Getting the first family to sign can be tricky. But once you can get the first one in, it sort of snowballs from there. Parents often want to see that you have other kids enrolled, the set up, etc before they will commit.
I've opened my childcare at 3 different times. I've always advertised as being open and ready for care.
The first time I filled within a month.
Second time took forever to fill.
This last time I filled within a month.
I found, for me personally, the biggest variable is what time of year it was. I have found the summer to be a really hard time to fill spots. People are on holidays, have teenage sitters, use family, etc. September and January are crazy busy and early spring, too. I had my choice of families to pick from.
Here (in Canada) is is sometimes easier to prebook clients b/c we have a year of mat leave.... so it's easy to look down the road and say, yes I will have a space available then or no, I won't. I filled some spaces right away and have some new clients starting in September so that my summer was light. I was able to do that easily b/c moms were getting ready to go back to work.
But having said all of that, I do find that a lot of parents tend to wait until the last minute.
Good luck! Lots of great tips on the board
