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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Best Time Of Year For Enrollment?
Homebody 01:48 PM 01-11-2018
Just curious if any of you seem to have more enrollments during certain times of the year? I was swamped with inquiries way back in August and September which resulted in 2 enrollments, but was really slow after that. It seems to be picking up again the last few weeks and just enrolled an infant to start the beginning of March. My husband and I have been doing daycare for only a couple of years, and are trying to get more kiddos so he can quit his part time job. We are looking to start infants and toddlers to keep long term. So do you find you have better luck during certain months or times of the year?
amberrose3dg 03:53 AM 01-12-2018
Originally Posted by Homebody:
Just curious if any of you seem to have more enrollments during certain times of the year? I was swamped with inquiries way back in August and September which resulted in 2 enrollments, but was really slow after that. It seems to be picking up again the last few weeks and just enrolled an infant to start the beginning of March. My husband and I have been doing daycare for only a couple of years, and are trying to get more kiddos so he can quit his part time job. We are looking to start infants and toddlers to keep long term. So do you find you have better luck during certain months or times of the year?
Honestly it depends. I always get inquires on a weekly basis for the most part. MY area is in need of daycare though. We have 6 daycares for the entire town of about 6000.We are also in the desired school district so I have lots of outsiders bringing their kids to this area as well. I do see slow times and that is usually right before the holidays. This time of year is busy and I think especially true for daycare hoppers.People do not want to pay for the time off during the holidays so they will give notice stay at the new daycare and repeat that process.( I would avoid these types if you can, you will know because they will have been at x amount of daycares in last amount of time.)My suggestion would be to advertise and if your area is saturated with daycares find a marketable approach.What is something parents are really looking for in your area? That could help you fill it faster.Just curious if any of you seem to have more enrollments during certain times of the year? I was swamped with inquiries way back in August and September which resulted in 2 enrollments, but was really slow after that. It seems to be picking up again the last few weeks and just enrolled an infant to start the beginning of March. My husband and I have been doing daycare for only a couple of years, and are trying to get more kiddos so he can quit his part time job. We are looking to start infants and toddlers to keep long term. So do you find you have better luck during certain months or times of the year?
Homebody 07:14 AM 01-12-2018
Originally Posted by amberrose3dg:
Honestly it depends. I always get inquires on a weekly basis for the most part. MY area is in need of daycare though. We have 6 daycares for the entire town of about 6000.We are also in the desired school district so I have lots of outsiders bringing their kids to this area as well. I do see slow times and that is usually right before the holidays. This time of year is busy and I think especially true for daycare hoppers.People do not want to pay for the time off during the holidays so they will give notice stay at the new daycare and repeat that process.( I would avoid these types if you can, you will know because they will have been at x amount of daycares in last amount of time.)My suggestion would be to advertise and if your area is saturated with daycares find a marketable approach.What is something parents are really looking for in your area? That could help you fill it faster.
Unfortunately we have a lot of competition with daycare centers and home daycares in our area. We have a lot of low income families that are looking for cheap daycare, and the first thing they always ask when they contact me is our rates. When we first started I advertised really low rates, but was getting a lot of inquiries from people that I knew wouldn't last. I even accepted a couple of them knowing in my gut that they wouldn't work out, but was desperate to get some children in our care. In the end I was right and they only lasted a couple of months. I no longer have my rates in my ad and have raised them slightly, but still a competitive rate. My ad says "Infant and Toddler Openings in a Small Group" and have gotten a few inquiries over the last month from it, one of which we got one enrolled. We are only looking for 7 to 8 children max at one time between the both of us. I've thought about advertising on Facebook. Has anyone had any luck with Facebook? And thank you for your advise Honestly it depends. I always get inquires on a weekly basis for the most part. MY area is in need of daycare though. We have 6 daycares for the entire town of about 6000.We are also in the desired school district so I have lots of outsiders bringing their kids to this area as well. I do see slow times and that is usually right before the holidays. This time of year is busy and I think especially true for daycare hoppers.People do not want to pay for the time off during the holidays so they will give notice stay at the new daycare and repeat that process.( I would avoid these types if you can, you will know because they will have been at x amount of daycares in last amount of time.)My suggestion would be to advertise and if your area is saturated with daycares find a marketable approach.What is something parents are really looking for in your area? That could help you fill it faster.
amberrose3dg 07:21 AM 01-12-2018
Originally Posted by Homebody:
Unfortunately we have a lot of competition with daycare centers and home daycares in our area. We have a lot of low income families that are looking for cheap daycare, and the first thing they always ask when they contact me is our rates. When we first started I advertised really low rates, but was getting a lot of inquiries from people that I knew wouldn't last. I even accepted a couple of them knowing in my gut that they wouldn't work out, but was desperate to get some children in our care. In the end I was right and they only lasted a couple of months. I no longer have my rates in my ad and have raised them slightly, but still a competitive rate. My ad says "Infant and Toddler Openings in a Small Group" and have gotten a few inquiries over the last month from it, one of which we got one enrolled. We are only looking for 7 to 8 children max at one time between the both of us. I've thought about advertising on Facebook. Has anyone had any luck with Facebook? And thank you for your advise
Facebook is a good place to advertise.I am not sure of your area. I would also list your business on Google. I get over a 100 inquires a month from Google.Unfortunately we have a lot of competition with daycare centers and home daycares in our area. We have a lot of low income families that are looking for cheap daycare, and the first thing they always ask when they contact me is our rates. When we first started I advertised really low rates, but was getting a lot of inquiries from people that I knew wouldn't last. I even accepted a couple of them knowing in my gut that they wouldn't work out, but was desperate to get some children in our care. In the end I was right and they only lasted a couple of months. I no longer have my rates in my ad and have raised them slightly, but still a competitive rate. My ad says "Infant and Toddler Openings in a Small Group" and have gotten a few inquiries over the last month from it, one of which we got one enrolled. We are only looking for 7 to 8 children max at one time between the both of us. I've thought about advertising on Facebook. Has anyone had any luck with Facebook? And thank you for your advise
Homebody 07:27 AM 01-12-2018
Originally Posted by amberrose3dg:
Facebook is a good place to advertise.I am not sure of your area. I would also list your business on Google. I get over a 100 inquires a month from Google.
I'm in the Kansas City area. I will look into Google too. Thanks!Facebook is a good place to advertise.I am not sure of your area. I would also list your business on Google. I get over a 100 inquires a month from Google.
MyAngels 07:38 PM 01-12-2018
For some reason I get more calls in January and May. I don't really know why as it doesn't correlate with anything in particular (school being out and the like).
BrynleeJean 01:09 PM 02-01-2018
Originally Posted by Homebody:
Unfortunately we have a lot of competition with daycare centers and home daycares in our area. We have a lot of low income families that are looking for cheap daycare, and the first thing they always ask when they contact me is our rates. When we first started I advertised really low rates, but was getting a lot of inquiries from people that I knew wouldn't last. I even accepted a couple of them knowing in my gut that they wouldn't work out, but was desperate to get some children in our care. In the end I was right and they only lasted a couple of months. I no longer have my rates in my ad and have raised them slightly, but still a competitive rate. My ad says "Infant and Toddler Openings in a Small Group" and have gotten a few inquiries over the last month from it, one of which we got one enrolled. We are only looking for 7 to 8 children max at one time between the both of us. I've thought about advertising on Facebook. Has anyone had any luck with Facebook? And thank you for your advise
I used Facebook in the beginning when opening the first time (I closed after my son was born and Ill open up again in august) i made a page just for my daycare and joined a lot of locate "kid toy/clothes swap group pages" and i posted there. out of like the millions of people that probably saw my post i got like one or two but it was a start, and then word of mouth was my friend, my parents told their friends, and i think the biggest help was id get calls throughout the year from people that found me on my states website because i was registered with my state, it says that i had so citations and stuff and i think thats why people called me. I got so many calls for babies but wasn't taking any ironically, because come august I'm going to only run babies-18 months and would have to turn them away.Unfortunately we have a lot of competition with daycare centers and home daycares in our area. We have a lot of low income families that are looking for cheap daycare, and the first thing they always ask when they contact me is our rates. When we first started I advertised really low rates, but was getting a lot of inquiries from people that I knew wouldn't last. I even accepted a couple of them knowing in my gut that they wouldn't work out, but was desperate to get some children in our care. In the end I was right and they only lasted a couple of months. I no longer have my rates in my ad and have raised them slightly, but still a competitive rate. My ad says "Infant and Toddler Openings in a Small Group" and have gotten a few inquiries over the last month from it, one of which we got one enrolled. We are only looking for 7 to 8 children max at one time between the both of us. I've thought about advertising on Facebook. Has anyone had any luck with Facebook? And thank you for your advise
When you advertise, Loving, home daycare is what a lot of parents are looking for. they don't wanna stick their child in a big loud center where they have to follow rules (heaven forbid) and do work, so a HOME is enough to be a big selling point so know their child can have a home away from home where they can safely play and have FUN all day and mom and dad can get calls and texts from the provider updating them on their day (i did this Centers can't) so they don't have to worry is a big selling point
Good luck!
Homebody 01:48 PM 02-01-2018
Originally Posted by BrynleeJean:
I used Facebook in the beginning when opening the first time (I closed after my son was born and Ill open up again in august) i made a page just for my daycare and joined a lot of locate "kid toy/clothes swap group pages" and i posted there. out of like the millions of people that probably saw my post i got like one or two but it was a start, and then word of mouth was my friend, my parents told their friends, and i think the biggest help was id get calls throughout the year from people that found me on my states website because i was registered with my state, it says that i had so citations and stuff and i think thats why people called me. I got so many calls for babies but wasn't taking any ironically, because come august I'm going to only run babies-18 months and would have to turn them away.
When you advertise, Loving, home daycare is what a lot of parents are looking for. they don't wanna stick their child in a big loud center where they have to follow rules (heaven forbid) and do work, so a HOME is enough to be a big selling point so know their child can have a home away from home where they can safely play and have FUN all day and mom and dad can get calls and texts from the provider updating them on their day (i did this Centers can't) so they don't have to worry is a big selling point
Good luck!
I haven't had any luck from fb yet. Most of mine have been from craigslist. I changed the ad a little and added that we have a small group in a safe, loving home environment, and I put a link to my free google website in the ad and that has seemed to help. I got an infant starting in March that I got from Craigslist. I also have an interview this weekend from my first word of mouth (someone my brother in-law knows).I used Facebook in the beginning when opening the first time (I closed after my son was born and Ill open up again in august) i made a page just for my daycare and joined a lot of locate "kid toy/clothes swap group pages" and i posted there. out of like the millions of people that probably saw my post i got like one or two but it was a start, and then word of mouth was my friend, my parents told their friends, and i think the biggest help was id get calls throughout the year from people that found me on my states website because i was registered with my state, it says that i had so citations and stuff and i think thats why people called me. I got so many calls for babies but wasn't taking any ironically, because come august I'm going to only run babies-18 months and would have to turn them away.
When you advertise, Loving, home daycare is what a lot of parents are looking for. they don't wanna stick their child in a big loud center where they have to follow rules (heaven forbid) and do work, so a HOME is enough to be a big selling point so know their child can have a home away from home where they can safely play and have FUN all day and mom and dad can get calls and texts from the provider updating them on their day (i did this Centers can't) so they don't have to worry is a big selling point
Good luck!
I just started trying new ways of advertising last month besides using CL, so hopefully I start having better luck. I really don't like having to rely on CL so much because of all the weeding out I have to do. I think most of the people are just price checking. I'm also listed with our state but haven't had any luck with that. Our inspector who came recently thought maybe our location might be the reason we are having trouble filling up. We aren't in a subdivision. We live kind of in the country, but not in the middle of no where. We are close to a major highway and close the suburbs and downtown KC. I'm just thinking if we lived in a more traditional neighborhood we would have better luck. I appreciate your advice.
BrynleeJean 02:01 PM 02-01-2018
Ive never tried craigslist but i hear people get a lot of calls from their so i think ill try.
I start my ads with the same thing every time its something like "Registered/licensed home daycare in (city,state) providing loving care in a small group learning environment" or something like that .
you could also put "right off the freeway" or at the intersections of blah and blah.
Congrats on your word of mouth referral tour coming in i hope it goes well.
I start my ads with the same thing every time its something like "Registered/licensed home daycare in (city,state) providing loving care in a small group learning environment" or something like that .
you could also put "right off the freeway" or at the intersections of blah and blah.
Congrats on your word of mouth referral tour coming in i hope it goes well.