efficiency | Childcare Ninjas

Setting up your home childcare business for success!

by admin | Jul 30, 2021 | Blog, Uncategorized

Something I get asked all the time is “how do I go about setting up my home childcare business?!” And it’s not a simple question to answer by any means! However, I’ve got some tips and tricks from all my years of setting up multiple day cares that I want to share with you.

I wish someone had created a simple guide for me to follow back in the day, so I thought I’d fill that gap to support you in your journey.

Wave goodbye to overwhelm

When it comes to setting up your childcare business it could be very easy for the seemingly endless To Do list to get overwhelming. Before you know it, tasks are missed, inventory gets messed up, meal plans and ordering go crazy…How do I know?! Because I’ve been there, done that. I’ve learned the hard way so you don’t have to!

By following my 5 steps, you’re giving yourself a massive head start in the childcare game! Ditch the overwhelm and start taking simple steps towards success right now!

5 steps to setting up!

There are 5 steps to setting up your childcare – whether that’s a home-based daycare or a smaller center. These 5 steps that will give you a great foundation to start your new career with

Setting up the actual childcare space.
Setting up all your workflows.
Managing daycare paperwork.
Create your financial systems.
Get automating!

Although I cover those five steps in this week’s Youtube video I wanted to share with you a little about each step here.

Getting your space all set up

This is the fun bit! I like to use Pinterest for inspiration. Creating boards of the different areas I need and what I’d love them to look like. Plan out what you can do in your unique space.

In case you’re stuck for ideas on this first step, have a read of this blog post I wrote about designing the space.

Figure out your workflow

This step is the key to success! Creating your own personal workflow for your days. This is separate from the daily routines you have planned for the kids! Setting up your personal workflow as the childcare business owner is going to help you feel less overwhelmed and keep things running smoothly in your business. The workflow helps you get into a rhythm too.

Trello is where my workflow goes, but I also love using my planner. But it doesn’t really matter where you write it all down, the purpose is to help you get clarity on what tasks need doing and when you’re going to do them.

Will you plan to do your paperwork during the kids’ nap time? It’s good to fit in simple tasks you can manage to do in the same room as the children as they sleep. Or perhaps you’ll be planning your menu on a particular day during naps. Maybe on Fridays if you have movie time when the kids are leaving you can catch up on the week’s finances.

It’s about spending your time more wisely, having a plan and getting into a routine. Setting it up properly in the beginning will make a difference!

Managing the paperwork

The bit lots of you will be dreading, and it’s the bit I got all wrong in the early days… I had so many files and folders and I had no system to organize things. It was chaos! But once I nailed my own filing system and had somewhere designated to store them, things got a LOT easier!

You might want to keep paper records in binders or folders on a shelf in your office, so you have them to hand – especially handy for those inspection times! These ought to include all your official and mandatory daycare files (insurance etc); your staff and kids’ files; enrollment packets (I keep mine in a separate box); all your food files…

Nailing your financial systems

I’m always talking about systems, I know! But there’s a good reason why. They will save you from slip-ups over and over again! Systems keep you organized and on top of your game. What’s not to love, right? And when it comes to financial systems, you want to get them sorted as soon as possible.

Since I got all my finance systems fixed-up, I’ve been able to grow my childcare business empire beyond my dreams! None of my focus goes on overwhelm or worrying about how things are doing, because I know already! And you can have that weight off your shoulders too.

Automate your business

Being a childcare business owner is hard enough without having to do every single little thing yourself! So I’d highly recommend not skipping this step! Look at apps that’ll save you time or help you stay organized. Whether that’s apps to help with staffing or apps to make CEO life easier, use technology to grow your business.

When I first set up my home daycare over 15 years ago, I didn’t know about any of this stuff!! This meant that promoting my business was super hard. But it doesn’t have to be hard for you! Apps and technology for growing your biz are absolutely where it’s at!!

Watch my YouTube video to find out more about each of these steps because that’ll help you create a plan! Which will get you working more efficiently and become profitable faster!

And be sure to grab my FREE checklist while you’re there.

Ok Ninja, no more worries! Every little thing is gonna be alright!

Interested in becoming more involved in the community and to grow your business? 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!

Ninja guide to streamlining your hiring process

by admin | Mar 13, 2020 | Uncategorized

One of the key parts of your childcare business is the people who work for you. The quality of your staff is essential to maintaining a professional and well-run establishment, and most importantly they are taking care of those precious children in your setting.

They’re your representatives and your eyes on the ground, and they’re part of a team, so hiring the right people is a huge decision for your business. You can’t just hire someone based on their résumé, because there’s no guarantee they’ll gel with your other staff members; but nor can you employ a person for their personality and not look at their experience and qualifications. It’s a monumental task! Streamlining this process is going to help you grow your business.

And sometimes it can take up so much of your time, it could almost be a full time job in itself!

But there’s no need for it to be so time consuming. I’ve been in this game for a long time now, so I have learned a few things on the way to becoming a Childcare Ninja, and I want to help you streamline the hiring process.

Here are my ninja tips for a more efficient process for hiring staff for your childcare business.

Automate as much paperwork as possible

Getting your potential employees to fill out an online form will save you time and definitely streamline your hiring process. No more loose bits of paper to peruse, or lose! By having an automated system, you can make the process faster and fairer for everyone.

There are various apps/softwares you can get for each stage of the process. For example, candidate pre-screening tools can rank and grade candidates to pre-qualify those who are a fit to move forward in the hiring process. Or you can just have a simple form, akin to a questionnaire that they can input all their information into.

When the form is filled out online, it means you’ve got a digital version. You can then search the documents for key words much faster, enabling you to rule out people who don’t have the qualifications or strengths you’re looking for, and find the ones who cut the mustard!

Once you’ve shortlisted, it’s time to get them booked in for interview. However, manually scheduling interviews can be exhausting! It might not sound like a time-consuming task, but when you’re going back and forth to check availability for all the different applicants you’d like to meet with you suddenly realize what a drain on your time it is!

I’d highly recommend that you try interview scheduling automation. It’ll save you time and streamlines the interview process, which creates a better experience for candidates and you alike. You might have heard of Calendly, which is an easy to use system for booking in interviews.

Have a central place for your hiring documentation

It’s important that you keep all your paperwork and vital documents for new and potential employees in one place. This is key because if you were to fall ill, then your cover person will know exactly where to find everything they need when it comes to your team. Not only is it for unfortunate scenarios, it’s also fundamental that you’re seen by outside agencies and inspectors to be organized and keeping on top of standards.

Another reason you ought to keep staff documentation all in one central place is it’ll help you find things quickly if there’s any accidents or medical emergencies. Your team members might have an allergy or a disability, and as their employer you have responsibilities for their welfare.

Video training on the go

Create your own training videos for newly hired team members so they can get up to speed quickly. Everyone’s got a smart phone nowadays, and it’s so helpful for building relationships with new staff. Having apps like Slack to connect team members, gives them an opportunity to communicate outside of work and also access information as and when they require it, or when you need them to.

One of the strategies that I’ve found that works for my teams is when I do training on Zoom about specific areas and then I upload the videos and place them in Slack. My staff can then view them when they’re able to – on breaks or during their spare time – and once they’ve watched the training they can sign off that particular task. I can then see exactly who has done which video session, and can remind people gently on the app.

This saves us tons of time trying to coordinate a training meeting that everyone can attend! We’re all busy people, right?!

Streamlining the hiring process is going to save you time and energy, leaving you to focus on getting the right team player for your Childcare Ninja squad!

If you haven’t already, join my free Childcare Ninja Facebook group! 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! Interested in becoming a part of the community? Join us for more tips on how to make your childcare business the success it deserves to be!