Not finding any customers

[Mammagirl]

I passed my OFSTED inspection 2 months ago. Since then, I have been advertising everywhere but I have not been able to find any customers. Nobody seems interested.
I am a qualified and experencied Early yrears practitioner. I am also fluent in French and I tried to sell my childminding business as a bilingual early years setting. I tought, it will help me to find customers but very fews parents contacting me and then ghost me.
I live in a busy area (South East London) with lots of schools around. I was not expecting it will be so difficult to find customers.
Also, I have absolutely no help from my local council and feel very isolated. I had some big plans to hire some assistants but I am starting thinking the whole idea of trying to work for myself seems to seriously sucks. I feel silly, I had so much hope with this business and feel very depressed it’s not working out.
Everybody was telling me their is a huge demand for childminder in my area and it will be soooo easy to find customers.
Maybe I just really don’t get it. What parents are looking for? Why is here so many people complaining about the lack of childcare but then I din’t find any customers? I am obviously doing it wrong but I don’t understand what?

Which stage of the process are you getting stuck at? Are you meeting parents but they’re nit going with you, or are you not even getting enquiries?

I’m in SE London and there’s a real shortage of good childminders near me, so I’m sure if you get the offer right people will come.

It's almost certainly your marketing. Where are you advertising? You have to put yourself in front of customers and not wait for them to find you. Have you got your own website? Have you got business pages on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, etc?

With childminders it’s usually word of mouth, so if someone recommends you to a friend, etc. In my town there is a FB group where childminders post if they have vacancies, and parents can ask if childminders have a vacancy. Do you have anything like that?
could being bilingual put some people off? They might think you’ll be speaking only French at home (maybe you are) and would prefer their child to be learning English (especially if their home language isn’t English).
Where are you advertising? Are you targeting expectant parents?

Where are you advertising?
Are your rates in line with other local childminders?
Do you have your own DC that would still need looking after together with a clients child?
Are there other adults in the household? Are they CRB checked? Any pets?
Do you have a specific school for drop off / pick up? Could you contact them in September and ask if they can put something into their newsletter?
As its summer holidays, I think a lot of people are not really looking for childcare at the moment.

I agree with others, childminders are usually found by word of mouth. Not to put you off, but the one I had for a little bit that wasn't word of mouth, wasn't very good.

Could your potential customers be reading the bi-lingual aspect as having poor English?

I am not sure what customers are thinking. I used to work for a billingual school and it was quite popular so I tought there will be some demand for it.

So are you actually talking to potential customers? That implies it’s not a marketing issue, but rather something about your set up. I doubt it would be because you’re bilingual, there’s plenty of CMs who advertise that.

Is your space inviting? Do you have a dog? Are there other kids or adults around who might be a worry?

I’m invested in this because I recently tried to find a CM in south east London and demand massively out stipend supply!

Only one mum visit me, then told me she prefers to put her daughter at nursery.
two others parents called me and telling me they want their children to learn French, then they ghost me.
I have no idea why… I am looking after my own children so it might be cause of that but I know some childminders doing it so I am not sure

Yes I already spent some money on advertising on fb group, childminder website and putting advertising in supermarket and café.
I am doing my best but I am not a sale person, have no experience in marketing and limited money to spend on advertising.
I chose to become a childminder because I have lots of experience looking after children. I tought that would be the most important for the parents but aparently I am wrong

Are you French / from a French speaking country? I ask because your written English, while very good if you aren't a native speaker, isn't perfect in places. It might be useful to get someone to proof read your advertising and make sure it reads OK. Some people will be more fussy about this than others but it's a small thing you could possibly look at.

I have no idea what it is about… I talked about my experience working in childcare to parents and show them my qualification and OFSTED certificate. I also explain to them about my passion for education and let them know I will plan lots of activities with their children. I am not really sure what else they are expecting from me.
I ask 8 pounds per hour which seems a fair price for my area. I set up my playroom with lots of Montessori toys. I tried to make it beautiful and the playroom have a direct acces to the garden with lots of natural light.
I am not confortable about « selling » my business. When I used to work in nursery, I absolutely hate doing open day with prospective parents. We had to talk to them all day about how good the nursery was. I know I am not good at it and it’s not my job anyway.
I tought some parents will notice all the effort I put to set up a beautiful playroom and will also appreciate I have lots of experience in childcare. Apparently it’s not the case at all so I will probably just give another try for a month and then try doing a job where I can feel a bit appreciate.

I know they were fews mistakes in my first post. Sorry, I was a bit tired when I posted it.
My partner is English and can correct me if I need. Also, all my advertising have been made with chat gpt, so I know it’s not the problem

How old are your children? Can you put in the class Watsapp or whatever that you've set up as a CM, and have spaces? I guess that would be better than a load of marketing, as people will have some connections with you already.

I did post on the whatsapp group of my daughter class: Only one mum replied, she came to visit me and then told me she had a space in a nursery closer from where she lives

Oh gosh, please don't apologise, your English is really excellent and perfectly understandable. It was just something to consider in advertising, people will pick up on small mistakes in adverts and get very fussy about sometimes - these might not be people you want as clients anyway! I'm glad you already have this covered.

I think if you initially dropped your fees to be slightly less than other settings nearby, then it might be an incentive for parents. Also, emphasise you offer home from home style care where babies and children will be nurtured. Personally I’d be much more willing to leave my child with someone who was recommended than from a flyer in a cafe.

Most parents find childcare through word of mouth, so it is very difficult to get started.

Is there a bilingual school in your area, or a large French community? If so it would be worth reaching out to them specifically to ask to be mentioned in newsletters etc. The only people I know who chose bilingual childcare were themselves bilingual and raising their kids that way.

In general tbh I’m not sure a bilingual childminder would be appealing to most parents - it’s not something we would have considered. Our kids were still learning English at that age, they wouldn’t get enough French just from being with you a couple of days a week to actually learn it, and I wouldn’t be able to reinforce it at home, so it would have just been confusing for them.

It would have actively put me off hiring a bilingual childminder.

As the kids you’ll be minding will all have English as their common language it may be better to just have an English setting, but include in your advertising to the French community that you are bilingual so you can help their kid in French if they want it.

I'd have loved mine to have a bilingual English French speaking CM, the earlier you start learning foreign languages the easier it is. Even if it's just a few words. My bilingual English French Aunty taught us French words at an early age and it really helped my confidence when we started it at school and on holidays.

I am not confortable about « selling » my business. When I used to work in nursery, I absolutely hate doing open day with prospective parents. We had to talk to them all day about how good the nursery was

I think this is your biggest barrier. Think about taking your child to a setting, knowing you’re going to leave them there. You want to have trust and faith in the person you are leaving them with. You want them to seem friendly, trustworthy and open.

You get better at it when you practice it. Sales people don’t become sales people overnight, their patter and language develops over time.

This would also help you to go out and speak to people about your business.

Don’t underestimate how much marketing you need to do, the world is really quite crowded with messages.

I think that’s different though? An aunt teaching you a few words is not the same as being plunked down into a new environment where the adult caregiver is talking in a language you don’t understand. Even if she talked to my kids in English they learn a lot at that age by absorbing the language around them, and my priority would be the English. They might pick up a smattering of words or phrases but that wouldn’t be worth it for the confusion or knock on their English skills for me.

Marketing and sales is a huge part of running your own business and the first client is the hardest one to find! It can take months of repeated advertising. There's a 'rule of 7' that says customers need to have seen your brand 7 times before buying.

I also noticed you said you had written your ads with ChatGPT - perhaps that's what's putting people off as they might sound generic.

We used a CM twice: once as an add-on to nursery because she was nearer our home and the station DH arrived into from work, and once a different CM as an after school setting. The first time it was relatively easy to find a space and we chose the one we did by the family atmosphere and word of mouth (a family flat in fact rather than a dedicated play room) and the second time on a FB page (the after school clubs were all full).
It is very appealing to have the same CM as after school care when your children start school - are your DCs ready for school? Do you know which schools you could pick up from? (The second CM picked up from two schools). You can advertise on their noticeboard or in their newsletter, I contacted a few schools to find out which CMs picked up from there.

I don't think it's much different at all, I'm sure the OP will mainly speak English in the presence of the children with a bit of French thrown in alongside, which I think is great. I cannot imagine she is going to be speaking French all day long. Children of multilingual families I have known have not had any problems whatsoever with their English.

I think the bilingual element is probably confusing people. Some will love it, some will hate it and some will think that only take bilingual children. I would change your advertising to say something like “offers game and activities in French”

Given that she is French, why wouldn’t she be speaking French throughout the day in her home with her children? That’s more likely than choosing to use English tbh.
In every bilingual setting I’ve known, they either have different members of staff using the different languages or divide up the day so that for example mornings are French and afternoons are English. If she’s just using a smattering of French through the day then that wouldn’t be a bilingual setting? It would just be a normal childcare that offers a bit of French learning as an added extra, the same way some of them will have dance sessions or whatever.