Tips for filling vacancy urgently needed

[tetti]

Hi there,

Recently these parents put their boy (who had been with me for 2 years) into a nursery (his father told me he was very happy with me,but his wife did not like that their boy kept asking for me whilst at home,and she felt he had bonded to well with me !)
So,now I have one boy 2 days a week,but am really struggling financially.
The council advertise my vacancy,but in my area the majority of parents seem to prefer a nursery setting over a childminder,and there seem to be new nurseries popping up every month!
I have tried putting up adverts in local newsagents,but no luck at all (this is a very well to do area,and I suppose many parents here would assume there would be something wrong if you advertised your space in a shopwindow,sigh)

I would be so grateful if any of you had some suggestions in how to advertise my business.I have 6 months to find another child before my current mindee starts school,and I will be left with no one (for the first time ever),and I really do not want to have to go on benefits (it doesn't even bear thinking of as I am a single parent),I need to keep on working!

Many thank's :) xx

[mrsbish01]

Hello

Have you tried netmums.co.uk, they have a good childcare board for each local area. Also I use childcare.co.uk. Under the members section you can find a thread giving 50% off the gold membership fee, which allows you to see and contact everyone on there (about £6 for 6months i think). But if you dont want to pay, you can still advertise and wait for parents to email you.

I also put cards up on my local community boards, childrens centres and swimming pool.

Good luck xxx

[youarewhatyoueat]

I live in an area like that and have been fine for 2 years but the last few children have moved on to playgroup and have mums on maternity and they aren't returning to work. I saw this coming and have found near me that there is a market for nannies so I added this to my insurance, told ofsted and now advertise as both.
I'm getting more interest as an adhoc nanny doing one day a week plus one night for one family, also have 2 more families that have started booking me regulary. Because the work is adhoc I can keep my self employed status and find that I earn more in a shorter time.
What i'm saying is maybe you have to think of diversifying and advertising something different. Its taken me about 3 months to get 3 families.
As a nanny you can also charge more per hour, I charge from £8 upwards depending on the work involved, its great as I don't mess my own house up, and my family prefer not having all the young ones about.
I also do babysitting in local 5 star hotels, dress in black trousers and white shirt as a uniform and charge much more than normal. We have a local hotel which does day spars it doesn't have child facilities so parents book me so they can have treatments.
Have a think what is near you and see where you could sell yourself, good luck xx

[claireLouise]

I am in a similar boat, things are really quiet. Here is because grandparents, aunties, and friends are doing the hours traditionally filled by childminders as they provide a free childcare option!

Hopefully 2011 will be better for everyone; esp us childminders!

Best Wishes

Claire

[Penny1959]

As youarewhatyoueat has said - take a look at the gaps in the market in your area

Are there factories that work shifts or supermakets that open 24 hours or maybe a hospital. It might be worth covering shifts - could you register for overnight care?

Also do some research at local schools - sometimes schools that are a short drive away from main housing areas have no childminders providing a service as most childminders just do the school they walk to. Also some parents need longer hours than the after school clubs provide so maybe you could offer a service to pick up from after school clubs after doing your normal school run.

How about offering to provide transport to and from child's home - as can widen the area you can cover as some parents have to rely on public transport.

Do you have a website? Mine was free to set up and is free to run - was quiet a lot of work to set up - but I think well worth it as lots of people look at it (new customers) and parents using my service look at newsletters etc on it. Take a look at mine www.********************* - might give you some ideas for different services that you could provide.

Also think about 'special offers' - so a time limited lower price for new customers signing contracts in Jan or include something for FREE - maybe meals or outings or nappies or ????

Hope you take on new mindees soon


Penny :)

[mayberry]

Some good advice already give, posters in news agents, leaflet drop in shopping areas car parks homes etc add in local paper but it’s not cheap. Put a poster in car.


good luck :)

Dawn xx

[tetti]

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me advice everyone,it's very much appreciated:)
I will certainly think seriously about setting up a website as I think that could be very beneficial and also perhaps look into the nannying option too to see if that would be doable for me,though I will probably try to advertise as much as I can first (the majority of families looking for nannies in my area wants live-in nannies which is obviously something that I cannot consider)
Thank's again for your help everyone:) Big Hugs to you all and have a great christmas cc

[jane5]

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me advice everyone,it's very much appreciated:)
I will certainly think seriously about setting up a website as I think that could be very beneficial and also perhaps look into the nannying option too to see if that would be doable for me,though I will probably try to advertise as much as I can first (the majority of families looking for nannies in my area wants live-in nannies which is obviously something that I cannot consider)
Thank's again for your help everyone:) Big Hugs to you all and have a great christmas cc

Pauline on here will build you a web site for a small fee, I am going to have one made (when dh gets paid) as their is no way I could make one myself that looks professional. :thumbsup:

[tetti]

Thank's for the tip:)
It's horrible having to worry about when and if the vacancy is going to get filled.I found it was much easier to fill a vacant space a few years ago,but now people either opt for nurseries or get family members to look after the children.
I don't think I can afford to get anyone to build the website for me,so will have to do it myself.I was thinking of perhaps making some arguments for chosing a childminder over a nursery,like "Why should I opt for a childminder over a nursery",to highlight the positives of using a childminder.Am not quite sure how to word it though,any tips?

[Ripeberry]

I live in an area like that and have been fine for 2 years but the last few children have moved on to playgroup and have mums on maternity and they aren't returning to work. I saw this coming and have found near me that there is a market for nannies so I added this to my insurance, told ofsted and now advertise as both.
I'm getting more interest as an adhoc nanny doing one day a week plus one night for one family, also have 2 more families that have started booking me regulary. Because the work is adhoc I can keep my self employed status and find that I earn more in a shorter time.
What i'm saying is maybe you have to think of diversifying and advertising something different. Its taken me about 3 months to get 3 families.
As a nanny you can also charge more per hour, I charge from £8 upwards depending on the work involved, its great as I don't mess my own house up, and my family prefer not having all the young ones about.
I also do babysitting in local 5 star hotels, dress in black trousers and white shirt as a uniform and charge much more than normal. We have a local hotel which does day spars it doesn't have child facilities so parents book me so they can have treatments.
Have a think what is near you and see where you could sell yourself, good luck xx

That is a very good idea, especially when your own kids are older. There is a very posh country hotel down the road from me. One day I might try that :idea:

[Playmate]

Thank's for the tip:)
It's horrible having to worry about when and if the vacancy is going to get filled.I found it was much easier to fill a vacant space a few years ago,but now people either opt for nurseries or get family members to look after the children.
I don't think I can afford to get anyone to build the website for me,so will have to do it myself.I was thinking of perhaps making some arguments for chosing a childminder over a nursery,like "Why should I opt for a childminder over a nursery",to highlight the positives of using a childminder.Am not quite sure how to word it though,any tips?

we have a page on our website Why choose a chidminder? Our site was also built by Pauline (who is extremely reasonable).
I will pm the site address x

[sillysausage]

Exploit your existing child's parents....do they know anyone looking for childcare? Do they have a noticeboard up at work that they could put one of your posters on?

Do you visit toddler groups, indoor play centres etc where people don't know that you are a childminder? If so consider getting a couple of t-shirts or sweatshirts printed with 'I'm a registered childminder, ask me about vacancies' on the back or 'Tetti's tots, registered childminding service, ask me about vacancies' (or something similar depending on your business name).

Get your friends to promote you (as with existing child's parents).

Ask at local schools, preschools etc if you can put up a poster. Some will allow it, some won't but if you don't ask you don't get! I have found that a poster on the school nursery noticeboard can be quite effective.