan was to saturate our town with my daycare name. I used every possible way I could think of to get my name out there. My plan was that even if a given family didn't need my services, that they would know my name in case a friend asked if they know of any daycares in our area.

And it did take time, but it worked. After about 6 months or so, I was full (with full and part-timers) with a waiting list.

Good luck! Put your name EVERYWHERE and they WILL come!

thanks for the input. i'll definitely invest on a website and optimizing it using SEO. i do like your guerrilla style marketing, it reminds me how street artists are using the street as their canvas.

so with your current situation now, is your home day care filled?

[Michael]

Originally Posted by DBug

I get most of my business through my website, so I'd definitely recommend making one. It doesn't have to cost a penny, you can build one on webs.com or wix.com. You can advertise here on Daycare.com, and there are a few other online daycare databases. I'm in Canada, so I'm on daycarebear.ca, but I'm sure there are lots in the States. Lots of people will Google daycare in your town as the first step in their search for care. Building your internet presence is invaluable. Even advertising on Craigslist or Kijiji will put your name out there.

The other thing is to post flyers and leave business cards everywhere in your community where parents may see them -- grocery stores, doctor/dentist office, churches, playgrounds, schools, McDonald's, etc. You can't do this everywhere, but I had magnets made (vistaprint.com), and put them on our SuperMailboxes in town. People could just take one if they were interested.

My marketing plan was to saturate our town with my daycare name. I used every possible way I could think of to get my name out there. My plan was that even if a given family didn't need my services, that they would know my name in case a friend asked if they know of any daycares in our area.

And it did take time, but it worked. After about 6 months or so, I was full (with full and part-timers) with a waiting list.

Good luck! Put your name EVERYWHERE and they WILL come!

Thanks for the plug DB. Also, if you are a contributing forum member of 100 posts or more I will list you in the Daycare Database Registry for free.

[casg415]

what schedules do most kids have while they're in a day care? i've seen centers and home facilities taking kids as early as 7 am and closing at 6 pm (or whenever parents are able to pick the kids up). i personally don't mind if kids need a place to hangout until they're parents are able to pick them up, but i wouldn't be able to hang if i'm always putting up ridiculous hours daily.

also, what's the cost of food per child in day cares? $100 - $200 per child?

most kids that enroll in a home day care, do they usually enroll as a full time (month-to-month) basis or are they mostly part-timers (weekly, daily)? i'm asking because if there's a curriculum for monthly kids and a new kid comes up once a week, i'm curious how they'll adjust or jive with the other kids.