TOP 4 OBSTACLES & OPPORTUNITIES IN CHILD CARE TODAY
Top 4 Childcare Business Challenges
Whose handling your TOP 4?
We all have obstacles and opportunities that present themselves in our businesses. Today, in the childcare industry, we encounter a number of issues, but I want to address what I see are the TOP 4 common child care challenges, and encourage you to tackle them with a new mindset - a mindset of opportunity.
Center owners that are masters at running their centers, learn quickly how to turn obstacles into opportunities. Let's take a look at turning your top 4 challenges into opportunities.
Turn the obstacle into a fix:
- Staff
- Engagement
- Profit maximization
- Growth
Below is a grid to lay out the obstacle or challenge we may face in our TOP 4. The column far right is a sample “fix”, or way to seize opportunity from them.
How to implement the fix:
With so many great ways to overcome todays obstacles and turn them into opportunities, comes several options on how to implement them. It’s easy to come up with ways to handle challenges, but it’s another to implement, promote change, and get it done! Specifically, you can choose to:
- Handle it yourself
- Delegate to your team
- Hire additional staff
- Partner with a consultant
Based on your capacity, availability of schedule, and skill set, your answer may be different. For instance, you may know how to evaluate your benefit package, but you really don’t have the time to allocate to the project. You could use your staff to help create enhanced programs to bring in additional revenue, but maybe they are already spread thin? Hiring additional staff can be challenging too. No matter what your situation, find time to prioritize what you want to get done and allocate the appropriate resources to get it done.
Does your child care center need another you?
Every childcare center I deal with or read about is facing the same issue of "lack of time." We have turned a corner over the last year or so, and are now experiencing maxed out enrollment, waiting lists, and expansion plans of growth to accommodate this ever-growing industry. We are all trying to capitalize on the current demand for quality care. In doing so, we are often trying to juggle so much on our plates that we are spread way too thin.
When I ran a multi-location childcare center before I started my own company, I knew exactly what it was like to be CRAZY busy. Not only did I manage two locations of full capacity centers, each with over 145 children and 30+ teachers, but I wore many other hats. You know what... I wouldn't have it any other way.
Beyond my other controller and financial responsibilities for several other companies, I was:
- Operationally managing two 12,000 sq. ft. locations
- Strategically directing my center leaders
- Change agent for continous improvement
- Casting and walking the vision
- Marketing, creative thinking, and innovation
- Being a good financial steward for the owner
- Big picture and bold thinking
- Expansion and business planning
- Training, encouraging growth, and mentorship
Today, I get to do what I love but on a much larger scale. I have been blessed to open my appointment book to work with childcare centers all over the country. I have not only helped centers improve their online presence, trained on many management related topics, but I have also recently published my first childcare book, "P.R.O.F.I.T.S. Childcare Success Formula."
Having walked in the shoes of a child care center owner, I'm able to help child care center leaders achieve the goals they have always wanted to accomplish. If you don’t have time to tackle these things yourself, I would be very interested in working with you. I’m only accepting a LIMITED number of centers per year, so book your spot.
