It’s summer break in the northern hemisphere. The sun is out and childcare is slow (or closed). As a childcare provider, now is your chance to rest and recharge. It’s also one of the best times for you to reevaluate your business so you can prepare for the new school year ahead.
If you’re a childcare business owner, you’ll want to use the summer slowdown to consider ways you can improve. Here’s a list of ideas to further your childcare business success, categorized by each main category of a childcare operation.
Childcare Enrollment
Keeping your doors open and your enrollment at its peak is vital to your business. How can you improve the enrollment rate and make sure families keep signing their kids up for your program?
1. Have a good website
A website is a place where potential customers can learn about you. A good website helps people find you online, gives locals a way to contact you, and effectively promotes your business 24/7 with good marketing.
2. Market your childcare center
Having a childcare business strategy includes marketing. You can do this through your website, social media, local education bulletins, and word of mouth. Marketing can be free or paid (or both).
Learn More: The Ultimate Guide to Growing Enrollment in Your Childcare Center
3. Create a referral program
Start a referral program to spread the word about your childcare or daycare. Incentivize enrolled families to recommend your business to their friends and family by offering them a tuition discount or token of appreciation, like a gift card for a local restaurant.
ECE Standards and Learning Assessments
Following Early Childhood Education (ECE) standards upholds your reputation as an educator and helps your students learn. Learning assessments and ECE go hand in hand. There’s always room for improvement, and it’s a surefire way to improve your childcare business.
1. Learn something new
You don’t want your teaching methods to get stale or outdated. It’s important to keep learning and improving your knowledge of child development. After all, the best teachers are eager learners.
2. Revamp your curriculum
Review your curriculum and last year’s learning outcomes. What areas need to be updated? How can you provide a better learning structure for your students?
3. Digitize childcare learning assessments
If you don’t have digital learning assessments that let you observe classroom insights, consider switching to one. These let you keep every assessment in one place and give access to assistant teachers so they can help children who need extra support.
4. Incorporate all learning styles
Different kids have different styles of learning. Are you currently teaching in ways that cater to each kind? Go through your teaching style and notice any gaps in your class learning outcomes.
Learning Environment
Maybe your childcare operation is solid but you need to focus on improving your childcare business’s physical location. Maintaining a clean, safe, and organized facility is key to childhood learning.
1. Upgrade to new equipment
If there is any broken or outdated equipment at your center, plan for necessary upgrades. Check the condition of items including tables, chairs, electronics, sleeping mats, changing tables, learning supplies, and safety devices.
2. Improve checklists to stay compliant
Review the daily/weekly checklists you and your staff use to stay in compliance with health and safety regulations. Is there anything your team frequently missed in prior years? Consider making these checklists digital to make sure everything gets done.
3. Set up a security system
If your childcare center is larger or in a busy location, you might want to set up a security system. This can include a safety camera of the entrance or lobby, password protection for computers, and secure child check-in for parents.
Tuition and Bookkeeping
Every business owner wants to improve their finances— no matter what stage of business growth you’re in. What does that look like for childcare providers?
1. Use a childcare accounting program
If you’re still relying on spreadsheets or bank statements, you need some kind of accounting software to get organized. Check out a childcare-specific bookkeeping program to help you out.
2. Switch to online billing
Childcare accounting includes keeping track of parent payments. If cash and checks are overwhelming every month, get a digital billing software to make your life easier.
3. Revise your budget and pricing
Sometimes, your pricing and tuition fees fluctuate. Things like an increase in demand, economic inflation, or employing new staff members affect your costs. Every year, revise your budget and adjust accordingly so you can give families early notice if tuition increases.
Managing Employees
Without teachers and staff, childcare wouldn’t be possible. Here are ways you can improve your business for the whole team.
1. Use digital management
Allow staff to communicate with each other and with parents through digital management tools, like Daily Connect.
2. Offer staff education and team building
Focus on improving the culture and expertise of your team. Good leaders encourage continued learning and practice team-building exercises.
3. Check in with staff regularly and welcome feedback
Evaluate how approachable and receptive to feedback you are. Your staff should be comfortable coming to you with questions, concerns, and ideas that help improve childcare.
4. Make a recruitment plan
If you run a childcare facility or at-home daycare, you’ll most likely reach a point where you need to hire more staff. Going into the new school year, determine a plan of action for hiring. This helps you when hiring for the first time or when an existing staff member quits.
Parent-Teacher Communication
Parents want their children to be in the hands of someone they fully trust. Improving your parent communication is essential to keeping parents informed and children safe.
1. Send a monthly email newsletter
Write a monthly class newsletter to send to parents once a month. This can be brief but should include upcoming events, requests, and highlights of your program.
2. Communicate digitally with parents
A lot of parents these days aren’t always available for phone calls or emails. Use a digital childcare app that offers secure parent-teacher communication through direct messaging.
3. Use a childcare CRM tool
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software helps you keep track of leads, existing customers, and important details for everyone who contacts your program. There are childcare CRM tools for childcare owners like you.
Improve Your Childcare Management
A childcare management software can help you improve every aspect of your business. It’s a good idea to find right one and get set up before the new school year starts.
Apps like Daily Connect are multi-featured, affordable, and extremely helpful for growing your childcare business year after year. To get started with a free trial, reach out to us today.
