Every October we’re celebrating our birthday! Woo hoo! And this year is 15 years! And that’s a pretty long time to be in business. So, what lessons have I learned during my 15 years of childcare ownership?!
Oh my goodness…so so many! And I wanted to share the top ones with you, so you can learn from them too.
Get stuck in, Ninja! I’m all about helping you grow, so read on!
15 years of childcare ownership
Some days I wake up and I cannot believe it’s been a whole 15 years since I set up my first childcare business from my home. I’m so proud of how far I’ve come on my childcare ownership journey! Not to mention the all star teams I’ve brought along with me for the ride…
And along the way I’ve made some epic mistakes that have helped me grow as a childcare business owner. I see every hurdle and challenge as a lesson, and I think that’s the key to being a successful entrepreneur. We learn from every mistake we make. And I’m sharing some of these lessons with you because I was out on my own back in the day and wish someone had told me a few of these!!
It’s a marathon not a sprint!
This one is a key lesson, Ninja! If you don’t take it seriously, you’ll burn out and you’ll struggle to succeed. Running a childcare business isn’t the way to overnight success. Trust me. I’ve seen childcare owners come and go because it all seems like too much hard work. And do you know what?! It is hard work! It’s certainly not a get rich quick scheme.
Owning a childcare business is more than just babysitting! It requires stamina and an understanding that success will take time – just like a marathon.
Always look forward!
Yup. I said it. Reflection is all well and good – we learn from our past after all! But the key to being a successful childcare business owner is constantly looking forward. Don’t spend so much time looking back that you forget about the present and where you’re headed.
You’ve got to have goals that stretch you, that help you grow. You should be aiming for them and you can’t do that if you’re facing backwards, can you?!
Commitment is foundational!
The only reason I’ve managed to grow my business year upon year is that I have remained committed! I have never given up, even when things looked bleak. Knowing that showing up everyday and putting in the work WILL eventually lead to growth is so important. Sometimes it can feel like an uphill battle, but the view from the top is awesome!
Build the foundations of your childcare business by committing to it. Know that the work you put in now is going to make a solid beginning for your empire to come!
Done is better than perfect!
Well I certainly wish I’d learned this one in the early days. I used to waste so much time worrying about things not being ready and then never offering that particular service or advertising a type of class…all because I was being a perfectionist! It had to be perfect or it wouldn’t happen. And do you know what?! It was never perfect. So things never happened.
My advice to you, Ninja, is to remember that perfection isn’t always possible and therefore if you have an idea JUST GO FOR IT! This is a daily challenge for me and I am often reminding myself and the rest of my team: done is better than perfect!
Think BIGGER!
If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know I LOVE the bang on about this one! It’s all about mindset and going for gold. You’ve got to aim high and think bigger when it comes to the goals you have for your childcare business. I’ve written about that more here.
It reminds me of this quote: Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star. Meaning that you should have an ambitious goal and truly go for it. Remembering all the time that, should you miss the goal, you might still achieve something special. Because sometimes, even when things don’t go as you’d planned they can still turn out to be a success!
What you do matters!
Oooooooofffff. This one means so much to me that I’ve just had a whole batch of team t-shirts made with “What I do matters” sewn onto them!
Your job, your business, your passion… they all matter to your families AND to your community! It’s so helpful to remember the bigger picture, especially when you’ve had a bad day (as we so often do!). Every single day you are out there making a difference in the lives of others. What you do absolutely matters. And this is also a great reminder for the kids in your care too.
And there are more lessons I’ve learned in 15 years of being a childcare owner…
So I’ve put together a celebratory video for you here!
Every week I share a video on YouTube especially for you, Ninja! Join me every Monday when I release a new video for you to make moves in your home childcare business to make your childcare ownership journey Simple. Fun. & Successful! Subscribe here.
I hope you enjoyed the essential lessons from my journey of 15 years of childcare ownership! My mission is to help you minimize the amount of time in learning these lessons so that you can reach success much faster than I was able to!
If you’ve loved this post, please leave me a comment below, or share the lessons you’ve learned so far!
That’s why I set up my community over on Facebook, where you can hang out with like-minded and aspirational daycare owners. Join us for more tips on how to make your childcare business the success it deserves to be! Or if you prefer Instagram, we share ideas and tips there too. We’re an army of childcare professionals who are sharing ninja-sharp skills to transform our businesses into childcare empires! This is Childcare Ownership all Grownup!
