Contemplating Giving Up

[Unregistered]

Hi all,

Guess I need a sounding board here. I have been doing daycare for about 7 months. I have one daycare child as of right now and one that is supposed to start in a few weeks for two days per week. The one child I have is a good kid, but has no consistency at home and her parents well.... They pay on time, every time and I need the money, so I keep watching dcg. Anyway, the new dcg that is coming I can't really count on b/c dcm told me that she is thinking of quitting her job. I have had about 6 phone calls/emails and four interviews in 7 months. I feel like I have put so much into this and I am not seeing any results. I have poured so much time and engergy into it that I really don't want to give up, but we have about one month until our savings is depleted and I have no choice but to close.

I have mixed emotions about it b/c I thought this was what I wanted to do. I saved up before I quit my other job, and thought I was set b/c I had three families who wanted to sign contracts, but one of them I had to let go (major issues that I didn't want to deal with) and the other one lost their job and called me a day before they were supposed to start here, the third child I currently watch.

I just feel like such a failure. I have spent a TON of money on advertising, signs, put ads online on several sites, have a fb account and NOTHING is happening. We even re-vamped the landscaping in our yard, on top of the usual start up costs associated with opening.

What do you all think? I have a small amount of money coming in a few months from inheritance (we're talking like $1500), but I just don't think I can afford to use it to live on when I have three kids of my own and no savings left. They money that I get from the one dcg is barely paying for our groceries, and I shop CHEAP.

[Michael]

Suggest you become a member here. This is a lot of support here on the forum. Once you reach 100 posts you get a year free listing in our Daycare.com Registry. I've included a link from our "overwhelmed" tag that may give you some idea that you are not alone in your situation. Things will get better: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=overwhelmed

[cheerfuldom]

What feedback have you gotten from the other interviews? Do you know why parents are not choosing you and if it is anything you can change? Are you sure your prices are competitive? You may want to do one last advertising blitz with a discount for new kids just to try and get things going again. I hope it works out for you! I know my area is FLOODED with people trying to do home daycare for various reasons. It was not like this at all when I started to do this 5 years ago.

[dEHmom]

sorry to hear that you are going through all of this. Things always get worse before getting better.

I know how it feels to sit on an empty spot because another daycare has something different than you. Doesn't always mean something better, but maybe they have a bigger living room, or a cool toy. There's no way we can do this job and worry about the whys because we would torture ourselves. Things happen for a reason, and everytime one daycare family has left here, another better one comes in.

Relax and let things happen as they need to. I know it's easier said then done, but it really is the truth. When you are desperate to fill the slot, it shows. Whether you want it to or not. Just play it cool, and it will be a lot easier.

I know how financial troubles can be stressful, been there done that, and will be doing that again shortly as I have 1 family leaving, and another on holidays. But the show will go on.