If 2020 has taught us anything at all, then surely it’s that we need to be prepared for the unexpected and be as adaptable as we can be. So how can you use this knowledge to organize your finances to make you more secure?
So what I’m sharing with you today is things we can do to cover ourselves. Making sure we cover all the bases and essentials, plus investing in our childcare businesses and us. Because investing in ourselves is key to growth.
Does the word “finances” fill you with dread?
Since I’ve been running my own business, I’ve got a lot more comfortable talking about money. The ins and outs, the profit margins and invoices. I’ve written about it before over here, and in other places too!
It’s strange, because although we know how important money is, and how finances impact our lives daily, it seems that we don’t like to talk about it much. There’s definitely a touch of taboo when it comes to discussing the green stuff.
Recently, I posted about finances in my Facebook group and it turns out that not many Childcare Ninjas are feeling the topic! But what I want to change is how we view money. Because it is super clear that to become successful in your childcare business, you’ve got to get comfy with finances and the talk that comes with it.
Excuse-proofing your finances
Last year, it was very easy for many of us to make excuses around not investing in our childcare businesses, and putting off investing on ourselves. But now 2021 has arrived, and we should be able to start off on a good foot, covering ourselves so we have the finances we need to grow our businesses. This includes money for investing in ourselves and investing in our childcare businesses.
Now is not the time for excuses! So what can you do to change the way things have been going? Have you made a plan for alternative income streams? Have you got ideas for saving money?
Challenge yourself to up your finance game
Developing your childcare business this year means you’ve got to stop using the old excuse “I can’t afford it”. Take the opportunities that you’re given in 2021 to grow your business. Lean into the fear and get stuck in. Stop putting off investing. Take money as an excuse of the table. And to do that, you’ve got to set yourself up to be more secure. You need to get comfy looking at your finances. To know exactly what you need to have coming in, and some extra for investment.
I want to challenge you to sit down and create some plans on different ways you can make some extra income next year. Set a timer and write down all the possible ways you could make money. E-bay? Babysitting? Make a cup of coffee and really go for it with that list!
Think outside of the box!
What are you good at that could bring you in some side hustle money? Could you teach piano lessons or do dog walking? Could you offer odd job skills to neighbors? Perhaps you’re a dab-hand at baking and might offer your services to busy moms who haven’t got time to make that all-singing all-dancing birthday cake?
Don’t let worries about what other people might think get in the way of you trying ideas out. Marie Forleo waited tables and taught dance classes while she worked her way up to the top of her game! She talks about money myths many of us women fall into here. And doing something other than running your childcare business, so that you can have enough money to invest doesn’t make you a failure. Trust me!
Still stuck on how to excuse-proof your finances?
I have a great resource that can help you out. It offers a number of different ideas to help you get the cash you need to start your in home business, hire that coach, or purchase that course to help move you along on your journey to success.
I designed this for you because I want you to get the tools you need to get to the next level of your success quickly and I don’t want you to keep putting your success on hold because of limited funds. And I want to help you reach your success as quickly and as simply as possible because it’s about time that you started living life on your own terms! Are you with me!? Download you free ideas list here.
How do you feel about finances? Is it something you shy away from talking about? Or are you at ease in that kind of conversation?
Come and let us know over in the 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! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!
Recently I’ve been getting a lot of questions from Childcare Ninjas about how to find the perfect location for your childcare business. And it’s made me realize that actually it’s much more complicated than you might initially think.
When it comes to seeking out the ideal space and a location that suits my business needs, I’ve got a lot of experience. And it’s not merely about the place on the map! So, I’m going to share some tips with you here about how to find a place for your day care center.
Location, Location, Location!
I bet you’ve heard the phrase “location, location, location” at some point as it seems to float about a lot when someone’s opening a business. And sometimes these cliches are said often because they’re true! Yes, location really is key!
So you need to be thinking about where you’ll open your daycare. When you’re choosing a location, you’ve got to consider whether there’s a need in that specific area. Do you want it near a school or positioned in a community that serves a lot of young families? Make sure you do your research. Have a look at the shops and facilities offered in the area. Who do they cater for? Are your perceptions correct? After all, it’d be a poor business decision to locate your daycare center in a location where the older generations reside.
And while you’re contemplating a map and thinking about the socio-economics of the area, you need to simultaneously factor in your budget. Can you afford the outlay of a building in that area? Will it put strain on other elements of your business? Would it be better to rule out some of the higher end possibilities and give yourself breathing room for repairs and alterations? I’ve written more about opening your childcare on a budget here.
However, as important as the placing of your childcare setting is it’s not the only thing you’ve got to think about…
It’s not just the location that matters
The environment isn’t the only thing you ought to be thinking about when choosing a place for your business. Because when you’re running a daycare there are so many additional things you need to take into account. You can’t just choose an area you like and put down the deposit, collect the keys and expect it to be perfect. You’ve got to think about the building itself. Trust me! Because what works for one business doesn’t always work for a childcare based one.
And to find the right kind of space, I’ve found that it’s often best to start with the end in mind. So take some time to consider what you want your daycare to be like. To feel like. To look like. Create a vision. Actually sit down and map out – draw or cut and paste – a picture of what you want.
Without overthinking, trusting your intuition and gut feeling, answer some of these questions to get you started:
1. What age group do you want to serve?
2. What kind of ‘feeling’ or mood do you want to set?
3. Will you be hosting ‘courses’ or activities?
4. What ethos or values will you have and model?
Take some time out to reflect on these prompts and journal around them.
So what I’m suggesting is that the location for your childcare business isn’t the only thing to consider. Getting clear on your vision will help you to understand what kind of property you’re looking for.
A space to reflect your business
Once you’ve got clarity around what your values are and your vision for the space, you can start to look in a more logical way. For example, if you know you’re looking for an open plan space, then you can rule out properties that only have smaller rooms. If your vision includes access to an outdoor space or garden where the children can help you grow their own lunches, or explore outside, then you can eliminate the buildings that don’t have that kind of facility.
Don’t forget that the way a building is laid out has implications for ratios and the number of adults you’ll need. And the size of the rooms and total area of the floor space will impact how many children you can facilitate at one time.
There’s no right or wrong answer for what the space should look like. I know you don’t want to be a cookie-cutter daycare center. You want to stand out and let your Ninja personality shine through.
The choosing of space is as unique as you are! And no one but you will know when you’ve discovered the ideal spot for your daycare. I know that when I’ve gone hunting for the perfect daycare location and building, it’s been a whole lot quicker and less painful all-round when I’ve had a clear vision! You won’t waste time umming and aaahing about properties, and the realtor will thank you for that (and so will your family!).
Remember: Location is important, but so is the inside space!
I’m going to be talking a lot more about this in the Childcare Ninja Facebook group, so please come on in and join in the conversation! I wanna know if you’re finding it hard to seek out the perfect spot to open up your daycare.
If you enjoyed reading this and would like to get more involved, 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! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!
One of the things I hear on a daily basis from other childcare business owners is that they “don’t have time”. What’s the common denominator of successful entrepreneurs and CEOs? It’s that they’ve honed excellent time management skills and are great at prioritizing. So this blog is focused on why it’s important that you up-level yours!
I want to share my tips for getting better at managing your time, including an app I use that has transformed the way I prepare myself for the day ahead. How we use our time can be a total game-changer in becoming successful in Childcare Business Owners.
Read on if you’re ready to find more time and get more done!
Where are you wasting time?
First things first, you need to look at where you’re spending your time at the moment. Track what you’re doing, hour by hour, minute by minute. How long to you spend in the shower? Putting on your make-up? Getting your kids ready for school? Making pack-lunches? It’s important that you can look at where there’s time going to waste.
Note all your activities down, trying not to be too hard on yourself. Is there anything that you’re doing on the daily that could be batched? Or perhaps you’ve noticed that you’re scrolling for too long and your smartphone time is getting silly. Maybe you’ve realized that you need to spend less time watching TV. This isn’t about judging yourself harshly. It’s about noticing and making positive changes.
Time for a change in routine
Mornings are frequently where we can make changes with our time. So often it’s a time of the day when we’re rushing around like headless chickens, trying to make sure everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing. Mornings can be so hectic, it’s super easy to get caught up with rigmarole of the day and get ourselves overwhelmed. So if you make a single change after reading this blog post, let it be this one: allow yourself to have a morning routine.
I really want you to make a morning routine sacred in your day. When you carve out that time in the morning it helps get your day started off right and really helps you to hone in on what matters most to you.
You’ve got to give time to make time!
I know what you’re thinking, Ninja! You’re sat there, eye-rolling at this blog, right? Wondering where you’re going to find the time to plan out your time management. Oh the irony! I hear you. We’re all busy and we’ve all got mental To Do lists that are longer than the washing line. But I’m not messing around when I say this is life-changing. When you nail your morning routine, and track your time, you’re onto a winner!
Block out time as soon as possible – even if it’s over the weekend – to map out and plan your mornings. What do you want them to look like from now on? Where do your priorities lie? What kind of schedule will you set up? Can you categorize activities to make it easier? As soon as you start your new routine, you’ll quickly claw back any time spent planning, because your focus will be better and you won’t be as easily distracted because you’re sticking to a schedule.
There’s an app for that
I’m using this brilliant tool at the moment called “Seconds”. It’s an awesome app that really helps you get to grips with how you’re spending your time. It allows you to track how long you spend on different activities.
By tracking your time you can see where it’s going and you can assess whether your time is being used on priorities or being frivolously frittered away. I promise you, it’s a real eye opener! And you won’t necessarily like what it tells you…but it’s truly helping me to see where I need to spend less time and where I need to increase it. Tracking my time means I can focus on the things that are actually going to help me grow my business.
An added bonus has been that I now place more value on my time, therefore I don’t waste time doing things that won’t help me achieve my goals.
Timing your activities
The “seconds” app is helping me so much with time management, but especially when it comes to my morning routine. Each activity is allocated a set time on the app. For example, I set it to give me 15 minutes to workout, 20 minutes to shower, 15 minutes for reading and I allow myself a much needed 30 minutes of meditation and prayer.
Sticking to a time for every task and being mindful and motivated to follow your routine means you begin to see things differently. You’ll discover you aren’t as laid back about what you’re spending time doing and become more intentional and protective of your time. When I started attaching tasks and time together, that time became more important to me as it was now scheduled in.
Other ideas to up your time management game
As well as the “seconds” app and creating a morning routine, there’s plenty of other things you could try. I’ve heard great things about this book by Laura Vanderkam, and Marie Forleo talks about how to stop wasting time and become more productive here. You could try out what Silicon Valley execs do with their wardrobes – simplify to save time! Use the Pomodoro method for your daily tasks.
Hopefully you can see that it’s not rocket science. Time management is all about learning where you can use your time more effectively and being committed to a routine and prioritizing well. Furthermore, when you master time management, you create more time for doing the things that bring you joy and happiness!
I’d love for you to join us in the Childcare Ninja Facebook group where we’re all sharing ideas and learning from each other. We are an army of childcare professionals who are honing 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! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!
As Childcare Business owners we need to create all kinds of documents for the everyday running of our daycares. That might be important registration forms, rotas, meal planners, or simply printables for the kids. But wouldn’t it be great to know how to uplevel your childcare business documents right now?
Now, y’all know I’m not the most tech savvy Childcare Business owner in the universe, but there’s one particular tool that I use that has helped me raise my game!
In this blog I’m going to share with you how I’ve revolutionized and completely simplified my document creating process. Only read on if you’re ready to simplify your life!
What are you talking about, Nyckie?
Okay, okay. So I probably ought to tell you what the tool is! It’s Canva! It’s is an amazing tool. And this week I wanted to talk about how this brilliant tool can help you in your business.
It’s not usually what I do in these blogs but when I was chatting to some other Childcare Ninjas last month, it was clear that not everyone knows about it. I guess most of the time we’re too busy to explore the range of amazing resources right at our fingertips. It’s made a huge impact on my childcare business and I want to help you do the same. And it’s so powerful knowing about the different tech tools that can level up your business in so many exciting ways.
(And, just so we’re clear – this isn’t an #ad and there’s no affiliate links! I just LOVE this tool so much and needed to make sure y’all know about it!!)
Simple way to uplevel childcare business documents
When someone first told me about Canva a couple of years ago, I was like, “no way! I’m not a designer! I won’t be able to do this!” And I still can’t believe that I’ve been using it to create all sorts of things for my businesses since. Me?! It still makes me laugh!
What I love about Canva is that it’s a tool that is so simple to use. It’s been created by designers but is super simple to use. Which makes it ideal for those non-designers like me and you! So it’s perfect if you don’t consider yourself tech savvy or creative this Canva is definitely the design tool for you!
It’s intuitive and laid out in a way that makes sense. (Unlike so many other tool I’ve tried – I’m looking at you, Photoshop!)
Save time while leveling up!
When you’re caught up in the daily stress of running a childcare business, who’s got time to be searching for tools?! Well, that’s why I thought I’d tell you about Canva. Here are just a few of the ways it can save you time!
You can create a “Brand Kit” with all your colors and fonts, so you don’t have to search for the exact match each time. You can save your logo in there and drop it onto all the things you design. (They’ve also got amazing advice on how to do your own branding.)
Once you’ve created something, you can duplicate it with one click and adapt your creation to the next thing. No more cutting and pasting into boring PDFs or Word documents.
There’s tonnes and tonnes of templates ready for you to use and alter. Want a schedule of activities for your families? You got it! Need a new brochure for marketing? Here ya go. Not sure what to share on your social media? Get inspiration here. And that’s before we even get to the documents we need to use on a daily basis for running our businesses: invoices, ID cards, sign off sheets, checklists…you name it!
We haven’t got time to waste on creating things from scratch every time! Honestly, it’s a total game changer! Go on, give it a try.
Tech doesn’t have to be pricey
Back when I first set up my Childcare Business, it was impossible to get good design without spending hours learning to use a complicated (and clunky!) tool that cost a fortune, before caving in out of frustration and trying to find a vaguely affordable graphic designer.
Well it’s all changed now! We’ve been blessed with this fantastic tool and we should all be making the most of it! Canva has an extensive FREE package so you can get started without spending a penny. And the paid version doesn’t cost anywhere near as much as you might think. By using a tool like this you can uplevel childcare business documents simply and quickly.
For less than your weekly take-out coffee, you can have gorgeous designs for your business! So it’s great for new businesses who’ve got a tight budget. Have a look here for other ways to save money when you start your childcare business.
Get creative
Honestly, the world is your oyster when it comes to designing stuff! It’s a tool we use in both my Childcare Business and with Childcare Ninjas. You can use it to create all sorts like your documents, forms, printables, kids activities and reward certificates, through to your marketing materials. I’m not kidding when I say this is the best way to uplevel childcare business documents. I am so grateful to have this tool!
You can actually have bucket-loads of fun getting creative and designing everything for your Childcare Business. There’s gifs and stickers, meme makers and video templates too, so you can think outside the box and really make your business stand out! And there’s templates for personal things too – Christmas cards, planners, invitations and even T-shirts! All. The. Things!
I hope you’ve found this blog super helpful. If you have, share it with a friend!
Also, if you liked this, I wonder whether you’ve found the Childcare Ninja Facebook group yet? 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! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!
We all have moments in our lives when things get frustrating. When things just aren’t happening fast enough and the good times seem a mile off. Is struggle something that builds character?
Sometimes it’s difficult to see the wood for the trees, isn’t it? And given all that’s happened in this bizarre year, I thought now would be a good time to think about why it’s important that while we grow our businesses, we also build our strength. So what can we do to develop our resilience and change our mindset?
This blog post is going to help you see how growing your childcare business builds character and tricky times are a blessing in disguise.
Patience builds character
Right now I’m in the process of trying to open a new daycare center and boy oh boy! It is taking FOREVER! Everything that could’ve been a little awkward has turned out to be a nightmare; and even all the things that should’ve been a walk in the park have given me headaches on the regular.
However, I am constantly having to remind myself that it’s all a learning curve. That it doesn’t matter how long I’ve been doing this for, I need to seek opportunities to grow and build on what I know. Every time I hit a stone in the road, I have to remind myself that it’s building my patience. I remember that I’m growing my resilience. And each moment adds to the evidence I have for how I thrive to succeed – even when times get tough.
So I am constantly repeating to myself “try and enjoy the journey”. And I wanted to write this to encourage you, too!
Take stock of your resilience
2020 has been quite the year, hasn’t it? Many of us have lost family members, good friends and people in our communities. The situation has brought with it not only health worries but financial uncertainty. So whatever situation you find yourself, I am sending you love from PA. But I’m also sending you a sprinkle of encouragement and a fistful of hope.
Because, while we might not know what’s waiting for us in 2021, and we’re under a veil of un-sureness as to what’s ahead…I don’t want you to feel like there’s nothing to look forward to. I want you to take stock of all the things you’ve achieved this year, despite there being a global pandemic. How safe you’ve made the children in your care feel, and how well you and your team have coped in spite of everything else going on.
Celebrate the positives (yes, even the tiniest ones!)
We’ve just celebrated Thanksgiving here in the US (which totally signals the end of the year is close), so let’s come out and finish 2020 on a high. Let’s look over the last year and list all the positives. What are you thankful for? What has helped you learn and grow as a business owner and how has that helped you build character? Dig deep and really celebrate the positives – notice the silver linings in the mundane everyday things you’ve been doing.
As a childcare business owner, you get to work with amazing families every day, and you’re often one of their most valued experts. You’ve enabled parents to keep sane during this madness, by looking after their babies for a day or two so they can get things done. No matter how stressful it might have been, you and your team have provided a harbor from the storm for those kids you care for.
I know that my situation allowed me to help a family have the happiest day of their lives during the crisis! What positives can you write down? Scribble all the positives into a notebook, or onto post-its, and celebrate with your family and your team. Create a gratitude tree or a thankfulness tree in your home, office, or daycare center. Ask others to contribute!
Flip the switch
It’s all about mindset. If you continually look for the bad things that have happened and get bogged down in all the negativity, you’re not going to feel good about moving forward. Whereas if you look for the progress markers from this year, seek out the good things that happened and celebrate them, then you’re going into 2021 with a good attitude. You’re showing the universe that you’re ready for anything!
I am sure you’ve seen your business surviving, and possibly thriving (seeing as we are recognized as essential now!), and that’s great. But it’s not just your business that’s growing. Situations like a global pandemic really emphasize how it builds character too.
There are so many hidden blessings, you’ve just got to look for them.
I hope this blog post has brought a smile to your face. These times are tough for many of us, but don’t let that stop you from going out there and bringing your game-face! You’re a Childcare Ninja, after all.
Also, if you liked this, I wonder whether you’ve found the Childcare Ninja Facebook group yet? 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! And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!
