Best Time Of Year For Enrollment?

[CityGarden]

I get the most interest in January, May/June and August/September.

So far all have come from posting in FB mom groups and one from Care.com

[Homebody]

I've got most of my active inquiries from Facebook. I post on buy sell trade groups mom and groups Etc. I've also done Facebook ads but have not gotten any leads from that.

I get the most interest in January, May/June and August/September.

So far all have come from posting in FB mom groups and one from Care.com

Yes, I think FB is the way to go now. I posted on one of the daycare provider groups, but haven't had any luck. I will try the buy sell trade groups and mom groups.

[ColorfulSunburst]

The summer with late july & August being being the most popular. January is next for enrolling families. Craigs List is a bargain basement where people look for deals, daycare included. Get your own website. Look for local parent groups on Facebook to get your business known.

[Homebody]

The summer with late july & August being being the most popular. January is next for enrolling families. Craigs List is a bargain basement where people look for deals, daycare included. Get your own website. Look for local parent groups on Facebook to get your business known.

I was very busy with interviews late last summer as well, and it has seemed to pick up a little bit this month for me too. Thanks for your advice, I'm definitely going to look into a website of my own and find other fb groups.

[BrynleeJean]

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.

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!happyface

[Homebody]

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!happyface

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 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]

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.happyface

[LostMyMarbles]

I've got most of my active inquiries from Facebook. I post on buy sell trade groups mom and groups Etc. I've also done Facebook ads but have not gotten any leads from that.

I have many inquiries from FB as well. I took two families from referrals from FB.... never again. I find it is mostly young moms who complain about their last provider terribly after you enroll them and want cheap daycare. Both of the families I enrolled realized us providers are in charge and opt for family members caring for the child.

I prefer word of mouth. Those have been my long term families. ( and great families)

[Homebody]

I have many inquiries from FB as well. I took two families from referrals from FB.... never again. I find it is mostly young moms who complain about their last provider terribly after you enroll them and want cheap daycare. Both of the families I enrolled realized us providers are in charge and opt for family members caring for the child.

Oh boy! I have my first interview from Facebook today. I hope this isn't the case with this family. I will definitely be on the lookout for any red flags during the interview.

[TooManyKitties]

How did the interview go?

[Homebody]

How did the interview go?

I had set up the interview with the child's grandma. She is trying to help her young daughter find a new provider, as the current one is getting a new job. 15 minutes before the interview grandma messages me, and asks for my cell number so her daughter can get a hold of me to reschedule for Sunday. They had an event they had to go to, and were not sure if they would be able to make it yesterday, and so I had told grandma that we could plan for Saturday but could reschedule for Sunday. I have yet to here from the daughter, so far all the communication has been through Grandma. If I don't here anything by noon today I'm going to just tell grandma I filled the spot. My gut is telling me this isn't going to work out.

I did have another interview with someone my brother in-law knows. Only the Dad showed up because Mom and baby were sick, but I gave him all the paperwork. We plan on meeting Mom and baby next weekend when they are better. This one looks promising.

[TooManyKitties]

Thanks for the update. I hope it goes well!

[Blackcat31]

I had set up the interview with the child's grandma. She is trying to help her young daughter find a new provider, as the current one is getting a new job. 15 minutes before the interview grandma messages me, and asks for my cell number so her daughter can get a hold of me to reschedule for Sunday. They had an event they had to go to, and were not sure if they would be able to make it yesterday, and so I had told grandma that we could plan for Saturday but could reschedule for Sunday. I have yet to here from the daughter, so far all the communication has been through Grandma. If I don't here anything by noon today I'm going to just tell grandma I filled the spot. My gut is telling me this isn't going to work out.

I did have another interview with someone my brother in-law knows. Only the Dad showed up because Mom and baby were sick, but I gave him all the paperwork. We plan on meeting Mom and baby next weekend when they are better. This one looks promising.

I'd pass on the young mom with the grandma doing all the communicating. That is a red flag itself...

Hoping the interview with the DCD works out instead!

[Sunchimes]

What does it mean to "list on Google"? I have 2 of my 3 leaving for school in August. Small town, and while there aren't but a couple of centers and 2 or 3 homes, those ultra-cheap, unlicensed people are killing me. I have had all of my kids since infancy, so I haven't had to worry about it. I had an opening in late 2016, but it was only a temporary one until the new sibling was born. I am starting to fret.

[Homebody]

What does it mean to "list on Google"? I have 2 of my 3 leaving for school in August. Small town, and while there aren't but a couple of centers and 2 or 3 homes, those ultra-cheap, unlicensed people are killing me. I have had all of my kids since infancy, so I haven't had to worry about it. I had an opening in late 2016, but it was only a temporary one until the new sibling was born. I am starting to fret.

Google offers free business websites. I got one and it was pretty easy to set up. The catch is you have to pay to have it show up in the search engines if someone searches keywords like "daycare, childcare, etc." and it can get quite expensive from what I hear. My website shows up if I type in the exact address though. So, I've just been putting a link to my google website in the places I advertise like Craigslist, Daycare Bear, FB, etc.