WAY Too Many Daycares

[flightlessbird11]

Hi there! I am just in need of getting this out! I have been doing daycare for about 2 years now, and presently, I only care for one 9 mo. old who I've had since he was 2 months. I have not had the best luck with the families I've had attend. I live in a town of about 70,000, not too big, not too small, but I've noticed that there are A LOT of licensed daycares in my neighborhood. I mean A LOT. I would think that the county would put a cap on how many there are. No one is full, and there are also a lot of SAHM's advertising on craigslist to watch one family at CHEAP prices. It upsets me because they are taking away our business. At the prices they are advertising, how can we compete?:confused: I went through all the training and licensing requirements, background checks, fees, etc...., and I don't think it's fair that they aren't.

Sorry, I'm kind of venting but I'm getting frustrated. I am trying to make a living doing this, and it seems silly that the county just keeps spitting out licenses. How is anyone going to get any business?

I've just finished a website for my daycare, I've made up and handed out business cards, and I have an ad on craigslist. Anyone have any other ideas for advertising? I'm also registered with our local R&R. I just hope I get some calls soon! Thanks for listening!

[CheekyChick]

You could try putting a sign in your front yard. You could have some magnet signs made for your car. You could make up some fliers with a "first week free" coupon. You could offer your current family $25.00 off of one week's care for referring a new client. What about specializing in infant care? Good infant care is hard to find.

Good luck. I know it's rough out there. Especially in the first year or two.

[flightlessbird11]

You could try putting a sign in your front yard. You could have some magnet signs made for your car. You could make up some fliers with a "first week free" coupon. You could offer your current family $25.00 off of one week's care for referring a new client. What about specializing in infant care? Good infant care is hard to find.

Good luck. I know it's rough out there. Especially in the first year or two.

Thanks! I think I'm going to put a sign in my yard.I'm also going to try the $25 dollars off thing for my current family. The mom works with lots of people, and would give a great reference. Thanks for the support!

[sharlan]

I know what you mean.

My area is oversaturated with daycares. I swear there is one on just about every corner.

I've advertised in the local paper for months with no calls. I've advertised on Craigslist and got one email, gave them my phone number, no response. I'm listed with the R&R, no calls. I'm listed on 5 websites including here. I got one call from here and he'll be starting in Aug. One lady stopped last Wed when I was out front. She was supposed to come today with her dh and didn't show. I have magnetic signs on my van and dh's truck.

I will be advertising on a local restaurant's menu for a year starting next month.

The providers that I've spoken to are all under capacity. One lady had 3 kids she absolutely hated, but got $500 a week from the state so didn't dare give them up.

[Michael]

Currently there are about 250,000 daycare in the US. Many moms are finding themselves at home without a job and daycare is an option for those that have children and can't afford to pay for care. We even have radios spots here in Southern California advertising working from home and doing daycare.

[sharlan]

Currently there are about 250,000 daycare in the US. Many moms are finding themselves at home without a job and daycare is an option for those that have children and can't afford to pay for care. We even have radios spots here in Southern California advertising working from home and doing daycare.

I've missed those.

[Michael]

I've missed those.

I have Satellite radio. I hear it all the time.

[sharlan]

I have Satellite radio. I hear it all the time.

Heaven forbid my radio play anything besides kids' songs.

[Abigail]

Right now I have decent hopes of filling all my spots within a year of opening due to how many calls we get looking for enrollment and we don't have the room. My DH and I have been house looking for a week now so hope by summer's end we'll be homeowners and begin the home daycare instead of working for someone else in their daycare.

Word of mouth works wonders. Go out to public events wearing a shirt that has your daycare name and number. Have plenty of business cards ready to give out. Do you live near any apartment buildings? You can make up signs and hang them up (if you notice other flyers hanging like for rummage sales, etc) in the entry ways and just make sure you go back and take it down after a month when everyone's had a chance to see it and pull off your name and number.

[MyAngels]

Word of mouth is an excellent form of advertising. When my kids were younger I was involved in all of their activities, and always talked about my daycare. I still get calls from people who have been given my name by parents of my kids' friends (they're all grown now). Ask friends and family to talk you up to their friends, etc.

Talk to the receptionist at any nearby elementary schools - they can be an excellent source of referrals, especially if you do before and after school care.

I recently saw a basket of sugar free ****ers with business cards attached at my dentist's office, which I thought was neat and would work for a daycare, too.

There are a couple of large companies here who have their own internal referral lists for local daycare providers. You have to be put on the list by a current employee or call HR and ask to be listed. I get calls every week from both companies.

I also think a targeted postcard mailing would work well. You could design and print it yourself, perhaps including a coupon of some sort.

[Unregistered]

Do you take state pay? I have been open for 4 months now and I'm completely full. Mostly private pay. WIC let me put up a flyer because I take state pay. I just filled my last spots that way. I even had to term already and I'm still full. I found WIC and the health department my best advertising places.

[flightlessbird11]

Thanks for the feedback! Great ideas for advertising. I just did a search on my counties website and within 2 miles of my home there are 52 daycares! That is a lot. I might just call my wic office and see what thwey say. I never even thought of that. Good idea about the kids activities. My oldest 2 children are involved with lots of stuff, and I go, I guess it just never dawned on me to talk about my daycare to the other parents!(duh, I know!) I'm kind of quiet, so it's kind of hard for me to just start talking to people, and it's hard for me to talk myself up! I'm sure I'll need to get over that if I'm going to be busy. I'm fine once I get to know someone....

Anyways, I still think the county should put some kind of limit on the licenses, especially if they know there are already a TON right in a certain area. JMHO.

[cheerfuldom]

just curious but why should a county put a limit on licenses? If the providers are abiding by the rules why should there be a limit on incoming daycare? I know its frustrating the amount of competition out there (my area is overflooding with the SAHM situation) but why should new people not have a chance to try this just because other people are already doing it? The important thing is to advertise like crazy and make your program better than the competition. Good luck!

[PeanutsGalore]

Right now I have decent hopes of filling all my spots within a year of opening due to how many calls we get looking for enrollment and we don't have the room. My DH and I have been house looking for a week now so hope by summer's end we'll be homeowners and begin the home daycare instead of working for someone else in their daycare.

Word of mouth works wonders. Go out to public events wearing a shirt that has your daycare name and number. Have plenty of business cards ready to give out. Do you live near any apartment buildings? You can make up signs and hang them up (if you notice other flyers hanging like for rummage sales, etc) in the entry ways and just make sure you go back and take it down after a month when everyone's had a chance to see it and pull off your name and number.

This. It's cheap and effective to advertise at public events. Also, sponsoring a kids sports team is a great way to round up clients.

I understand your frustration, but don't really agree that all daycares should be licensed or the number should be capped. Licensing causes the prices to go up for the consumer, and has the potential to reduce quality of care in centers who have to enroll a huge number of kids to make a buck, and anyone who has to be licensed in order to follow the safest rules for the kids in their care shouldn't be caring for kids and will go out of business eventually. It might be a good thing for the business model for quality home care providers to enter the market. As for the ones who are severely undercutting pricing, they probably won't last, so maybe you can befriend them in order to get hold of their clients when they quit! Seriously.

I think a lot of professions are facing the issue of wages dropping so severely over the last couple of decades you can barely make the mortgage anymore. Unless, of course, you're a CEO. Sad, but we'll just have to be extra clever to figure our way around it.

ETA: I also found that my own child is my biggest way to advertise for FREE! He helps me meet people and strike up a conversation while doing errands, and if I can work in the fact that I run an in-home daycare, I do. I've done this a lot, and I also know that having my own child at interviews makes people feel more comfortable about leaving their kid with me because they see that he's well-cared for. Same goes for bringing the daycare kids on an adventure. Lots of people ask questions--lots of opportunity for advertising.

Good luck! May lots of clients find their way to your doorstep.

[dEHmom]

one recommendation I have is if you go the route of referral bonus, set a specific amount of time before they receive their bonus. example would be, after 3 consecutive months of service for the new fam, referring client will receive a 25 bonus.

Otherwise you might find yourself becoming a babysitter for a day or 2, and then having to put out the bonus anyway