A little rant from an increasingly fed up independent childminder

[tetti]

Ever since the media has given coverage to Elisabeth Truss's plans in regards to childminding agencies and increasing the quotas, I have noticed a drastic drop in the amount of childcare queries that I have received.It has gone from at least a few per month down to a big fat zero.
I have overheard parents -as I'm about and about- saying that in the light of these changes,they feel more comfortable in sending their children to a nursery as opposed to a childminder.
Also when picking up my child from school,I have overheard so many conversations about parents basically saying that children are safer being looked after by nursery staff than by a childminder working on their own.At times I have felt like butting into people's conversations,and have had to bite my tongue really hard not to.
I do no longer get enquires from the council's website,or from childcare.co.uk.
And there has been around 70 plus childminders that have registered in my local borough over the past 2 or so years,so the total of childminders are now up to 336 (!). Ok,this borough covers quite a few areas,but the chances of any prospective parent making an enquiry is getting slimmer by the day,or so it seems.
I am just fearing that if things doesn't pick up,I'll have to give up this job that I have been doing for 7 years.
It's never ever been this quiet,and I cannot see it improving much.
I have advertised everywhere possible,I have a FB page,I have put up postcard adverts (that I ordered from Vistaprint),I have made sure to be seen out and about ,I have been networking,but I haven't had one single call.
It may be a coincidence,but I don't think that the media coverage can have helped matters much,or what is your take on it?

[phoenix2010]

Do these gossipping parents realise that the ratios in nurseries are also increasing , so I really dont get the logic

also nursery staff dont get to know the children as well as we do , I know that x is likely to run into the road and y likes to climb on chairs and z likes to bite other children

so Im always aware of scenarios that might arise as I know them really well

when I worked in nurseries I was usually in the toddler room with a ratio of 1 to 4

I was often left on my own with 8 while my colleague dissappeared and I wasnt even qualified

it was very unsafe

One thing you can do is tell people , put on your adverts that despite the ratios possibly increasing , you will not be doing so , and will only have 3 children under 5 and not 4

Perhaps the fact that enquiries have decreased isnt as related as you think , I think less people are looking for childcare now as money is tight , people are losing jobs , having hours cut , working from home , deciding not to return to work as its not cost effective

The recession has had an effect , there is nothing around here at the moment either , luckily im not looking

What about getting in touch with colleges and university , when a recession hits more people turn to education , one of my mums is at uni and it pays really well

I understand your concerns though , I think we are all a bit nervous at the moment

[tetti]

Do these gossipping parents realise that the ratios in nurseries are also increasing , so I really dont get the logic

also nursery staff dont get to know the children as well as we do , I know that x is likely to run into the road and y likes to climb on chairs and z likes to bite other children

so Im always aware of scenarios that might arise as I know them really well

when I worked in nurseries I was usually in the toddler room with a ratio of 1 to 4

I was often left on my own with 8 while my colleague dissappeared and I wasnt even qualified

it was very unsafe

One thing you can do is tell people , put on your adverts that despite the ratios possibly increasing , you will not be doing so , and will only have 3 children under 5 and not 4

Perhaps the fact that enquiries have decreased isnt as related as you think , I think less people are looking for childcare now as money is tight , people are losing jobs , having hours cut , working from home , deciding not to return to work as its not cost effective

The recession has had an effect , there is nothing around here at the moment either , luckily im not looking

What about getting in touch with colleges and university , when a recession hits more people turn to education , one of my mums is at uni and it pays really well

I understand your concerns though , I think we are all a bit nervous at the moment

Thank's for your feedback, I totally agree

In my area though,the recession doesn't seem to have hit people as hard.There are new nurseries popping up left right and centre,literally,and the average houseprice here is around £ 1 million (no,I am not a homeowner,I rent as I could never afford to buy ) and you always see "Sold" signs outside the properties around here.
It just seems like the nurseries never have any trouble in filling their spaces,they have waiting lists instead.
But as a childminder it is very hard to fill your vacancies in this area.
I'd be gutted to have to leave this profession.And as a single parent childminder and the sole breadwinner I have no spouse to rely on for any financial support.
If things haven't picked up by autumn time,I definetly need to reconsider what I am doing for a living.

[rickysmiths]

Go to your Children's Center at get them to help. Ours holds a 'Meet the Childminder Session once every three months so parents can come and meet childminders with vacancies. It breaks the ice and gives the parents a chance to meet us before they come into our home. It has worked and I have had several families over the 3 years we have been doing it come to me. I have one starting in Sept who met me in February. They have signed a contract and paid a deposit.

[phoenix2010]

Im a single parent too and so I know how scary it is when the only income is your own

For the first 18 months I was earning less than i needed every month and ran up about 6 grand on credit cards , and that was just to live

I almost gave up and was looking at jobs in nurseries out of desperation , but then last september I had 4 new children start and everything turned around 360 degrees

nobody can tell you whether it is worth continuing , all I can say is that like you I tried absolutely everything

eventually it paid off , but this job is notoriously unsafe of course , things can change in an instance

[phoenix2010]

just thought Id add , my work mainly comes through childcare.co.uk and my facebook page

Ive also had enquiries through google maps , yellow pages , and various free online sites such as gum tree and friday ads

I would work evenings, weekends ,overnights , I would do one off care , basically I was offering myself up to do practically anything

I now work from 7am until 930pm , thankfully I dont need to work weekends anymore

so what im saying is I found a niche, the hours nobody else would do and I find that being a single parent was an advantage as there is no partner to complain about a house full of kids at the weekend or late at night

my son loved it too as there was always someone to play with

Is it worth advertising unsociable hours for shift workers , nurses etc

There arent many nurseries in my area, people tend to use childminders , but there are alot of us

they are about to build a thousand new homes nearby too , so while my neighbours are petitioning about the extra traffic and air ;pollution im secretly thinking "phew , bring it on "

[tetti]

Thank you so much for your feedback I do have a partner (another single parent),we just don't live together as it would be impractical as our children are settled in their schools in the opposite ends of the city, and I am unable to work outside normal working hours due to other commitments.
But I will keep advertising wherever I can.It just seems that many people don't go for this type of childcare.
They have shut the children's centre in my area due to financial cutbacks,so unfortunately there is not that option.That would have been such a great help to all the childminders in the area for sure.

[sarah707]

There are lots of ideas for advertising here -

Promoting Yourself

I have had loads of calls recently for September... I think it might be your area - it sounds like parents are bombed out with too many choices.

Hugs xx

[Becci26]

What's ur USP? Get selling urself and promoting that, if there are lots of choices u need to stand out from the crowd

My USP is that I offer flexible and ad hoc care, something that no one else locally offers, I have a website and have it pinned to google maps so it comes up when people are googling for childcare in the area.

I also have a logo & business name that has really helped get myself known, and you become memorable rather than just another name iyswim

[jellyelly]

Are you able to set up a website, I believe something like 90% of my enquiries come from my website! I think lots of parents just google childcare in the area they live in, rather than searching through lists on websites!
Hth xx