How to Compete Against Child Care Centers
A new child care center just opened in your neighborhood. It offers care for a hundred children (toddlers through school-age) and has a well-equipped playground, a van to transport children, and sparkling classrooms with bright furniture and plenty of toys.
You start to feel desperate, wondering if you’ll ever be able to fill your two openings. “How can I compete?” you ask yourself.
In some ways child care centers have an advantage over family child care. They are easier to find, they have a full staff, their buildings are easily accessible to the public, and they can spend money on advertising.
Some parents are afraid to use family child care providers because providers are alone in their home, and parents worry about what goes on behind closed doors.
For these reasons, providers need to work hard to counteract parents’ fears. Here are some suggestions for how to compete:
Visit your local child care center(s) and get copies of all written materials given out to prospective clients (rate schedules, special services, discounts, etc.). See what additional information you can see on their website and watch for any ads they may be running in local newspapers or online. Prospective clients contacting you may be comparing what you offer with what this center offers, so you need to be informed.
Look over the materials you have collected. Think about how your program is different from the center. What do you offer that the center does not? Your answer might include some of these benefits:
Small group size which allows for more individual attention to help children learn
Home environment where children can play in familiar, comfortable surroundings
Home-cooked, individually prepared meals
Healthy environment for children because fewer illnesses are spread in a small group
Longer or more flexible hours
Consistent caregiver (staff turnover at centers is usually high)
Mixed age groups, allowing siblings to be together
Accreditation or child care credentials
Remember, your program may never have everything a center offers, but you will always have some benefits that a center does not have.
Promote your program by highlighting your benefits. Distribute door hangers or flyers in your neighborhood. Offer a discount on the first week of care.
Offer your current clients a finder’s fee if they refer a parent who enrolls with you.
Introduce yourself to the director of the center. Suggest ways you might cooperate. If the center doesn’t offer infant care and you do, ask if the center will refer parents with infants to you.
Offer to provide backup care for the center for mildly ill children.
Offer to provide drop-in care for center clients who need care after the center closes.
You need not fear the competition from a child care center if you can effectively communicate the benefits of your program.
Tom Copeland - www.tomcopelandblog.com
Image credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/470063279839925352/
For more information about promoting your program, see my book Family Child Care Marketing Guide.
