by admin | Sep 16, 2022 | Blog, Uncategorized
It’s that back-to-school vibe here at Childcare Ninjas and right now we’ve got a focus on systems. And you KNOW I am all about using systems to bring bigger and better success into our childcare businesses. So how can we use systems to get more clients?
In this blog post I’m going to share with you how it’s possible and tell you exactly why you need to get systems in place right now!
What do you mean by “systems”, Nyckie?!
Systems are the things you put in place to keep you organized! Whether that’s automations or just a paper process, it’s important that you have something in place. Particularly if you need to have time off at any point. And systems are a huge reason why I’ve been able to grow my business over the years.
Your Daily operations, Vendor and Supplier management, Billing, Marketing, Curriculum and teaching roster, Profit and finance, Taxes, and managing your space all require some sort of system. Not to mention why we’re here today: Client onboarding & Client management!
Do systems really save you time?
I can hear you questioning whether this whole “systems” malarkey is any good! But I’d ask you another question in return – how long are things taking you right now?
After 15 years of running a home day care and multiple childcare businesses, I can say with all my heart that they reaaaaaaaaaaaallllly do! Having systems in your childcare saves you time and money and I’m so aware of how precious a commodity time is to us as business owners. We don’t have much of it, do we?! So why spend hours on something manual and stressful when you can get a system in place to speed things up and take it off your To Do list?
How can I use systems to get more clients?
You should be bearing enrollment in mind all year round. You shouldn’t just be on the hunt for clients when you find a family is moving away taking 4 of your 6 kiddos with them, or when 2 or 3 families have kids reaching school age and no longer need you…leaving you with no kids in your care. It’s time to get systems in place!
You can have an active waitlist of families who are looking for childcare set up. Let me show you how! No more freaking out when someone leaves! Have a family ready and waiting…
Use a marketing funnel to grow a waitlist
Don’t panic – it sounds much more complex than it actually is! Building a waitlist for those quieter times by setting up a funnel just means having an email list that you can then filter to separate out people who want and need a place in your day care.
You can offer tips and resources in exchange for the emails of potential clients. These are usually really handy things they’ve been on the look out for. They sign up for their freebie, agreeing that they want to keep in touch with you. And then you add their email to your list, opening up a super valuable line of communication.
Then you can send emails out to your list informing them of upcoming open day events, availability of spaces and keep them in the loop about your childcare facilities and any news. Ultimately, you want to stay relevant and in the forefront of the minds of your local families.
And I’ve got just the thing you need because…
…Childcare Ninjas have kickass systems to get more clients they’ll love!
What if you could create and implement systems into your business which free you up not just to work but to give you more time for your other passions?! When done properly, using systems can help you buy back your time and give you freedom to make more of those cherished memories you spent all summer making – but year round!
You can get access to incredible resources that’ll help you get systems started RIGHT NOW!
There’s even copy you can swipe for your funnel and templates for the lead magnet itself!! Plus videos to show you how to do it all.
And if you want MORE, creating systems that work is one of the trainings we cover in detail inside
The Childcare Flip Course. We’ll be opening up for the next cohort in a few weeks! So I’m sharing the link here for you to take a look and get ready to learn how to BUY BACK YOUR TIME Ninja!
Catch my live trainings on Thursday nights over in my free
Facebook group.
Join us in there and get connected with other childcare owners. Every week we’ll move your childcare
business forward by with tips and ideas! Hang out with like-minded and aspirational day care owners as well as resources and tips for success from me! Or if you prefer
Instagram, we share ideas and tonnes of other stuff 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!
by admin | Jul 13, 2022 | Blog, Uncategorized
As Childcare business owners we focus on planning so much, don’t we?! Whether it’s planning for the day care curriculum or contingency planning, there’s always something. But when we enter the third quarter of the year it can feel like it’s time to take our foot off the gas. So I want to share with you why you must plan to plan in your childcare business now rather than later.
It’s important to know what’s actually coming for your childcare business, and what you want to focus on for the rest of this year. Take time to reflect on where you started this school year and how it’s gone. Then look at your goals.
Now is the perfect time to plan in your childcare business
Right now is actually a great time to plan ahead to revamp your school year sessions. We’re coming out of the first half of the year into the second, and your eyes might be on the end of year targets. However I’d love to encourage you to break that down a bit more and put those under a magnifying glass for a moment.
Break up the targets for the end of the year into smaller tasks and then plan for each of those. Chunking it into bitesize pieces makes it a lot less scary! Write down all the things you need to plan for and then take a look at your diary. When can you fit it in? What can you reschedule to make sure you have time?
But Nyckie I just want to slow down for summer
Oh believe me, I hear you! I too would like to slow down and enjoy the summer. I can picture it right now – we’re out in the yard. The grill is fired up, music is on, I’ve got an iced tea in one hand and the other is high-fiving my gorgeous grand babies…mmmm sounds good right!?
But I also know that I do not want to be panicking when the new beginning of the academic year comes round. So trust me when I see a little bit of planning goes a long way at this point! And if you take time to plan right now, you’ll have plenty of time for that cocktail in the garden later on!
Squeeze in some planning sessions during summer
I always say you have to ‘plan’ to ‘plan’ and schedule it in your diary! Even if you can only make time for just the next quarter, it’s better than nothing at all! It can feel overwhelming, so plan in some short sessions – I like to use the Pomodoro method to keep my brain focused.
Whether you’re a paper planner or digital, take your work outside. Try putting your laptop in a cardboard box to keep the reflections off the screen. Or taking out a giant paper pad and pens to map out your plans.
Plan in some fun after your planning time!
Who doesn’t love an incentive to work? You could block out time in your diary for planning time, but then schedule in something awesome for after. Have a drink with an old friend. Take a trip to the park with your kids. Take-out dinner! Movie night with popcorn and candy! Go as fancy as you like. But it doesn’t need to be. Just something to reward your hard work.
Don’t let the new school year chaos creep up…
Trust me when I say it’s going to sneak up on you! You can avoid that new school year chaos with some planning and clarity. Don’t be running around with blinders on, make a plan and get clear on what the beginning of your new school year will look like.
Allow yourself some planning time and get ahead of the game. The last thing you want to be doing in September is scrabbling round for ideas and a plan!
You’ve got to change it up
Remember that you can’t just stick to the same-old thing. What got you “here”, won’t get you to “there”. You’ll need to review and change things up. You can’t just continue to run on what you did last year, we need to be up-levelling all that we do. What got you to 5 figures won’t necessarily get you to 6. Sometimes you have to pivot, leverage, and up-level.
Also with things like Covid-19, the unsteady economy, and all of life’s little changes you will need to do things differently. But just take a deep breath and get started. No one can predict what this coming year will be like, so make it flexible and don’t be afraid of re-jigging things as the world changes!
The good news is with some time and planning you still have an opportunity to knock it out of the park by the end of the year. Read this blog to discover more tips on planning for success!
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When you sign up and pay, you receive access to all the modules immediately, so you can work through this course AT YOUR OWN PACE.
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P.S. $198 is your ONLY investment for LIFETIME access. This course bundle has got everything you need to start and grow your childcare business, provided you do the work, Ninja! Snap the bundle up right now!
Did you know I do live trainings fortnightly?
These are held on Thursday nights in my Facebook group. We start at 8:00pm EST, so why don’t you bring a friend?! Join us in there and get connected with other childcare owners. Every week we’ll move your childcare
business forward by with tips and ideas! Hang out with like-minded and aspirational daycare owners as well as trainings from me!
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!
by admin | Jun 26, 2022 | Blog, Uncategorized
It’s that old vicious circle again! One that I hear time and time again. “I can’t afford to invest in myself”. But then because you’ve not invested you can’t grow. And so it goes on. Ad infinitum. So I’ve written a blog to explain why you can’t afford not to invest in yourself!
Read on to discover the reasons I know that it’s time for you to start taking investing in you and your childcare business seriously.
Excuses I hear everyday about why you can’t invest in yourself
When I’m coaching childcare business owners something they very quickly grow out of is making excuses. They used to say things like “I can’t afford to take time off”. Or “I can’t afford to get a coach”. Or even “I can’t afford to hire staff”. And instead they now take time to consider things carefully before automatically making assumptions about money and affordability. They look at all the options available to them. They don’t write off things that could actually help them grow their businesses just because they have in the past.
I’m not suggesting that you start taking silly risks or putting your home on the line. No way! I’m just asking you to REALLY think about things before you turn down huge opportunities to up-level your childcare business.
When I was coaching with my most recent cohort of The Childcare Flip, I saw them completely change their mindset about “affordable” and other money issues. The progress they made was incredible. And I want that for you too!
Can’t invest in yourself or won’t…What is going on really?
More often than not when someone says “I can’t afford it” they’re not thinking about their actual finances and bank statements. Sometimes it’s about trust. Others it’s about priorities. And occasionally it’s about being more resourceful and thinking outside the box.
So when you’re faced with an opportunity to invest in yourself as a childcare business owner, I’d encourage you to journal on it. Don’t immediately say no. Instead take some time to look at what’s really happening here. What are the benefits of investing in this? Where might the path take you? Who will you get the chance to work with? How much money could this make you in the future?
Can you afford not to invest in yourself?
As a childcare boss, there’s only so far you can go by yourself. I know because I’ve been there. I’ve had to invest in a coach to help me navigate growth and dive deep into my own
mindset issues. And I’ve taken courses to elevate my business to the next level, far beyond the imagination of home daycare Nyckie from back in the day! I never imagined I’d be the owner of multiple facilities and a coach to Childcare Ninjas across the globe!
And that’s what I want you to think about, Ninja. When you invest in yourself there are so many amazing benefits beyond the coach/course/program you buy. You get that awesomeness, and then you also get the added bonuses so often available. And that’s what you get with
The Childcare Flip too. I will be teaching you SO much brilliant stuff in there to flip your business! I also give you templates to help you grow your list, and more! These things will MAKE you money. Can you afford not to invest in yourself?!
The Childcare Flip – turning childcare business on its head!
This course is THE complete, step-by-step system I have created for in-home daycare and childcare owners to create a childcare business with freedom, flexibility, and financial success.
You’ll learn the F.O.R.G.E. Method to help you create a winning marketing method that gets potential clients coming to you instead of your competition & that does this fast.
The Childcare Flip Course has helped me keep growing my daycare business day after day, have more than one center & made my life and business into what it is today… 
I’ll be running my free webinar training on these common and easy-to-make mistakes TOMORROW! Based on my own experience and going through this huge learning curve I want to shortcut your success and help you save $$$s on costly mistakes!
If you’re not ready for my course, why not get connected with other childcare owners instead? Get tips every week to move your childcare business forward by joining my FREE Facebook group! Hang out with like-minded and aspirational daycare owners as well as training every other week from me! 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!
by admin | Jun 18, 2022 | Blog, Uncategorized
One of the issues I hear all the time from childcare business owners is that they’re tired of being treated like a babysitter. Not just by the kids but by the parents they serve in the community. It’s a tale as old as time.
But there’s a few things to consider here.
Why are they treating you like a babysitter? Is it your behavior or theirs that’s the issue? And how can we change things up to stop these behaviors?
After 15 years of being a childcare boss, I’ve got A LOT to say about this! Read on to find out what you can do!
Why is being treated like a babysitter a bad thing?
It’s not that being a babysitter is a bad thing, not at all! It’s more that it’s not seen as a profession in its own right. When you hear the word babysitter what do you picture? I have an image in my head of a teenage girl, school files under one arm and a neighbour’s child in the other. And I’d bet yours is similar!
Babysitters are generally older kids looking to earn some pocket money while watching your small kids so you can go on a date or head to a PTA meeting. On top of that it’s usually seen as a job that requires minimal effort – the kids are mostly asleep already. And as such it’s not deemed necessary to have a “qualified” person doing the job. This in itself means that these willing teens are often underpaid and taken for granted.
So when you’re made to feel like a teenage girl despite being a grown-up running an entire daycare center (or more!), it can hurt!
Working on your mindset is where the change is going to come from. Trust me. So here’s some tips!
Think about how you present yourself
Hard truth: If you look like a babysitter you’re probably going to get treated like one. Take a look at your current work attire. Do you just wear athleisure outfits or have you got a set of plain black pants and polo shirts you reserve for daycare hours? I know it’s not practical to go for silk blouses and high heels like you might as a bank clerk! Opt for outfits that communicate to parents, “I’m the boss” and “take me seriously”.
However, this isn’t just about clothes, it’s also about how you carry yourself too. Take pride in your appearance and show it in your posture. Read this blog about boss mindset to help you.
Don’t treat your childcare business like a hobby!
It should really go without saying, but if you want your clients to respect your work and what you do, then you ought to respect it yourself.
Answer these questions:
- Are you opening up on time?
- How do you greet your families?
- How are payments set up?
- Is everything up-to-date?
- Is your space clean and tidy?
- How are you dressing to go to work?
- Do you expect parents to pick up on time?
And if your answers to these don’t sound professional you need to keep reading!
This might sound harsh, but…
If you don’t want your clients thinking of you as a babysitter who plays all day with their children then you shouldn’t run it like a babysitting service.
Run it in a professional way so your clients will treat you with the respect you deserve. It’s all about keeping your boundaries strong.
Lay down those boundaries!
Boundaries are so important. You need to be friendly and approachable but still hold a professional boundary.
Think about it. If you’re opening the gate a few minutes late, dishevelled, and high-fiving all the parents and chatting about personal stuff, what’s that saying about you? When you’re letting them hang around till your snack time starts then you’re allowing them to see you as a kind of babysitter.
Instead, show them that you can keep time by opening up accordingly. Demonstrate that their children’s education is important and has to start on time. Use a group activity to start the day and say, “Right everyone, it’s time for a story – say goodbye to the moms and dads”. Close the door/gate and crack on! If you don’t do that then they are going to treat you as the babysitter where they can bring their kids to you anytime, pick them up anytime.
Start the way you mean to go on
Don’t wait till you resent being treated like a babysitter to make a change. If you don’t do something about your behaviors, you will end up making you feel resentful of how the parents treat you. You might end up feeling upset and this could stop you from fully enjoying your work. Which in turn will trickle down to the children you serve. No one wants that!
Treating your daycare as a business is largely down to mindset. It’s about holding that boundary with yourself as much as the parents. If you don’t start now, your client may switch on you to go and find themselves someone they consider ‘professional’ as their perception of you has been that you just play with the kids and aren’t a proper business.
Don’t go into this thinking you will do it later, as one of the things you may find is when you go to make change or raise your prices your clients may get upset then leave. You deserve success and your business deserves to be treated properly!
To sum up, here’s some quick changes you can make right now!
- Take a look at your wardrobe. Does it convey a professional image?
- Show up to work like you mean business.
- Have a parent guidebook! It’s a practical and simple way to set boundaries and show your professional side too. (BTW we’ve got one of these in The Childcare Flip offer!!)
- Join my new course, The Childcare Flip! Learn how to get clients to choose your childcare business over the competition. Get clarity on what you want your childcare business to look like & stop feeling overwhelmed! Start spending less time in your childcare business and more time with your family. And finally get unstuck and start getting the results you need to grow your business to 6 figures and beyond!
So it’s time to stop allowing yourself to be treated like a babysitter and own who you are – a childcare boss!
STARTING JUNE 28TH!!!
Join the Childcare Flip and learn how to grow, manage, market and automate your childcare business WITHOUT massive startup dollars and oversized buildings so you can LIVE the LIFE of FREEDOM, FLEXIBILITY and FINANCIAL SUCCESS!
If you’re not ready for my course, why not get connected with other childcare owners instead? Get tips every week to move your childcare business forward by joining my FREE Facebook group! Hang out with like-minded and aspirational daycare owners as well as training every other week from me! 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!
by admin | May 13, 2022 | Blog, Uncategorized
You might remember that a while ago I created a YouTube video on this topic, but I wanna shine a light on entry-level positions again. Although it might sound odd, I want you to think about ways you can raise the next gen of childcare workers by hiring total newbs.
Read on to find out why you need inexperienced team members in your childcare business.
Creating a well-rounded team
We all need additional help in our childcare business now and again. In fact just last week I wrote about how to create your dream team. (Take a peek here!)
Sometimes we’ll be on the hunt for outstanding teachers or brilliant experienced managers, to help us grow our businesses and take over the world! But often there’s still a need for another kind of help. We’ve got ratios to keep up, bottles to warm, and nappies to change!
This sort of help isn’t necessarily highly qualified like a trained teacher, but they’re still a massive help that will see us create a wonderful and well-rounded team.
After all, if you ran a restaurant, you wouldn’t hire an entire team of top chefs, would you? You need a highly trained lead chef, but also chef du parties, sous chefs, a baker, front of house staff…and they would all be up the creek without the least qualified member of the team! Who’s that?! The potwash!
Don’t turn away those with less experience
You need staff on the ground with less experience. Not to be the dogsbodies, but they’re like a fresh canvass. These are the the ones you can raise to be the next generation of childcare workers. The ones you can mold and shape!
For those positions where they don’t need a certain amount of experience, there are a few ideas I wanted to share to help you make that process simpler.
Having a serving heart
Imagine someone comes to your daycare business looking for work, but they have no experience. They’re very interested in working for you. They see you have a great company that’s well managed and would love an opportunity to break into the industry.
Your instinct might be to politely decline their offer of work. You feel they’re lacking in experience.
But I want you to look at it from a different angle.
So what you may not be thinking of is that while they might not have relevant childcare experience they may actually come from fields where they are ‘serving’.
What I’ve seen in my 16 years or so of experience is that staff that come from a serving industry turn out to be a great fit. Especially with children because they already have that serving heart.
When you find someone with a heart to serve others, teaching them the ins and outs of working with children is a blessing to you.
They already have that servant’s heart and as they’re new to the industry you can train them in the unique ways you run your business.
Raising the next generation of childcare workers
As these newbies learn and grow you’ll find them being a fantastic fit for bigger and better opportunities in your business. Some years later they could even be a director!
It’ll mean in the future, you won’t always have to hire outside your team because they’ll have grown into the staff you’re looking for. Working this way – of training your blank canvasses – you get to raise up a new generation to develop in and with your business.
So when you do train them, have that mindset of empowering them, giving them experiences that will help prepare them for more responsibility.
We see that in places like McDonald’s or in corporate with apprenticeships/ learning plans. Places where someone comes from the counter and works their way up all the time! Why can’t we also do that in our daycares?
Anyway, those are my thoughts on why you ought to be hiring inexperienced team members and raising the next generation of childcare workers!
If you want to learn more about how to be the childcare boss you’ve been dreaming of, then join me in my signature program, The Childcare Flip!
During our time together in the program you’ll work through my F.O.R.G.E framework, which will help you:
✨ Get clear on our USP
✨ Master your messaging
✨ Fill your spots and have a waitlist
✨ Develop a step by step ROADMAP to build your business
You’ll find the modules included cover so much! From Building Foundations through to Automation, and everything in between! Marketing, Finance, Relations and, of course, Staffing!
The first round have already been seeing huge growth, so if you want to join us for the next cohort, join the waitlist now!
Before you dash off, don’t forget that there’s already some free support available to you! We have an active community of like-minded childcare business owners over on
Facebook, because I know that
being a home daycare provider sometimes
gets a little lonely. So connect with other childcare owners! Gain strategies and tips to move your childcare
business forward by joining a community! 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!
