badams 10:19 AM 12-19-2011
I'm just curious. I'm getting ready to start advertising and spreading the word in person that I'm opening up in February/March.
How hard was it for you guys to get parents to enroll their children?
mismatchedsocks 10:23 AM 12-19-2011
Had some within a week or so, but I pulled my son from his daycare and stole some kids in his class to come with. But then I posted an ad, and had interview within a few days. I was unsure of how many kids I could get because we had a smallish space ( duplex of a house). Good luck!
daycare 10:27 AM 12-19-2011
I got lucky to have word of mouth when i started, but when i placed my first ad, it was MONTHS before i got interviews and then a few weeks after that, that I got my first child from my own ads.
Also, the way the economy had been, I have had spots open for a very very long time. I have been trying to still fill spots from kids that left last march.....
Good news is that I will be full again after the first of the year, but it took A lot of getting out into the town and doing a LOT of talking to A LOT of people...
lil angels 10:28 AM 12-19-2011
I started 11 yrs ago and I had kids within a couple of weeks after I put up my flyers. I have 6 kids within the first about 4 months of starting and I let it at that for the first yr till I could get everything figured out. I now have 10 and am licensed for 12.
I started advertising in August the year I started (and this was for the one family I was allowed to have unlicensed while I was getting my license.) I lucked out as that is a busy time for people looking for daycare. Within a week I had the perfect family who had 2 children my own children's ages.
Once I was licensed, there was a four month lull where I didn't even get a phone call. So I think it all depends really on when you are looking for clients.
Ariana 03:04 PM 12-19-2011
I also got lucky because I mentioned to my neighbour I was going to start a home daycare and she told me she was looking for care! She was my only client for a couple of months. I didn't start advertising officially until a few months into it when I knew I could handle more kids. I'm pretty picky about ages because I don't do infants and prefer part-timers so it took me a while to find other kids that fit in here.
VioletCupcake 04:40 PM 12-19-2011
I started posting on CL this past July and by Aug. I had 6 families (some part time and some full time). I think my CL posts made a HUGE difference because I included lots and lots of details, and I included pictures of myself, my family, and my home. A lot of families told me that mine was the only child care post they responded to online. Oh and I also posted a few smaller ads on CL with only a few details and I got NO responses to those ads at all!Between July 1 and Aug 1, I talked to at least 35 families, it was insane! I helped a friend of mine fill up her center too ( and she had been open for months without being able to fill up). I also live in a big city and I think there is just a HUGE demand here for quality in home centers. Good luck with everything!!!
CheekyChick 08:15 PM 12-19-2011
I only had a few families my first year. I posted fliers and that was a bust. I posted fliers on community boards and that was a bust. I posted an ad on Craigslist and that is how I filled the rest of my spots. Since then, I get about 75% referrals and the rest from my CL ad.
badams 03:59 AM 12-20-2011
I'm looking through a lot of posts on Criagslist and Care.com saying parents need care in my area, so hopefully it won't be too hard to get clients. Rght now, I'm working f/t at a distribution center and applying to p/t jobs so I can get this up and running soon. The demand for care in my area seems like it'll be good for me, but I guess you never know. Hopefully everything will work out.
melissa ann 04:51 AM 12-20-2011
I started advertising Oct 2007, I got my first family Mar 2008. I've been full since. When I lost my 2nd family, my 1st was expecting a baby 2 months later, so I didn't fill her spot. I kept it for the baby. When I lost another dcb, I had his spot replaced within 2 weeks. When I lost my 1st dcf at thanksgiving, I filled those spots last week. So, I've been very fortunate not to have gone too long with empty spots once I actually got my 1st family.
It can take some time before you get your 1st family. I had received a lot of phone calls, several interviews before I had a family sign up. Don't give up.
spud912 06:13 AM 12-20-2011
It took me 2 weeks to fill up, but I only wanted to start with 2 children and it was the best time of the year (January).
mrsp'slilpeeps 12:33 PM 12-21-2011
I moved from a big city to a small town 1.5 yrs ago.
It took about 3 weeks and my first DCF was a no show 3 times! They are still with me!
The 2nd was with me for 3 months and left. I was back to 1 child until last January.
I have gone through 4 DCF that were not good fits.
Then the calls started pouring in. I am full today. All from word of mouth.
I advertised on Kijiji, my front porch, mail box's, town newspaper, and the bulliton boards in the grocery stores.
mrsp'slilpeeps 12:35 PM 12-21-2011
I have also noticed that the dck"s that dont fit in with the rest are usually only there for about 3 months or less.