I am not yet qualified, hopefully (as long as no more snow closes the school) will be by the end of February. Can I start advertising now? I was thinking about getting some flyers printed and delivering them around the local estate. How long did it take you to get your first customer/s.

I would!

Getting word around is probably the hardest part, with getting your first mindee a close second.

I didn't get my first one for nearly 7 months and that was hard going (felt like giving up I can tell ya)
I had loads of enquiries, but nothing came of them - talk about getting paranoid :laughing:

Once I had one, 2 more quickly followed, and now I've just taken on another family, so, from nothing to full in 5 months, but it's taken a year from being registered.

Get out there, promote yourself, and good luck

My first mindee was waiting for me to be registered, cos I decided to become a CM in response to parents asking me to have their lo's. The 2nd took a couple of months to appear.

It can take a while, as it's largely about getting known and recommended. There are also peak periods when people are looking for childcare.

Tbh, cos it's sucha small-scale market, a lot of it is just luck - even if you're doing all the right things.

1y 4m but full now good luck :)

I would plus if you have LO's at school/nursery spread the word there too - I was registered on 1st September & 2 families who have said they would have come to me had they known I was becoming a cm :doh:
5 months on I have 2 part timers & starting to get a bit anxious about the lack of enquiries. I have given myself until end of march to grt another family by which time I'll have to consider other ways of supplementing my (lack of) income.