My Best Tip

What if I could only give you one tip.  What would it be?  My best tip for running an in home child care business is . . .

DO WHAT'S BEST FOR YOUR FAMILY.

It seems simple enough, but sometimes putting it into practice is sometimes harder than you think.

For example, a daycare client asks if you can care for their child for a half hour after your closing time.  It's only 30 minutes and doesn't seem like a big deal at first glance, so you agree.

After a few weeks you are finding that extra half hour of caring for the child is starting to interfere with your family life with things like putting dinner on the table on time and getting your children to their dance lessons and soccer games.

What should you do?  You've committed to the extra half hour and know it would put the parent in a bind if they had to pick-up when you closed.

In times like these, I would look for a solution that would be best for my family and the client first:

• Ask the client if they can make arrangements with a friend or family member to pick up their child at closing time.
• Ask for permission to take the daycare child with you when you go to the soccer games or dance lessons and have the parent pick up the child from that location.
• Ask if your teenage children can care for the daycare for the last half hour of the day so you can take your younger children to their activities (with the parent's permission).
• Ask if the child can join you and your family for dinner each night.

If I could not come up with an acceptable agreement with the parent, I would give a two-week notice and drop the client.

No amount of money is worth interfering with family time.  It might seem like you cannot live without the money of the client you drop, but in the long run, your family time is worth more than money.

Every time I had to drop a client because they did not fit into my family, it seemed not too long after another, better, client would come along to take the spot.

What is your best tip?  Leave a comment and let me know.

Pamm



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