by admin | Sep 14, 2021 | Blog, Uncategorized
I’ve heard it time and time again over the last few years: “I can’t automate, Nyckie, I run a childcare business.” It often feels like it’s hard to automate anything in this industry, but that’s simply not true! We can automate many things in the day-to-day running of our childcare businesses. We don’t have to do everything manually.
Does this sound like you? I’d love to encourage you to read this blog post and discover why automations and simplifying your business are going to be the spark that allows you to up your game!
This is the 5th part in my series of posts on making the set up of your #homechildcarebusiness as simple as possible! This is hugely important for you to begin scaling to success. Keep it SIMPLE from the very beginning. If you missed the others, check them out here.
Read this week’s new post and let me know how automation helps you inch closer to becoming a #childcareninja when it comes to automating your home childcare business.
What’s so great about automating?
I’d like to flip that round and ask – what ISN’T great about automating?!? Who doesn’t want to make life easier for themselves and their staff? Anyone? *TUMBLEWEED*
Automating means putting systems in place (whether that’s technical systems or step-by-step processes) that require less of your time and energy to run your childcare business. Which means more time to spend on the things you LOVE doing! It equates to FREEDOM!
And not only will having automations save you time, having them all set up and working smoothly will save you money too! Doing things manually or having too many different systems in place costs you more than you realize!
So let me tell you a few ways that it’s possible to automate your childcare business and how to get started.
Take time to observe where you could automate
If you observe your work and the work of your team over a couple of weeks or a month, you’ll notice that you all do certain tasks over and over again. That repetition means it’s high time you begin automating! Those repeatable tasks are exactly the types of tasks you want to automate and systemize!
Look at those tasks and consider which parts can be turned into an easy-to-copy system? Perhaps it’s the on-boarding of new clients, or the payroll for staff…but you need to take a step back and figure out which ones are achievable and will give a great ROI (return on investment).
There are tonnes of free ways to automate, it doesn’t all have to be paid for. But technology and automation should be your BFFs right now!
How can you use technology to help do that?
The areas you can automate in your childcare business using technology are broad! You can set up automations for your marketing, getting families enrolled, and do all your ordering and food planning with them too. Technology exists to help you automate the maintenance and other practical elements of your daycare centers too. And there’s even ways you can automate your team training.
Lean in to the technology that is available – it certainly wasn’t around when I set up my first childcare business! Get recommendations from colleagues over in the Childcare Ninjas Facebook group and watch the replay of my Tuesday Tips. I chatted about all the ways you can automate things to make your life easier and how it can transform a clunky manual business taking up every second into a smooth running one which frees up your time! You can also catch up on my YouTube “Set up” series here.
Do you want to automate more things? How do you feel about it? Excited or do you worry about the tech? Come and join the chat over in the Childcare Ninjas Facebook group.
Don’t forget to grab this week’s FREE resource, it’s my SIMPLE CHILDCARE AUTOMATION GUIDE. Get your copy now by clicking HERE. Enjoy Ninja…#YOUGOTTHIS!
Want to grow your business and get more involved in the childcare 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!
by admin | Apr 24, 2020 | Blog
You’ve ventured into the world of childcare business ownership, and now you’re looking to to turn it into the success it deserves to be. I’m here to tell you that it’s going to happen. If I have done it, so can you! It takes hard work, resilience and a whole lot of love, but I know you’ve got this. You can build a successful childcare business!
You ARE a Childcare Ninja!
Over the years, I’ve learned how to grow my childcare business, level up and build my own empire. And here I’ve got 3 simple tips to help you on your way to success.
1. Automate what you can
By now you’ll probably have realized that I am a HUGE fan of systemizing and automation (if you’ve read any of my other blogs!). If you can systemize, you will be able to de-stress and grow. Take time to note down all the day-to-day tasks you do and look into how you can get a system in place and potentially automate it, to save you time and energy.
In fact this doesn’t have to cost the world either! There are plenty of lower cost or even free options for automating elements of your childcare business. From ordering food supplies from a well-kept stock inventory, to Hours Tracker for staffing, make the most of the technology at your fingertips!
Additionally, you can read about apps I use in my childcare business that have revolutionized my systems here.
2. Offer what others won’t
Remember when we talked about what makes you special? Well, make sure that you’re offering tons of that! Sing it from the mountain tops, girl. Offering something that others don’t have – your uniqueness – will make you stand out from the crowd and call in the parents and families that you’ve been longing to work with.
After all, what makes our childcare businesses so awesome is that we are NOT the cookie cutter daycare center chains that keep popping up all over the country. We offer something totally different and the feedback we get from families is incredible. Their kids are treated as individuals by our amazing teams and the parents are too.
So if you take a look around at other providers, not to compare as such but to look at what they’re missing. Perhaps they don’t focus on outdoor play or they don’t have language teachers…whatever they’re lacking, think about what you can offer that they are not. I’m not saying go and do something totally different to your current practice, but look at the competition and see where you can shine!
3. Build amazing relationships daily
As you’ll have read briefly above, this is an aspect of your business that is essential. I cannot stress this enough. Nurturing those relationships is absolutely key to the success of your childcare business. Even after a child has moved on to school, I try to keep in touch with families – just the odd “thinking of you” card here and there, or a wave on the street – but this is how community thrives.
Building a sense of community and cherishing the relationships you have with families will make your business successful. Those families will talk about you as if you’re a member of their squad (which you totally are!) and they’ll be telling new parents they meet about how much they love your childcare and how warm and brilliant you are.
But it’s not just the parents and children who you need to nurture! Building amazing relationships with your staff is super important too! Keep communication as a two way street – use apps like Slack to help you do this! – because when staff feel they’re heard and valued, they come into their own and work their socks off for you.
Equally important, is showing good leadership by helping them develop their own skills, using their ideas for activities and on the meal plans. Working on your relationships, talking to your team on a regular basis and keeping them informed of any changes in advance.
All things considered, I hope this has given you some food for thought. Building your successful childcare business is achievable and watching you develop your skills as an owner is inspiring! Let me know how you’re getting on. Leave a comment below, or send me an email. And don’t forget that we’ve got our Facebook community too, so we can all hang out in there together!
I started Childcare Ninjas because I realized that most business information and ideas aren’t targeted at us. They’re focused on other industries. But we don’t fit that mold! We are an army of childcare professionals who are sharing ninja-sharp skills to transform our businesses into childcare empires! This is Childcare Ownership all Grownup! Interested in becoming a part of the community, click here!
