How Long Did It Take You to Build Up a Client Base?

[Unregistered]

I am kicking off in a little over a week and have the jitters. Right now I have one confirmed, one almost-certain, and three kids who will just be here occasionally. I'm going to need to be at 3 steady kids to make it through the summer. I'm working to get my advertising out there.

(BTW, I didn't realize, duh, that even the child care portion of Craigslist is full of obvious check-cashing scammers, plus folks who have no idea how much child care runs--would you take a disabled child full-time for $40/week?)

Did you have all spots full when you started up? Did most of that come from people you knew? Did you have an organic transition from what you did before child care, or was a cold start like mine?

[Mike]

(BTW, I didn't realize, duh, that even the child care portion of Craigslist is full of obvious check-cashing scammers, plus folks who have no idea how much child care runs--would you take a disabled child full-time for $40/week?)

yup ::
There are providers and seekers with ridiculous figures.

Did you have all spots full when you started up? Did most of that come from people you knew? Did you have an organic transition from what you did before child care, or was a cold start like mine?

Mine is going to be a cold start, but I'm going to start with off hours care while working on another business or a job, then switch to full-time daycare when I have the clientelle to do it.

[Controlled Chaos]

I was full (6 kids) within 6 months using only word of mouth, I was lucky and sort of started by accident as my friends all found out I was willing to watch kids. I transitioned from babysitter to daycare after the first year. Good luck and be patients. It can take time. FB has been a good source of calls for me. I used care.com for a year and thought it was worth it.

[childcaremom]

I think it depends on the time of year and, obviously, the need in your area.

The first time I opened, it took 6 months to fill. And I was not picky about my clients. :: It was over the winter months which are usually very slow.

The second time I opened, was in the spring, and I was full within 2 months. I have had some ups and downs but most of my recent clients have been word of mouth. I have had better luck with kijiji than fb in my area.

[DaveA]

I opened with one DCF, filled a couple more spots within a few weeks, and was full in 3 months. I was coming from a center to my own home, but I was out of the area I had worked in. So it was basically a cold start. I had spent a few months getting set up, so when I opened it was "hit the ground running". My first enrollment was a call from an ad, the next couples were a friend of 1st DCF and someone who worked at same hospital as DW.

This place has made me scared to look at Craigslist ads in my area. ::

[Unregistered]

I started cold, coming from an administrative job downtown. I was full within 3 weeks, but I think a lot of people knew me, and that I had always been involved with kids' activities outside of work.

[Missjaime]

I feel like I had a slow start filling up. I was lucky to start with 2 kids who were friends kids then plus my own children I had 4 when I started. For me, this was a good transition to kind of ease into the routine. Since then I have added kids slowly and now a year and half in I am as full as I want to be (I have some part time kids and some school agers, so I could add more, but I am happy with what I have). I have had a rough time adding clients in the winter, as another poster said, but have had luck with Facebook and Craigslist. It will happen for you, it could be good easing into things slowly. It's kind of hard to get into a day care routine.

[wonderfullisa]

It's only temporary, but school agers are needing care for the summers. Im having to turn away people, now, but it took time to get this way. I was a cold start. Only had one child for about 6 months.

[Unregistered]

One time I started in August and was full before I opened-six kids...five full time, one half days.

Second time around I opened in January and it took me four months to fill. I started with three part-time. Ended up with four full time and six part time (8 at one time)

[Pestle]

Thank you all--you're making me much less nervous. Of course, "nervous' is my default state. :P

[lovemydaycare0912]

I started last year in March. Was full with 6 by December. When I lose one now, I easily am able to fill the slot. Thank God. I have a good word of mouth but I also do advertise. You'll get there!

[thrivingchildcarecom]

When I started I only had two kids! I just kept slogging along till I got full. It is important to note that (in my experience) usually just when you get full, someone pulls out. We need to constantly be marketing and building our business. Just keep advertising and you will get there.

I actually just found some really great ways to advertise for FREE. Send me a PM if you would like me to share.