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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Frustrated. How to Recruit New Clients??
CreativeDays 10:57 PM 01-06-2019
I am really frustrated with being ghosted by potential clients. I am a new childcare in an area that really needs it. However, my interest over the last two months has been 12 inquiries, 7 interviews, and I have only landed 1. I am frustrated. What can I do to land clients? I am legally unlicensenced right now, but I follow all regulations and run a super clean ship. Im turning down people with littles under 24 months because I already have one aside from my own. How can I get 2-5 year olds to join? I am a pretty introverted person, so social events are hard for me.
My major sources right now are Craigslist and a local Mom group on FB (that seems to not want me there)
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CreativeDays 11:25 PM 01-06-2019
I have my major certifications, my own curriculum... my price is according to price study and as low as I can afford and minimum wage divided by 3.
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CreativeDays 11:30 PM 01-06-2019
People want to interview, and it seems to go well, but then they just ghost.
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CreativeDays 11:35 PM 01-06-2019
I am in a downstairs apartment with a limited back porch space but the park is less than a block away.
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284878 04:26 AM 01-07-2019
How do you advertise? Do you say unlicense, in your ad? I read somewhere that providers that can operate with out a license should avoid saying unlicense because 'un' is associated as a negative thing. That a better title is legally license exempt. Also when people scan ads, they may not contact you if they scan the ad and see the word unlicense vs license.

Our state just changed the title of a family member who cared for family in their home from unlicensed to license exempt. Which before pp thought being unlicense was legal, now it says that you don't need a license but you need to follow these regulations, and when they learn more they find that they can only care for family in their home.

With Craigslist I found more rate checkers or scammers than interested parties. So I changed my ad so that the only way to contact me was through my website. I have a short summary and then link my website. I also say like us on FB and link my DC fb page. (Which they can also contact me through but I don't advertise that)
My website is with Weebly and it is free.

As for getting older kids, I find it hard to do with out having an older child attached to a younger one. I am in the process of replacing a family with another and I targeted families with two or more kids because I need the extra body vs a family of one, (an infant). I love infants but until my ds ages out of the infant spot, I'm avoiding just enrolling a single infant.

When you get infant calls do you create a waiting list? I do, especially if the infant is about to age out of the infant spot. When they do, you can call them back and see if they still need care.

Why do you feel that way about the fb mom group?
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Cat Herder 05:06 AM 01-07-2019
You only enroll 2 and up? How big is your apartment? How old is your child? It is possible these are the lead concerns to be addressed?

2-5 up need a lot of indoor and outdoor space to run and play. Many people do not choose a provider with their own young children at home as that tends to have its own brand of issues. (click on the tags for old threads)

How do you get the kids to the park?

Some may not want their kids walking there and others may not want their kids transported. Both have fallen out of favor with licensing.

Why did you not become licensed?

Many may be concerned about that with all the public advertising to parents to choose only licensed providers.

How does your apartment complex look from street view?

Many people judge based on if a place looks warm, inviting and somewhere they'd like to spend the day.

Just a few immediate thoughts.
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Pestle 06:53 AM 01-07-2019
Cat Herder has great advice for getting yourself started on the right foot, but also:

A shocking number of people are flakes. Until you have a word-of-mouth network, expect a flake-to-normal ratio similar to what you're experiencing.

Warning: I wanted toddlers, too, when I first opened. I learned the hard way that the few toddlers who are on the market for daycare are on the market for a reason. They often have behavioral issues that got them booted from multiple daycares, and the parents have even worse behavioral issues. Now I grow my own toddlers.
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Cat Herder 06:56 AM 01-07-2019
Originally Posted by Pestle:
Warning: I wanted toddlers, too, when I first opened. I learned the hard way that the few toddlers who are on the market for daycare are on the market for a reason. They often have behavioral issues that got them booted from multiple daycares, and the parents have even worse behavioral issues. Now I grow my own toddlers.
Sing it, sister. Or daycare hopping, non-paying parents.

This is such a huge lesson and made all the difference for me early on.
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Blackcat31 08:02 AM 01-07-2019
Originally Posted by CreativeDays:
I am really frustrated with being ghosted by potential clients. I am a new childcare in an area that really needs it. However, my interest over the last two months has been 12 inquiries, 7 interviews, and I have only landed 1. I am frustrated. What can I do to land clients? I am legally unlicensenced right now, but I follow all regulations and run a super clean ship. Im turning down people with littles under 24 months because I already have one aside from my own. How can I get 2-5 year olds to join? I am a pretty introverted person, so social events are hard for me.
My major sources right now are Craigslist and a local Mom group on FB (that seems to not want me there)
What state are you in?
Do most daycare's in your area operate legally unlicensed or is that not as common?

Wondering because, unless it's the norm, prospective parents may be shying away due to not being licensed.
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Jupadia 08:21 AM 01-07-2019
I've been un business for about 6 years now. It super easy for me to find kids under 2 who need care. Most of those come to me as kids who's parents are finished mat leave and starting care for first time. I'm only allowed two kids in this age group so spots fill quickly. Over 2 is harder to find, they either grow or are changing providers. With a change of providers it's sometimes due to a move but lots of time cause they have a behavioral problem with their previous care. Occasionally you get one who's last provider was just not as great as advertised and parents switch. Currently I I have 2 leaving for Kindergarten in the fall. I've already started to advertise cause I'll only be able to fill the spots with one under 2 and the other will have to be over 2.
I get a lot of calls from my lawn sign, but I gusse living in an appartment you would not be able to do this. Most calls I get from kijji are just those looking for the cheapest care possible.
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Michael 12:56 PM 01-07-2019
Here is a great article written by one of our forum members regarding marketing-your-daycare: https://www.daycare.com/news/adverti...r-daycare.html
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CreativeDays 07:05 PM 01-07-2019
Wow, quite a response. Thank you, everyone, for your insights.

I haven't mentioned my licensing status in my ad. Only that I'm not currently accepting state payments. I've had a few people specifically ask, and I've told them I am license exempt due to my small group status. I didn't intend to ever have a large group and I can watch 3 littles at a time, not including my own. I decided to do this because my son was constantly getting sick at the large center (the only place I could find space and didnt adhere to a strict sick policy) which was stressful, hard on us both and really defeated the purpose of taking him there to try to hold down a job.

Being legally unlicensed is not the norm, but space at most of the other licensed facilities/centers is packed and at a premium.

For registered families, you can only have 2 under 24 months (mine is 18 months), including your own child. That doesn't technically apply to me right now, but if I want to become licensed, it will. I am a very conscientuous person, and trying to follow best practices. That is why I am looking for ages 2-5 years. I may decide to pursue licensing but right now, money is a factor to jumping some final hoops such as paying to have a landline telephone in my home. I am barely getting by at the moment and struggling with the bills/rent I already have. So seeing as how it was not required for my goal of 3 littles, I haven't pusued it completely. I have my CPR/first aid card, food handler's, and state required courses completed.

About the mom group and feeling a bit unwelcome there, The admins have deleted my postings about my childcare and I even had 1 person attack my chosen profession saying something along the lines of daycare being "nuts."
Nanny share appears to be becoming very popular here now, which is something I didn't anticipate.

My apartment was recently remodled, which is pretty rare around here. A lot of places look pretty old. I don't believe lead to be a factor. I don't have peeling paint. My son has been tested for lead and his levels are normal. Also, I have always used bpa free bottled spring water for consumption purposes.

I believe my apartment to be ballpark 600 square feet. Plus outdoor area which includes a porch and extends out a couple feet further to a tree line. I am utilizing all of my apartment for care. The bedroom is a napping space.

It is cosmetically not run down. Its a very small privately owned complex with good maintenance. I live near a university and most of my neighborhood is student housing. There aren't any other small children in the neighborhood.

I am walking the children to the park around the back of a neighboring apartment complex and away from any busy street.

I believe I may have lost 1 prospective after discussing my trial period, so likely behavioral issues there.

I think this answered all of the questions...

Thanks erveryone.
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Tags:apartment, providers own child, providers own children, small room, small space, transportation - walking agreement, transporting daycare kids, unlicensed daycare
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