Childminder struggling to reach people

[Neensdaycare]

Hi

I am a recently registered childminder with Ofsted. I have put months of work and effort in to make sure that I will be the best childminder that I can and have been so excited about taking on my dream career to work with children. The problem is that my bubble has soon burst. Despite dping everything I can I just can't seem to get any interest and now I am stuck thinking do I have to go backwards and look for another job. I feel like giving up.

Where are you advertising?

Sightly gobsmacked by this as there is a real shortage of childcare at the mo. Have you advertised on good local Facebook parenting groups? What about word of mouth ie telling all your friends to tell their friends with young children?

Do you limitations about when youu can work or something? Eg. go to a class every other Thursday afternoon, or need every other week off?
If not, then it must be about where you are advertising.Local school WhatsApp groups? Local uni noticeboards (virtual and physical)? Noticeboard in the fish andchip shop and local supermarket as well as Facebook? Are you on the Council's list?

I found my childminder through a playgroup she volunteered at, she found lots of her customers through word of mouth, school gates etc.
My area had a group of childminders to cover sickness and maternity leave could you join up with others?

Use social media, notices up in local shops / library, register with the family Information Service in your area and make sure you come up on searches.

Will you be picking up from any particular schools? Any way of advertising directly to them? PTA newsletter etc?

Are there any local schools that don't have a childminder picking up from? It might be worth asking this on some local FB pages.

Are you registered at childcare.co.uk?

Are you looking after any children at the moment? If so make sure you take them to local toddler groups and be friendly, as lots of people on maternity leave will be considering childcare options.

Where are you based?

If you are in a city where lots of mothers work, don't give up. If you are rural, or live in an area where one or both parents are at home, you may have a problem.

Where are you advertising? And how much are you charging?

One of the main criteria parents look for in a childminder are

-Ofsted registered
-personal recommendation
and excellent references

You have the first criteria. If you've worked with children in any capacity then ensure you have good references which are available. People are looking for someone they can trust with experience.

Good luck . Once you have a couple of clients you should find it easy to attract more, assuming you're good at your job! ..a lot is word of mouth and recommendations.

In our area there's a list provided by the council that is first point of call. Then it's word of mouth around the playground. All of the local ones just do one school - so people tend to know what school they are going for and try to get in with the childminders that do pickups and dropoffs at that school... We only have two that currently do our small 1 form per year primary and they always have a right pile of kids with them...

We found one childminder through a list the local council provided. If you think like a parent / do research as if you were looking for a childminder yourself you should find some good places to advertise.

What are you doing so far to advertise? Do you have your own children?

Where are you based? What hours are you offering?

Ime there is a huge shortage of reliable, flexible childcare, at least where I live.

I would have killed for a childminder who could offer 8-6, with the option of an occasional (paid for) early start at 7.30am and occasional evening babysitting for the rare occasions I had a work event. We found one in the end but then for various reasons nursery ended up a better option for us.

Look on childcare.co.uk. Our first childminder got in touch with us based on the profile we had posted.

When I started 14 years ago I designed a flyer and posted it through houses in immediate roads. Got my first few through that and the council.

Have had a few contact me from childcare.co.uk so make sure you on it but now I never need to advertise im constantly full with a waiting list just down to recommendations and siblings.

Also, try not to take anything out of desperation, I ended up working unsocial hours for a few years which I hated.

Good luck

Contact the local council and ask to be put on their list of child minders. I don't know what the criteria is to go on the list, so obviously you'll need to get that sorted.

Are you signed up for 30 funded hours and any other funding schemes (vouchers, tax free childcare etc)? I'd recommend doing this because I know lots of people who won't use childcare that doesn't accept funded hours.

Do you live close to a school? Could you canvas the area near the school? I met my CM picking up other kids at my DC school.

Do you know any other childminders in the local area? Could you set up a buddy system for emergency cover etc? They can also recommend you if they are full.

Definitely get on childcare.co.uk too. My CM swears by it.

Find out if your area has a local Facebook page for childmindrs....typically called childminders in x or x childminders. They pass work on do meet ups etc. If you have any LA support they might know of one or like my area there maybe a WhatsApp group.

Are you on your local ‘Nextdoor’?
I imagine people would be falling over themselves for a registered child minder!

OP, is part of the problem that you don't get back to people maybe?

Ha!!!