ITS A LONG STORY.....

[Demonjill]

Well I found out who one of the cm's in my village is. She seems nice so I told her that im in the process of registering.
Because I dont know her that well its difficult to know how she feels (I suppose I will be her competition as she will be mine!) but she did offer some tips???? I knew them and more already from being on here but didnt want to let on in case she thought i was a know-it-all lol:blush:

Anyway what she did say was that the village is very quiet for childminding. The village is very family orientated and families do tend to look after the kids as was done in the olden days - lol
I kinda thought this anyway.
But as she has 3 on her books it could just as easily be me with 3 on my books??
Suppose hearing it from the horses mouth made it seem more real and I suppose a potential problem .... I feel gutted to be honest and having wee moment to myself where im wondering whether to go ahead with this or not. But if i think about giving it all up i am close to tears!:(

Sorry to go on and on and for the tears bout to drip on your putas..:blush:

[flora]

Our village is the same, families do the childcare or friends. No demand for full time care:(

Just make sure of the demand before you put all your eggs in one basket.

[PixiePetal]

You obviously really want to do this so keep at it, you'll never know till you try.

I am going to be moving to farmhouse, couple of miles from nearest village. Met another minder, a new one, who lives couple of miles away in opposite direction of village and she said there was no work at the moment. :(

Luckily now I have approached my present mindees, 3 are willing to drive the extra 4 miles to new house so I will keep my 2 fullest days :thumbsup:

Also used to live in village so people still know me and hope they will recommend me to anyone :thumbsup:

You never know what is round the corner

[Mouse]

You never know, perhaps a lot of children are looked after by family because there's no suitable childcare.
The whole village could be crying out for a good childminder & you'll find yourself inundated with phone calls!

Keep your spirits up. It'll be so worth it when the work starts coming in.

[Daftbat]

You never know, perhaps a lot of children are looked after by family because there's no suitable childcare.
The whole village could be crying out for a good childminder & you'll find yourself inundated with phone calls!

Keep your spirits up. It'll be so worth it when the work starts coming in.

I agree with Mouse (for the second time today!!!!!:eek: ) Don't be put offby other people. One thing i have learnt over the years is that your business will only be as good as the effort you put in to it. Be as flexible as possible - this may be one of the reasons people are relying upon family - the existing minders may not be willing to work the hours or to cover shift patterns.

Good luck - although sure you won't need it:thumbsup:

[TheBTeam]

It is hard, but hopefully you will be as lucky as this other cm and as you say if she is full then there should easily be room for another.

I live on an estate and have at least 6 other minders within about 300 yards, i have one 6 houses away, one literally the other end of a very short road and people have to drive around the horseshoe she lives in to get to the dead end that i am in! BUT they still do it, she would be easier but there are people that choose me still, i think on my fairly small estate there are something like 30 childminders, a lot of us are broadly similar and some are the extremes, but we all have work, some more than others and although we are competition for each other this hasn't stopped lots of groups of childminders being friends, yes you are competition, but the good news is you are also back up, referrers, support for the good and bad times and companions and other trusted adult company on outings.

I get a lot of my work from referrals from my friends, and when i don't need the work i refer to them, but we are excellent at providing a back up for each other that the parents and children get to know, the back up also means that we risk losing our mindees less when it is a trusted friend that backs you up rather than an outsider, because we wouldn't do that to our friends.

I would take her offer of advice as a good sign, minding on your own can be lonely and she may be appreciative of a friend, i know a friend of mine who was the only minder in her village was really pleased when another registered, they are now the best of friends and have both benefitted.

Keep up, don't let this change your mind or plans, enjoy having a cm friend.

[Mouse]

I agree with Mouse (for the second time today!!!!!:eek: ) Don't be put offby other people. One thing i have learnt over the years is that your business will only be as good as the effort you put in to it. Be as flexible as possible - this may be one of the reasons people are relying upon family - the existing minders may not be willing to work the hours or to cover shift patterns.

Good luck - although sure you won't need it:thumbsup:


Don't go making a habit of it Penny! I'll start to think I talk sense sometimes :laughing:

[angeldelight]

Well I found out who one of the cm's in my village is. She seems nice so I told her that im in the process of registering.
Because I dont know her that well its difficult to know how she feels (I suppose I will be her competition as she will be mine!) but she did offer some tips???? I knew them and more already from being on here but didnt want to let on in case she thought i was a know-it-all lol:blush:

Anyway what she did say was that the village is very quiet for childminding. The village is very family orientated and families do tend to look after the kids as was done in the olden days - lol
I kinda thought this anyway.
But as she has 3 on her books it could just as easily be me with 3 on my books??
Suppose hearing it from the horses mouth made it seem more real and I suppose a potential problem .... I feel gutted to be honest and having wee moment to myself where im wondering whether to go ahead with this or not. But if i think about giving it all up i am close to tears!:(

Sorry to go on and on and for the tears bout to drip on your putas..:blush:

Oh dont give up now Jill

I am sure that you are going to be ok and whats more you know more than her anyway just from being on here and thats with out any of the experience that is yet to come :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Angel xx

[daniellemummy]

I agree with Mouse :)

you shouldn't give up. Although I haven't written a lot on this forum, I'm often reading it (if that makes sense!) and often see your posts.....you come accross that you would be a lovely childminder who would take her work very seriously and professionally which is really what any parent woudl be looking for...so I'm sure you will be able to attract mindees and parents.

please don't give up now, am sure there will be a family or two who would be so glad of you as a childminder

keep smiling! :)

[chewy sweets]

Don't give up. Not trying to be nasty but maybe that's what the other cm in your village wants you to do. As you said you'd be her competition.
Don't lose heart and keep on going!:clapping:

[claireodon]

Just thought I'd add that I think it depends on finances as to whether you decide to continue with registration really. I wouldn't necessarily abandon registering but I would keep my options open by having other work I could earn money from if mindees are thin on the ground. Like yourself, I did my research before I decided to go through registration process because I will be leaving a secure job and if I faced the prospect of no work for any length of time I wouldn't have been able to afford to do it. Good luck whatever you decide.

[Gizmo]

Dont you dare give up now you have worked sooo hard to get this far.:panic:
I have 3cms in my village and 2 of them only choose to have 1 mindee each the other one has 13 kids on her books, she has my number as she said she wasnt going to take on any more at the mo, I have had 2 enquires from ones who have called her, but they have both been really odd hours prob ones she didnt want, then she turns up at the school yesterday with a new one.
There is plenty of kids here and most who need minded go to private nursery or cms in the next village. We just need to let people know that we are here :thumbsup:

[Blackhorse]

Don't give up now!! This is what you want to do so go for it,

Why don't you speak to your development officer and ask her about what she thinks is the demand in your area?
we also have an area co-ordinator in our area...she gets calls and co-ordinates them between the cms as she has a list with vacancies.
Find out who your's is and phone up to find out!!

I know what you are saying about competition etc..I felt the same when I approached the cm that lives down my road. But she was really nice and so were all the other minders I met in the area...

[Demonjill]

Thanks for all the replies!

Im just worrying as usual.:rolleyes:

Going to take each day as it comes and work hard to be the best in my village (hmmmm sounds easy when you write it down)

[angeldelight]

Thanks for all the replies!

Im just worrying as usual.:rolleyes:

Going to take each day as it comes and work hard to be the best in my village (hmmmm sounds easy when you write it down)

You can do it and you know you can

Angel xx

[youarewhatyoueat]

Don't give up registering, it does open up other options.I'm the only cm in my village but the demand is not high and I can access free training and am planning to go on a disability awareness course so I will be able to offer respite care.There are options open to you that the other minder may not offer so even if you don't get much work take advantage of the free training,you could do an nvq which would be funded and you would only need one child to start.Good luck
Caroline