Childcare Service

Childcare Service

Childcare Service

Describe how to market a home-based childcare service

The child-care service business owes its conception to the rising needs of working mothers and single parents. Today it has gained the status of being one of the fastest-growing businesses in the U.K., making more than $11 billion annually and getting bigger. The working hours have gone up, and so has the need for childcare services especially during late evenings and weekends. This industry is expected to continue to grow at a rapid rate. (Berthelsen et al., 2002, 62-89)

You may start your child-care business either as a small home based operation with little investment or with large, commercial centres. The decision to keep the business very small, or to grow into a big establishment with millions of dollars as yearly revenue is entirely yours. This business also offers you great flexibility in terms of deciding the age group of children you want to look after, the number of hours you want to work, the services you provide like transportation or field trips etc. It also requires a sense of responsibility and serious commitment from you because the safety, well being and overall development of children in your care depends on you.

Skills required: To run a child-care service business successfully, you should be energetic, business-minded, professional, a good role model, have a pleasant personality and tolerance for stress. Most important, you should enjoy being with children. (Berthelsen et al., 2002, 62-89)

Marketing: Your marketing materials should look professional and convey your existence and the quality of your service. Though a simple word-of-mouth is a good technique, you may hire a graphic designer and/or professional writer for your marketing package. Consider these questions/ points while formulating your marketing plan:

Potential customers and their number and location

What are they currently doing for child care?

Exactly what new can you offer as compared to your competitors?

How can you persuade them to bring their children to you?

What kind of image do you want to project?

You must design colorful fliers and hang them at places where they are likely to be noticed by young working couples. You should also consider placing weekly or fortnightly ads in local newspapers. Ideally, these ads should be printed on weekends so that a large number of people may notice them. There is no harm in giving discounts to those couples who refer their friends to your centre. This will add to your overall business.

Funding: You definitely need outside funding if you want to open a child-care services business in a commercial location. For this, you will have to draw up a business plan that should stress the viability of the business. A good idea would be to hire a consultant to help you draw up the business plan, and also to help you in our negotiations with a local bank.

The goal of market research is to identify your market, find out where it is, and develop a strategy to communicate with prospective customers in a way that will convince them to bring ...