Do you have a facebook page? What are you offering to set yourself apart from the low ball rates?

For me, RAISING my rates helped to get clients. I had to find a niche in my area- and that was preschool. There were only TWO private preschools in my area that weren't connected to UPK. One is a montessori (which has recently come under fire and the reason why my waiting list is now 10 children deep) the other was a traditional preschool in a center.

Parents here did not like UPK, finding aftercare/transportation, the big center/developmentally inappropriate worksheets, no outside, etc. So I went organic, play based, crunchy granola.

Can you look into successful home daycares in your area, or centers, or whatever in your area to see what they offer and then market/change up things off of that?

I would definitely set rates, daily. If you must, you can add a sibling or multichild discount.

I would NOT respond to people seeking childcare. I would place your own ad in the groups marketing yourself. When you respond- they are interviewing you. When they respond to you, you are interviewing them.

be as professional as possible. I have a tour/interview. I lead it. I go over policies, I ask questions, I give a rundown of what I offer and then I allow parents to ask questions. I send them home with a cutesy binder of my enrollment process and when they could expect to hear from me.

It's also possible your area is just too saturated with sahm or illegal daycares to get anything worth your actual value as a FCC provider. Which STINKS!

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