CM Club: These are, I think, my options

[KatyMac]

Things are bad - I have some options

1. Sit here quietly waiting for things to pick up
2. Sit here quietly waiting for things to crash & burn
3. Actively make the decision to close, laying off/making redundant staff
4. Lay off/make redundant some staff & see how long we can continue

What do you think?

so, i seem to have missed why things have gotten bad - why have you got so many vacancies ATM?

No idea

Credit crunch?
Never picked up after a member of staff left last year?
I'm crap?

I have 7 F/T vacancies atm

Not crap, Katy, you have had a run of bad luck sweetheart.

Have you thought any more about doing a 'puff' for your local paper?

What help can your CDO/Newtwork colleagues offer?

Local paper don't appear to be interested

Network have offered me one enquiry in 9 months Fri & Sat am 8am - 12noon collection from 10 miles away and drop off after - I didn't say yes, surprisingly

No help there either.

I think you have already explored offering your service to Social Services, yes?

How depressing, Katy.

No help to you at all, just sympathy sweetheart.

well to be practical i'd say lay off staff - do you have to pay them redundency or are they self employed sharing your premises?
are there too many mindees for you?

No - I could do it by myself - I'd be knackered but I could do it

If I could keep 1 or 2 on it would be better - but how do I pick?

Only 1 is entitled to redundancy - but they are all friends

feck - how sad - you should be here where 2 nurseries have closed this week (including mine)

i went for initial settling in session for DD at other nursery and everyone was unsettled due to number of new children and new staff

4 or 5 have closed in the area

Mind you in the last 3 yrs 4 or 5 Surestart Children's Centres ave opened and they seem nice & full

that is why the nurseries are closing aparently - the profit making bit when the ratios are easier are all being taken by preschool clubs

I don't know what to do

if they are friends - they will understand and realize the situation you are in is impossible to continue.

i'd keep the one you'd have to pay redundency or the one you get on with and work with best.

I wonder

Business & friendship are not happy bedfellows

I feel very pressured by it all

i do feel for you Katy

no i totally agree that it is hard mixing business and friendship.

but you can't keep struggling on like this.

I spoke to a business advisor & they agreed with my appraisal of the situation

Basically I'm stuffed

Oh no that is awful I am so sorry to hear that.

I am really busy but that is only because four CM's in my village have given up due to all the normal reasons (fed up with parents not paying, more paperwork, EYFS = more work etc etc) so all the children have come my way.

However, I can see my not continuing for much longer as I am not making any profit at all at the moment it is all being swallowed in costs

I just found out they are still recruiting childminders

Katy - mac where are you based?. I am not a cm but in sales. Sorry missed thread but are you a nursery or cm?. Either way I would try to get more business before giving up, it is so hard to get started so you have done the hardest bit. My advice would be :- First make sure you have a webpage as lots of people search on the internet for childcare. Also try netmums (local)(www.netmums.co.uk) and get one of your parents to write you a nice review. I assume you are reg with your local council. I know you might not want to hear this but what about extended opening hours ahead of your competition. EG Nurserys 8 - 6pm how would you feel about offering 7.30am - 6.30pm?. I would then carefully analyse your competition and identify your differences and what makes you different and better and then highlight those areas. For instance you could identify these good points, cheaply make up some flyers and hand them out in local toddlers groups, post natal classes even pre natal classes anywhere where Mums to be or new Mums who might want childcare are. If you want to get in the local paper how about getting your current children to do for example a sponsered hopping race for deprived children in Guatamala or someplace and tell the paper and provide some pictures it may get you a paragraph or two. Hope these ideas help. best of luck

Jules - it's complicated

I am a childminder working with other childminder in my home - so we have advantages of both childminding & nurseries

I'm top on Google maps for childminding & my areas but not google

Netmums isn't really in my area (I'm in very rural Norfolk)

We are open 7:30 til 6pm & I can't open any more due to planning constraints

We are working on expanding our ad-hc/occasional minding see here Flyers are difficult but I am considering producing some, our current brochure is printed on card

We are in the paper fairly often but we are struggling to get in atm (but we keep trying)

Thank you for your ideas I do appreciate it

Also what about some sort of new angle like, "fresh home-made food" to match all this Organic/Jamie Oliver hype? Depends on your area though. Where about are you KatyMac maybe some local people might have an idea about what would make 1 childminder stand out from the rest!

Sorry to hear of your struggles x

you have to make people redundant, difficult or not - better to keep and one or two otehrs in a job than no-one.

Tell them that you have to do this unless anyone can come up with a way of filling enough of the vacancies. TEll them you all have a month to do this and you will reassess the position then.

I have had to do this and it sucks but there is no way around it.

This is in the brochure about food
"Food & Eating - We are very careful about
the food that the children eat whilst in our care; artificial additives and convenience foods are minimised. We offer an excellent and varied range of wholesome foods during all mealtimes. We bake our own bread daily and often bake cakes or biscuits.

Fresh water is available all day, with diluted fruit juices, milk or water being offered at mealtimes. We serve a snack mid morning, usually fruit, cake or a biscuit. We always serve a minimum of 5 servings of fruit or vegetables each day.

It is very important to us that children are happy and enjoy their food. We encourage children to eat the main meal before serving dessert. While we consider table manners a priority, mealtimes are a hugely enjoyable time for the children.

We provide a menu each month and if your child is unhappy with the food offered, please let us know so that we can arrange suitable alternatives. Often it is as easy as changing a dish, excluding an ingredient or offering a different drinking cup, which will better reflect your home and make your child happier.

If your child has any allergies, religious or social food preferences we will adapt to meet their individual needs. It must be pointed out that with a large Walnut tree in our back garden; we are not a suitable setting for any children with nut allergies."

Could you run some kind of one off summer play-group in August - free entry to children 0-5 and get it advertised. Mums with no older chidlren are often stuick for things to do with pre-schoolers when all teh playgroups finish and it would get people through the door.

I don;t know if its practical.