Grow your childcare business by planning for success
Childcare Ninjas is all about supporting you to grow your business to be sustainable and successful, and as someone who’s been in the game for a long time now, I know the importance of systematizing. And I understand how this looks very different in child care to how it might look in other industries like retail or coaching.
Planning is the absolute key to growing your childcare business. So how do I do it? Well, I plan everything! From finance to food, and clients to cleaning, I’ve got some strategies that will help you plan and I’ve got some tips for how to stay on top of everything.
You can learn how to implement systems into your childcare business and plan for a successful year ahead!
2020 is going to be brilliant for your childcare business, can you feel it too?
Let’s start with assessing where your business is at…
First thing I recommend that you do is take some time out to look at your business and figure out what you’re already doing. I want you to write down all the jobs you do daily that keep your business ticking. Get every little thing you do, and what your employees do, written down so that you can look at ways of organizing and being more efficient. Note down all those little tasks – cleaning toys, writing a menu, invoicing clients…everything! What’s working? What’s not?
You’ll be surprised at all the jobs you do each day, week in, week out, just to keep your business going! You’re a super hero! It might seem silly and time consuming writing all of them down, but you should be so proud of these, and quantifying them will make it much easier to systematize your business. So, if you wanna be a Childcare Ninja, you gotta get organized!
Looking at the bigger picture
Now you’ve got all the jobs you do down in one place, it’s time to set out on paper the things you’d like to do in your business; I call this envisioning. I want you to envision where you see your business going and what you’ve got to do to get there. Write it down. By doing this alongside what you’re already doing, you’re able to see the bigger picture and the journey you need to take to reach your goals for your childcare business.
Getting systems in place to grow your business
Once you’ve got this all noted down in one place, you need to look at the things that are working for you and then weed out which tasks are not. Those that can be removed, replaced or streamlined. Then you can sort each task and the steps you take (for things you’re keeping) into categories, for example “Food”. Under each topic, you can list all the jobs you do for that specific area. It might be easier to cut your list up and arrange into new lists under the headlines. So under “Hygiene” you’ll have all the tasks relating to that: cleaning, buying products, water bills, staff training, policy…and so on.
Break down all the steps and processes that you have in place, adding in the things you’d like to improve. Now you’ve got a plan and a sort of flow chart to guide you through each area of your business. If you need a guide to help you with this process, download your free childcare business map here and get started building your systems.
Why is systematizing so important?
By getting systems in place, you are getting processes in place that will help you get organized and help your staff become more independent. Once you’ve nailed the systems, you will be able to take time off and not worry about things falling apart while you’re not there. You’ll de-stress, your staff will feel more in control and confident and your business will grow!
Implementing your systems to grow your business
Subsequently, now you’ve got the systems all laid out, it’s time to call a staff meeting. Here you are giving your team a road map of how they can be more effective at their jobs. It’s always a good idea to get all your team together and work through things so that the new changes don’t feel like they’re being “done to” them. Instead your employees will feel like they are a part of the change because they’ve been given an opportunity to bring ideas and suggestions to the table. Use this meeting as an opportunity to empower your team, and an opportunity for you to take a well-earned break once they get the hang of things!
If you’d like to know more, I have created some helpful videos and resources for you in my Childcare Ninja membership, to make your life a little easier, and to enable you to grow your childcare business into your own little empire.
Are you in the Childcare Ninja Facebook group yet? 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? Join us for more tips on how to make your childcare business the success it deserves to be!