Family Termed, Having a Rough Time Looking On The Bright Side

[Miss A]

I had a family term yesterday due to a loss of of job. They have not followed my termination policy, and I know that I will not see the termination fee of two weeks care. I have struggled with this family paying me from the start, and while I will not miss having to demand my money each week before care, I will miss the child. I will also miss the income! I am down to two full time children. One part time. And one family who has paid the holding g fee for their expected newborn late this winter. So, u til then I am taking on a weekend bartending job to supplement my income.

I am so bummed, because I was on track to be debt free in just under a year. I feel like such a failure because am having g a half dbtime getting kids enrolled, but then I think about what time of the year it is, and how it is hard to get new families in the winter months. It will all be OK, I know, but right now I am just having a hard time looking on the bright side of things.

[Play Care]

:hug::hug:

You never know, some people may have started care in the Fall and may not be thrilled with it. Hope things work out for you!!

[NillaWafers]

Keep your chin up! Post on your local BST that you have spots, make flyers, and change your policy to include a two week deposit on registration! You might find someone quicker than you think

[Unregistered]

Hang in there! When I first opened a few years ago, I opened in November and had only one full time child. Had many calls for information and really tried to sell my program over the phone to have them come to visit. Once I had done a few interviews I started having an idea of what families were looking for by what they were saying during the visit, and highlighted those key elements during visits. By January, I was full.

[MarinaVanessa]

Keep advertising! Sometimes things happen to us that set up back a bit from our goals but you'll get there!

One thing that you can do to prevent this issue from happening in the first place is to have new clients pay the 2 weeks up front. A lot of us call this a non-refundable 2 week deposit and it pays for those 2 final weeks of care when a client terminates. We have a clause that says that a minimum of 2 weeks notice is needed to terminate and the fee goes to that so when a client just leaves and terminates immediately with no notice they still don't get the deposit back and it still goes towards their last two weeks even if their child doesn't attend.

I require payment of this fee before they even start along with their first week of childcare. 3 weeks of childcare paid all at once is a lot for some families so I do allow them to pay $100 and then $50 extra each week along with their weekly payment until they are all paid up.

You can even start a new policy and have your current clients pay a two week deposit also. For them you can ask them to pay an extra $20 or so extra each week until they get caught up or whatever payment plan you decide on. This way you can be proactive instead of reactive

[Alwaysgreener]

I just termed and surprisingly started getting calls before I decided to term. I termed 3 and gain 1 pt. my probelm is all my infant spots are full and that is what I get calls for.

[daycare]

in my area tons of people are looking for temp care for the holiday breaks and then always at the first of the new year I start getting in calls.

Hang in there, good things will come to those who wait.

[KIDZRMYBIZ]

Hang tough! I'm in NE, and I get a ton of leads around the start of the new year. Fresh starts and all that, I suppose.

Moving forward, I would recommend getting those last 2 weeks paid up front, as a kind of deposit. Just remind clients that it isn't free money for you, and that their last 2 weeks with you will be paid for, whenever that may be. Offer a payment schedule that works for you and them if need be. I guarantee you, if a DCF isn't willing to do this, they would have been a financial pain in the rear end the whole way through anyway. Next!

[Ariana]

Start envisioning the perfect family coming to your door and trust me they will show up! sounds corny but negative thinking gets your nowhere.

:hug: You got this!