I was wondering how many of you have much competition close by? And how this affects you? And if you offer same service or different? I have an established minder next door hence the question!
Printable View
I was wondering how many of you have much competition close by? And how this affects you? And if you offer same service or different? I have an established minder next door hence the question!
There are lots of childminders in my area and i find it can work both ways-if you are friendly with the other childminders then you recommend each other to parents if they are looking for a space and you are full,you have someone to call on in an emergency or if unsure about a situation however i have found there are a few nasty ones out there who will see you as competition-at best ignore you,at worst question your ability to other cm's/parents...just rise above this and do your job (and i always think 'worried about your own ability are u love?!')
I looked on my local childminder ads and what they charged and priced myself about the average to start with......good luck!
There seem to be a lot of CM's within 5 miles of me, It seems to work in my favour most of the time, numbers get passed on if they don't have a space and we all arrange at least 1 weekly session where we meet up either at sure start or soft play.
We share ideas and resources and the more experienced share their tips.
I've landed in the middle of a good group, I know there are some not so good ones who 'steal' business from each other and are quite secretive about what they do and generally take the micky.
I'm usually quite happy to share and help, and I'm glad I've found a group who arre similar
Quote:
Originally Posted by migimoo
Same in my area, over run with childminders!! Some are really helpful and made me feel welcome when I first started, others are just plain :censored: and the way they treat their mindees unbelievable sometimes - sure they arent like that in front of parents! It took me a long time to get any work and the comment from my so called 'mentor' was that the established minders names would be given out before mine as they all had vacancies too :angry:
As migimoo said, look at what others are charging in your area and try to be about average. You will soon get a good reputation and the parents of your LO's will talk to others - comments from all my parents are how calm I am and how I treat the LO's like my own which they love. :D
thoodanks. Ill keep you posted! So far so good