The ultimate guide to effectively manage your childcare

Establishing a childcare business – can be both exciting and challenging. But in order for it to be successful and popular amongst parents, you need to take measures that ensure your daycare facility is functioning smoothly and all the involved stakeholders – the parents and the teachers are satisfied with your services. It could take some time for you to build a facility that functions seamlessly, but with small steps each day you can take your childcare to the next level. Here are some steps you can take to effectively manage your childcare:

1. Make childcare a stress-free experience for parents

It is natural for parents to assess the environment they are sending their kids on a day-to-day basis before making the call. Daycares that have ample parking space, is situated in safe localities, and have a welcoming and warm environment after all wins the heart of parents. Make information about your facility more accessible to parents, and have someone take care of the calls, messages, and emails proactively. Send consistent newsletters to keep them posted at all times about any updates, and host events where they can volunteer to keep them involved,

2. Leverage the power of positive reviews

In today’s time, customers tend to rely on reviews before making purchases of any kind. What your customers think of you, determines the reputation of your business. This largely influences how many people will be open to becoming your clientele. While gathering positive reviews through both online forums and word of mouth is significant, it does not happen that easily. In order to be able to receive that feedback, you need to work toward making sure parents are happy with their and their kid’s experience with your child care. It is essential that as daycare owners, you take feedback from parents about their experience with the school consistently. This will help you improve your processes while ensuring parents are always content. This would also mean that word is getting around, and getting more parents interested in your child care services. Encourage parents to leave a review on your website or your social media handles, and make sure to thank them personally when they do. You can also send across survey forms to collect their input and see where your child care can perform better by incorporating their suggestions.

3. Put a childcare manual in place

A childcare parent handbook is intended to enhance a child’s overall well-being and serves as the cornerstone of effective parent-teacher communication. It informs parents about your daycare business’s guiding principles, goals, rules, and program. Even though it may sound conventional, having a manual for your company will benefit your parents as customers and safeguard you as a daycare owner. Create and continuously update a handbook of your daycare’s policies. Make sure it is available to parents at all times of the year and ask them to read it before enrolling their kids. Illumine gives daycare owners the liberty to upload their school’s handbook on the platform, which can then be easily accessed by both parents and teachers.

4. Digitize your processes

Taking all your operations online could be highly time and cost-saving for you. With all your processes online, the need for manual work would be significantly cut down and your staff would have more time on their hands to be able to focus on the kids. Additionally, a digital platform would also streamline your day-to-day operations and boost the efficiency of your daycare’s overall procedures. This can be best done by deploying a childcare management platform that would bring all your operations to a single place and help you monitor them all efficiently. Billing, for example, is an instance, when monitored digitally, that can help you keep track of all your finances. In fact, Illumine also allows you to send automated payment reminders, and generate billing reports with a touch of a button. The platform enables you to digitize processes that include attendance, lesson planning, lead generation, assessments, and leaves, amongst several other things. This closes the window for any errors, helps you stay organized, and enables you to save money and resources on paper and manual work.

5. Make important information accessible

To help families save time and obtain everything they need with a simple search from the comfort of their couch, create as many online options as possible. Even if it’s on a free WordPress platform or Facebook page, setting up a website for your daycare is a smart decision. Having a central location for all of your relevant details will be appreciated by parents; just make sure you update it frequently. Include your policy manual, licensing credentials, testimonials, printable documents, authorization forms, and student registration options on your website. Simplify finding your daycare’s address and phone number from any platform. It prevents parents from spending hours at your center filling out endless forms. Furthermore, it presents you as the well-prepared, organized professional that you are.

6. Tailor your programs according to the needs of the students

Being in the business of childcare, it goes without saying that children are the heart of your focus. Take steps that would show parents that you tend to go the extra mile for kids to provide them with the best childcare experience possible. Great child care is the one that takes the unique requirements of every child into consideration and tailors its programs according to it. That is why it is important to keep the interests and inclinations of the kids in mind while curating the curriculum and designing activities for the kids. Moreover, focusing on the growth and developmental interest of children and letting them follow their natural inclinations will make learning more enjoyable for them while reducing some of the strain on you and your employees. These improvised exercises enable kids to learn more and gain a sense of belonging. A great daycare is one that can meet the unique needs of every child. Focus on what your children are naturally interested in, and try to tailor your activities to maximize their happiness. Your business will continue to thrive if you can keep the kids delighted and their parents pleased.

7. The magic of value-added services

Value add services elevate the standard of your business, and helps it stand out from your competitors. The special services you provide at your daycare apart from the standard ones that every other childcare provides give you the leverage of customers to see you as a better choice for their kids. You can start by taking inspiration from what others around you are doing. Browse through all the activities they include in their curriculums, how they accommodate the needs of specially-abled children, and also the measures they take to keep parents engaged. Once you have found the right list of activities that you think would work for your facility, slowly and smartly start incorporating them into the list of the programs you offer. Illumine gives you a great way of adding value to your services. Its CCTV camera feature helps parents get a sneak peek into what’s happening in the classroom. After all, informed parents are happy parents. The bus tracking feature of Illumine provides parents with peace of mind, by knowing their kid’s whereabouts from the time they are picked up from school to the time they are dropped off at home.

8. Focus on establishing healthy relationships with parents

Having a strong relationship with your clientele – parents is essential for your business to thrive. Parents send their little kids to your daycares by putting a lot of faith in you, hence, it is imperative you gain their trust and also maintain it throughout. But trust does not come easily. In order to win their confidence, you need to make sure that parents are updated about their kid’s activities at school. This could entail timely activity updates that include food, nap, potty alerts, monthly or weekly newsletters that keep them in the loop with what’s happening at the school, and also hosting a parent-teacher meet at regular intervals. Illumine’s parent communication app empowers you to do all this and so much more! With Illumine, parents can raise concerns on the platform, helping you stay on top of all their issues and also marking them resolved once it is looked into. Teachers can send real-time messages, videos, and activity updates to parents with a click of a button. But that’s not all, the childcare management software lets parents apply for leaves for their kids, and also allows you to send newsletters. By bridging the gap between parents and their kid’s growth, Illumine ensures that parents are always happy.

9. Deploy childcare software to enhance productivity and efficiency

Making certain your workforce is motivated and supported throughout is another key component of a successful childcare business. Working with kids all day long isn’t always simple — emotions can go out of control, accidents may occur and mayhem can follow. You can all succeed collectively, even on challenging days, by providing your staff with the support and resources they require. Having childcare management software could mean the time spent on manual tasks by your staff is cut down massively. This could mean a boost in their productivity and better efficiency at the jobs they do. Illumine allows your teachers to take care of assignments, submissions, grading, parent communication, and much more digitally. It automates processes like attendance, and leaves, and also designates pickups and drop-offs. Get free trial of the Illumine childcare software. Related: 20 Best Childcare Management Software in 2022: Price Comparison & Reviews

10. Build a team of great individuals

The individuals you employ to work with you have an impact on the success of your daycare center. While you don’t want to hire someone without experience, you also don’t want to reject every unqualified applicant. Look for certain characteristics in prospective employees. Even if someone doesn’t have the specific educational background you’d like, they might have a great personality and practical experience working in care settings that would assist the operations at your daycare. It all boils down to the right attitude when it comes to kids. Find someone who you think can handle the challenge of being around kids the whole day while taking care of them and nurturing them towards growth.

11. Creating and maintaining a healthy environment

Along with ensuring smooth day-to-day operations and hiring good staff, your priority alongside should also be on maintaining the standards of safety and hygiene in your childcare facility. Put down processes to getting your child care cleaned systematically, at timed intervals. Additionally, you must routinely monitor the space to make certain there are no maintenance or safety hazards. Finally, creating a space that is safe, and welcoming becomes essential because your facility will be hosting kids who would need a vibrant and engaging atmosphere around them. Provide kids with toys and supplies that are in good shape, but also make it a point to keep some budget aside for replacements and upgrades.