I had just gone through a divorce and found myself on my own, trying to support my three young children.  I was overwhelmed, scared, and afraid of failure.  In short, I couldn’t afford to fail.  Our mortgage was due in 30 days and I had no job.  I had to quickly find a way to create a sustaining, full-time income.

Having always been a stay-at-home mom, I realized that I could share my passion for teaching children—and make a full-time income—by teaching preschool classes in my home.  I was so excited to only work a few hours each day, playing with my own children the entire time, and being able to set my own class schedule.  So with a firm resolve, I committed to start my own preschool business and create a stable income for my family.

The first step, of course, was to do some research and find out exactly how to start my own business.  After all, I didn’t have a business degree, or even study business or economics in college.  I was just a stay at home mother with a love for children and a desire to help them be the best they could be.  I definitely needed help getting the business started and learning to teach preschool classes!

I was in for quite a shock, though, when I searched the internet on how to start a preschool, and came up with nothing.  Literally, nothing.  Well, that’s not really true, I suppose, as there were several articles on how I could start a daycare business.  But after reading them all, I remembered why I didn’t want to start a daycare in my home in the first place: long hours and low pay!

But even though my decision to start a preschool felt more and more right the more I read, I was still confused by the process of getting the business up and running.  Questions raced in my head: “What should my preschool room look like?  What ages of children should I take?  Do I have to be licensed?  How much should I charge?  How will I get kids signed up?  What curriculum should I teach?” and the questions went on and on.

Finally, I realized that there was no information that would help me get my preschool business started, so I would have to do it on my own and hope I didn’t mess up too bad.  And that’s what I did.  I tackled every question with a gung-ho attitude and a “this has to work” kind of ferocity that grew stronger as my mortgage payment loomed closer and closer.

In the end, I succeeded, and I filled up my preschool in just 30 days.  But along the way, I made a lot of mistakes, and those mistakes cost me a lot of money and valuable time.  Thankfully, though, I learned through my mistakes exactly what NOT to do when you start a preschool business.  Over the last five years, I’ve grown my little home preschool into a successful, thriving business that gives my family a stable full-time income.

And while my passion still lies in teaching children, I found that I also had a strong desire to share my knowledge and tips with other women trying to start their own preschools.  After all, I knew I didn’t want anyone to have to go through all the heartache and struggles I went through trying to figure it out on my own!  I’ve shared all my knowledge and tips online, so that hopefully, the next time another woman goes to the internet trying to research how to start a preschool, she’ll come across my information and will be able to find out exactly how to start her own successful business without wasting time and money along the way.

I didn’t want to go to work!  Where would my kids go?  To daycare!?!  I loathed daycare—I was a stay at home mom after all, so I didn’t need childcare.  I’d also chosen to stay home with my kids so I could help teach them at home.  I definitely did NOT want to go to work!

And when I considered starting a daycare in my home, I felt overwhelmed by the long hours I would be taking care of other people’s children.  Don’t get me wrong, I love kids, but it’s difficult to maintain my composure with my own children for 12 hours a day, let alone a handful of other people’s children!  After considering the long hours and the little income it would produce, I decided that I didn’t want to start a daycare either!

So then I was back to square one, still just as broke, and more frustrated than ever!

After thinking long and hard about what I DIDN’T want to do, I finally started thinking about what I DID want to do.  “If I could have the perfect job, what would it be?” I thought to myself.  Then I started writing down all the things I needed—and wanted!—in my perfect job.  The list looked pretty close to this:

• Stay home with my children
• Work for only a few hours
• Work when my older children are in school
• Take off summers and holidays
• Set my own schedule
• Make a supplemental or full-time income, depending on what I need at the time
• Spend time WITH my children while I work

The last item on the list was definitely the most important to me, as I didn’t want to keep shooing my children out of the room to say, “Mommy’s working.  Go play.”

And that’s when it hit me!  I should PLAY with my children while I worked!  Or rather, my work IS to play with my children –and- to teach them too!  After all, they were ages 2 and 4 at the time, ready for preschool!  And that’s when I decided that starting a preschool (not starting a daycare!) was the perfect job for me!  I could stay home with my children, follow the school district schedule, teach other people’s children (including my own!), only work a few hours each day, and still make a supplemental or full-time income!

I immediately started the process of finding out exactly how a preschool business was totally different than a childcare business.  I was so excited to find out that when you teach preschool, you can choose your own schedule, and work only when you want to work.  So if you want to teach during your baby’s naptime, that’s when you schedule your preschool class!  Or if you want to teach in the morning, then you schedule a morning class!  And if you want to make more money, you just teach more classes!  I couldn’t believe how perfect it all seemed!

But it wasn’t until I started my own preschool that I realized how much I would truly love my job.  Being able to stay home with my children, and play with them, and teach them, and prepare them for Kindergarten…  that is worth more than any money I could ever make teaching preschool!  So if you want to stay home with your kids, and you’re considering starting a daycare, be sure to check into starting a preschool instead, because it may just be the perfect job for you too!

Now remember, we live in Boise, ID.  So you’re probably guessing that we flew, right?  Oh no, that would be too boring!  Instead, we set off on a 30-hr. road trip (one-way!) with 2 adults, 4 kids, and 1 baby!

Now we could have driven non-stop for 2 days, with only one destination in mind, but where’s the fun in that?  So instead, we decided to take 10 days off and really enjoy ourselves while showing off America’s beautiful landmarks to our children!

The week before the road trip came in a whirl-wind with pre-Thanksgiving activities at preschool which included Parent Teacher Conferences and a most delicious Favorite Food Feast!

And the entire time I was continually reminded how lucky I was to be able to take off 10 days with my family.

I mean, really, who does that!?!

Seriously, every day I am so thankful that we own our own preschool business and are in control of our own schedule so we can take time off for our family whenever we want.

So on Friday at 1 a.m. we packed 5 sleeping kids intour white Honda Odyssey and drove off into the star-liblack night, ready for the adventure of our lives!

My sweet hubby took the very long first shift of driving, and when we awoke the next morning, the first thing we saw was white-tipped blue mountains and a faint hint of snow on the ground.  As the fog settled at the base of the majestic mountains in Utah, I heard several Oooh’s and Aaah’s from the backseat.

“Wow,” I thought to myself.  ”What a perfect start to our trip.”

Out of habit, I checked my phone for messages.  There were none.  Then I remembered that I had set everything up before I left so I wouldn’t have to work at all for those 10 days.

“This is going to be a great vacation!” I thought as I happily sighed and then turned around to play “Store” with the kids.

As we headed South towards Arizona, the scenery changed slowly into stunning orange and red rocks.  I don’t know if they’re called buttes, plateaus, or mountains, but whatever they are: they’re breath-taking.  The older 3 snapped picture after picture with their DS’s, and my son’s voice was repeatedly heard yelling from the backseat:  ”Take a picture of THAT!

The kids knew we were going to Texas, but they were oblivious to how we got there, or what we would see on the way.  As the saying goes, they were there for the ride.

And I must say, since starting our own preschool, we’ve noticed that our children are a lot more relaxed and content because we’ve been able to spend more quality time with them.

Playing on their “la-la-ness” (yes, that is a word, and it means they’re in their own la-la world) my hubby decided it would be fun to surprise them with a visit to the Grand Canyon!  After all, the kids had no idea we were just minutes away!

We had them close their eyes tight (our 2-year-old couldn’t help but peek!) and we drove up the windy road.  It was a bit of a struggle getting all the kids out of the car when they couldn’t see, but finally we were ready with our 2-year-old in an umbrella stroller, one child holding onto each of the handles, me pushing the stroller, my hubby holding my oldest daughter’s hand while lugging a very heavy baby carseat in his other arm.  Oh yes, we were ready!

We strolled along in the brisk November air among the sea of foreigners, being pushed forward with the hint of anticipation.

Our children had no idea what the surprise was, as was evidenced by their guesses along the way, still with eyes closed tight:  ”Maybe we’re going on a roller coaster!”  ”Maybe we’re going to a hotel!”  ”Maybe we’re going to a pool!”

I can’t really blame them, though, for having such fun-filled guesses, as we’ve taken quite a few exciting vacations over the years since we started our preschool.  Now don’t get me wrong, we’re not rich by any stretch of the imagination; we’re just able to live comfortably without having to stress out about money.

As we drew closer to our destination, I imagined walking our children up to the edge of the Grand Canyon and on the count of 3, letting them open their eyes to the sight of their life!  But perhaps we should have prepped them with WHAT they were going to see, because as we counted to 3 and they opened their eyes, I will admit…

I think they were a bit disappointed that we hadn’t taken them on a roller coaster, or to a hotel, or to a pool.

But after the initial shock wore off, and as they took in the panoramic beauty before them, we saw their eyes open a little wider as wonder trickled in and they finally realized what they were looking at: one of the 7 Wonders of the World.

And in that moment, I wished that every day was as beautiful, as rewarding, and as fulfilling as spending that moment with my family.

So here’s to running your own preschool business… being in charge of your own schedule to be able to spend quality time with your family, and having enough money to be able to live comfortably and enjoy some fun times with your family.

We’re off to our next adventure, so wish us well!

>>> Be sure to share below all the fun experiences and benefits you’ve had because of your own preschool business!  (Or share all the hopes and dreams you’ll achieve once you start your own preschool!)

PS: Stay tuned for an email in a few days that shows you the quickest, easiest, (and hint: LEAST EXPENSIVE) way to make your own dreams a reality!!!  I can’t wait!!!

If the thought of holding a Parent Teacher Conference for your preschool isn’t already making you nervous, it should be! It can be nerve-wracking to think of sitting down with a parent you barely know to try to share their child’s progress over the first few months of school.  Oftentimes you feel that you’re just starting to get to know the preschooler, so how can you feel confident that you’ll be able to have a great Parent Teacher Conference with their parents if you’re stumped at what to say?

Thankfully, our preschool teachers have been holding Parent Teacher Conferences for years, and have quite a few tips for you preschool teachers out there!

The Fall Parent Teacher Conference shouldn’t be heavily weighted on teacher discussion, or child progress for that matter.  With them just beginning school, you’re really not charting a lot of progress; you’re actually assessing them to see where they’re at coming into your preschool.  So the Fall conference should be heavily weighted on parent discussion.

Don’t try to teach on the day you do conferences.  By the time you finish teaching, you’ll be pretty burned out anyways.  Instead, cancel class that one day, schedule all the conferences at 15 minute intervals, and then let your parents know which time they’re coming in.  If you have multiple children in a class or different classes, be sure to coordinate schedules with the other teachers as well if needed.

After signing up parents for specific times, I always like to send them home with a paper that informs them what to expect during the conference, and how to prepare for it.  Basically, it asks them to think of the answers to these 3 questions below so we can work together to help their child have a great preschool year.

The questions are:

1. What are some of your child’s strengths?

1. What are some of your goals for your child in preschool this year?

1. What are some things you would like us to work on at preschool?

(This reminds parents that you’re on their side, working hand-in-hand with them.  It also goes vice-versa where if you have anything you’d like the child to work on at home, this would also be an excellent time to say that.)

Then, once you’re holding the Parent Teacher Conference at preschool, here’s another great tip: place your chair facing the door or clock so you can keep an eye on the time, as well as welcome any parents coming in for the next meeting.  Be sure to ask all your parents to be on time, and that you only have 15 minutes with them, and then your transitions should flow really well.  Once a new parent comes into the room, the existing parent generally feels like their time is done so they head out.  Of course, if you need to continue a conversation, be sure to let them know they can continue it via email or phone later on.

What are your tips for successful Parent Teacher Conferences in preschool?  Do you like to show work samples?  I’d love to hear your ideas!  :-)

A frump, a tizzy, just all together frustrated.

You see, every now and then you’ll have someone want to withdraw their child from your preschool.  It’s inevitable, it’s to be expected, but it’s never fun.  Sometimes you see it coming, other times it hits you out of the blue.

And today, I had two people tell me they’re done.  And what’s even worse is that both families have been with us for years.  Literally!  Four years, to be exact.  So what in the world possessed them to pull their child out, you ask?

Change.

Because in the past four years, they’ve seen us grow from a one-woman show with 24 students (me being the Director and teacher) into a full-on amazing school with 2 locations, 4 teachers and 130 students.

Time and time again, I hear our preschool parents saying to each other, “It just keeps getting better each year!”  And in truth, it DOES keep getting better each year!  We’ve kept our prices the same, but have tacked on so many free bonuses (t-shirts, field trips, carnivals, parent committees, weekly teacher emails and blog posts, you name it) and increased the quality of the teaching so much so that you can’t help but love us even more.

But apparently, some people just can’t handle the change.  They’re living in the past and holding onto some fantasized idea that for whatever reason, the preschool that existed four years ago was somehow better than the one that has evolved now.

I still can’t fully understand it.  And thankfully, it was only two parents out of 130.  That’s got to mean something.  Having a 98.5% retention rate has got to be saying something about the quality of our program, right!?!

But inevitably, I still found myself asking, “What did I do wrong?”

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with questioning your program… by evaluating your program you can make it better if you can find its flaws and fix them.

But what if nothing’s wrong with your program?  What is you truly believe that your program is as amazing as it possibly can be at that point in time?

Then you have to realize one very important truth:

Nine times out of ten, it’s not you.  It’s them.  I know it sounds like someone’s breaking up with you, but it’s true: the majority of the times that parents lash out at you or withdraw their children, is for no real reason other than their own life is messed up at home and they can’t cope with the stresses on their life, their marriage, their children, or their finances, so they try to reign everything in: they pull their kids out of extracurricular programs, they yell at their school teachers for not doing a better job, they start watching every dime spent, etc. etc… all to put the blame on someone else, and to make them feel better about their own inadequacies as parents.

Sound familiar?  If not, it’ll happen soon enough.  So when it does, you’d better be ready.

Usually once a year I’ll get a parent that calls me up and goes off on me, laying into me with all sorts of ridiculous, false allegations about their child not having a good experience, or getting bullied, or flat out not learning enough.  And when it all boils over, and I get to the root of the matter with the parent, it turns out that the parent’s own life is so messed up that they’re just lashing out at the closest person they can get to, which in my case, is me.  You won’t believe how many times this happens and afterwards, the parent ends up apologizing to me, explaining that they’re super stressed because their Mom just moved in with them, or they’re in the process of moving, or their husband just lost his job, or they just started a new job and feel guilty they’re not home with their children anymore.

So when this happens, remember this: nine times out of ten, it’s their problem, not yours.

Try to solve the surface issues first (the ones they’re complaining about) and then dig deeper.  Try to get to the root of the problem, and ALWAYS ask if there are changes at home that are causing stress.  And if you dig deep enough, I bet you’ll find the source of that stress.  And then it’s time to LISTEN.  And if the situation is honestly nothing more than a stressed out parent who got bent out of sorts for no real reason at all, and is apologetic, you can usually work through the situation and still have a happy family in your program.

But in some cases, you can’t.  A parent is often too far gone in their thinking that they think there is no possible solution other than to withdraw their child.  And in these cases, good riddance!  It’s better to have them out than to have to convince them of the quality of your program.  Because if you truly DO have a great program, you shouldn’t have to convince anyone!!!  Either they see the value, or they don’t.  At times I want to reply to some of these parents: “Have fun finding another preschool half as good as ours is for the same price.”  But of course, I bite my tongue, and keep those words inside.

So instead, I’ll vent here on this post, and get a few extra hours’ sleep tonight, and try to remind myself that if I’ve kept 98.5% of my parents happy, I’m doing a pretty darn good job.

I’d like to introduce you to my adorable little son, E.M.

(Guess his name in the comment box below!)

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s email that will reveal the HUGE BABY SALE discount you’re going to receive on all our products as our way to say THANKS for welcoming our son into this world!  P.S.: It has something to do with his birth weight!

Even though my due date was July 21 (remember, the same due date as my baby girl 2 years ago!) I knew I was going to have him on July 8.  I told EVERYBODY that we were having him on that day, but no one quite knew how I could know what day he would be born.  Especially when it’s not really us who’s in charge of the whole “I want to have a baby today” bit.

But regardless, I knew it would be July 8.  After all, my daughter’s birthday is July 7, and I certainly couldn’t have him BEFORE her birthday (he would only be 38 weeks then, and I wanted a healthy baby), I couldn’t have him ON her birthday (who wants to share their one and only special day?), so it seemed right that I have him AFTER her birthday.  But, if you’ve known any pregnant lady, you would know that we’re not very patient.  When we cross that 36 week mark, we’re DONE.  D-O-N-E.  DONE.  So the only day that seemed doable in my frazzled mind was July 8.  I must have engrained that date in my psyche so far that my body had no choice but to go into labor that morning.

Typically when I go into labor, I have uncomfortable contractions every 3-5 minutes, go into the hospital, get admitted, and then have my epidural set right as they start getting painful.  My past deliveries have been a walk in the park, and quite enjoyable.  I learned real quick that this delivery was NOT typical.

I woke up at 5am on July 8 with contractions.  They were painful, but still 10 minutes apart.  Thinking that the contractions were odd–and certainly not real labor, as they were so far apart–I tried to go back to sleep.  By the time 6am rolled around, they started coming more frequently and were more painful.  I jumped in the shower, knowing that there was no way I was going to have a baby without getting ready first!  Finally at 7am I woke up my husband, said, “We’re having a baby today babe – we got to go!” and we raced off to the hospital.  The contractions hurt… bad… but they were still 7 minutes apart.  Certainly I wasn’t close to having a baby, I thought.

We made it to the hospital by 8am, and after I was checked, they rushed me into a labor & delivery room.  They called the doc and let him know I’d be delivering within the hour.  I was FRIEKING out.  ”What do you mean within the hour!?!” I thought, “If the baby comes too fast I won’t have time to get an epidural!”  In between contractions I emphatically demanded that I HAD to have an epidural.  In my mind, there was no way I could deliver without one… the contractions hurt SOOO bad… and were coming every 2-3 minutes by that time.

Nurses started flying around, putting all sorts of monitoring devices on me, setting an I.V., and tracking down the anesthesiologist.  I couldn’t focus.  I didn’t even know what the room looked like.  I couldn’t breathe correctly.  I never took birthing classes because I never thought I needed them.  I had never felt such pain.  I heard screaming inside my head and realized it was ME screaming.  But I didn’t care.  It was the only way I could get through the pain.

Finally, at 8:30 the anesthesiologist came in to set the epidural.  It took another 20 minutes before my legs went numb.

Relief.  That’s all I could feel.

And gratitude.  So grateful that I could enjoy the rest of the delivery without pain.

The delivery came before I knew it, though, and at 9:13 A.M., my sweet son was born.

He was perfect.  Ten fingers.  Ten toes.  And a head full of dark brown hair.  Quite the opposite from our youngest daughter who has a mop of bouncing blonde curls and just turned 2 years old the day before.

Guess his name in the comment box below.  I’ll give you a hint: His initials are: E.M.  :-)

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s email that gives you more details on our HUGE BABY SALE on all our Start A Preschool products so you can get your preschool started this fall and start making money quick!

Yesterday we had our second ultrasound, where we found out what our baby is!

(Here’s a picture of me at 20 weeks!  FINALLY showing!)

My husband said the baby looks like a dinosaur.

I think its spine still resembles a lizard.

But no, it’s not a dinosaur, or a lizard, or even a dog or a cat.  (Though those were high on my daughter’s wish list this year!)  It’s a little baby boy or girl, and I thought it would be fun to play a little gender guessing game with you!

So whether you’re a psychic or have a great understanding of old pregnancy wive’s tales, or even if you are just a great guesser… Have fun guessing what we’re having!

FUN FACTS ABOUT THIS PREGNANCY:

• Baby’s Older Siblings: Girl, Girl, Boy, Girl
• Month of Conception: October
• Due Date: July 21, 2012
• How I’m Carrying: High
• Baby’s Heart Rate: 156
• Foods I Crave: Salty stuff like fry sauce, baked potatoes, hamburgers, and pickles
• Morning Sickness?: Never got it
• My hair is: The same. My hairstyle will never change.
• Beachball or Watermelon? Watermelon
• I’ve Gained: 13 Pounds
• I Started Really Showing: 17 Weeks

It’s all in the delivery, folks!  And after answering literally hundreds of preschool teacher interview questions myself, I’d be an idiot if I didn’t learn a thing or two about how to carefully craft what I say to alleviate a parent’s fear and help them feel at ease with putting their child in our care.

And at the root of most preschool teacher interview questions, a parent is really asking: “Is my child going to be safe in your care?”  And you can’t answer that question point blank, because that fear will never be alleviated with a simple answer.  It will come over time, as parents develop confidence in your program and abilities, and that confidence will only develop if they see that YOU are confident about your program and abilities!!!  This is a very important point, so take note!

I’ve listed below the top 10 preschool teacher interview questions that you MUST answer during your interview/tour before a parent even asks them, as well as your possible responses.  Remember, you’re in charge of the interview, so take charge and start answering your preschool teacher interview questions!

1.  Are you licensed with the state?
   When preschool teachers have Early Childhood Education knowledge and several years’ teaching experience, your child will learn and grow in a caring environment with age-appropriate activities and positive behavior to model.
2. What education and experience do you have to teach preschool?
   When preschool teachers have Early Childhood Education knowledge and several years’ teaching experience, your child will learn and grow in a caring environment with age-appropriate activities and positive behavior to model.
3. How many children will be in my child’s class, and what is the staff/child ratio?
   When a preschool has small class sizes, your child will feel more comfortable in his/her class and will gain close friendships with the other preschoolers.  Similarly, a staff/child ratio within Idaho licensing guidelines (1:12) will help your child get lots of 1-1 attention from the teacher.
4. What is your teaching approach: Teacher directed or child initiated?  Activity- or worksheet-based?
   When a preschool has a balance of teacher-directed and child-initiated activities, your child will learn to follow directions and also play independently.  And if the curriculum is activity-based, your child will enhance their learning by using all 5 senses.
   
5. Do you have an open-door policy?
   When a preschool has an open-door policy (meaning that you can pop in at anytime without calling first) they’re letting you know they have nothing to hide.  And preschools that allow you to observe their teaching are obviously confident in their teaching methods.
6. What will my child be taught?
   Preschool is not only a time for learning important Pre-K concepts but also to learn important life skills and develop their social, emotional, and physical skills.
7. What is your daily schedule?
   When a preschool has a consistent routine each day, your child will feel confident with their place inside the class.  A familiar routine helps your child to understand what is coming next, which often facilitates easy transitions from activity to activity.
8. Do you take field trips?
   A preschool that offers field trips will help your child grasp fun concepts not possible within the classroom, such as seeing baby lambs walk, hearing a fire truck’s horn, or visiting a Dentist.
9. How will you keep my child healthy and safe?
   When a preschool has distinct policies and procedures setup regarding health and safety, your child will benefit from being in a safe, clean environment.
10. What is your discipline policy?
    When a preschool has a specific procedure in place to handle misbehaving before it grows into a problem, your child will feel secure in knowing the rules (and consequences of those rules).

No worries, though, I’ve been in your shoes before!  And after talking to almost 500 prospective preschool parents over the past 4 years, I’ve learned a few tips on how to successfully convert a phone conversation into a commitment to tour your preschool.  I’ve even put together a complete interview dialogue that you can use anytime a prospective preschool parent calls in to inquire about your preschool!

(Keep reading to find out how you can ask me questions about how to sign up 99% of prospective preschool parents during that tour.)

But before we get to the phone conversation dialogue–which you’ll want to print out and have easy access to anytime a preschool parent calls you–let’s talk briefly about what your prospective parents should already know about your preschool to make sure your phone conversation is as effective as possible.  Of course, sometimes you’ll have preschool parents call that don’t have all the information below about your preschool, so you’ll need to tell them about that information first and foremost before you move onto the dialogue.

Information Your Prospective Preschool Parents MUST Know Before They Call You:

• The fact that they need to call for a tour
  You certainly don’t want to have preschool parents just dropping in on you at unscheduled times, so parents need to know that not only will they need to setup a tour to learn more, but they also to be ready to schedule that tour
• The fact that you’re not a daycare
  Most preschool parents needing childcare won’t be able to afford the extra preschool cost or be able to arrange transportation to/from the daycare.
• Your class times and tuition
  Parents need to know that the class will work with their schedule and their budget
• Your location
  Preschool parents also care about how long it will take them to drive to and from your preschool
• Ages Accepted
  A lot of parents think that preschool is only for 3-5 year olds.  If you take “Independent, Almost 3-Year-Olds” be sure to let them know
• Your website address
  This is the best tool to get preschool parents excited BEFORE they call you, so make sure that any marketing materials feature your website address where parents can find more information about your preschool

This past week I’ve done quite a lot of window shopping for a bigger car, now that our 5th addition is on its way this summer!  After doing my research on the safest, most cost effective, and rewarding car that could fit my family, we finally decided on a Honda Odyssey.  And while doing my research, I came to find out that low mileage was my first priority, and low price was right behind.  And that’s when I discovered my biggest pet peeve in the car shopping experience:

Finding the right car, with the right mileage…  BUT NOT KNOWING WHAT THE PRICE WAS!

You see, I did all my shopping online because I didn’t want to actually come face-to-face with a salesman.  And sometimes I would click on a link from a dealer, look at all the pictures of the car, check out the mileage and the features, and then scroll around for about 30 seconds trying to find the price.  But all I would find was “Please contact the dealer for price.”

How frustrating!  I didn’t want to call the dealer, who inevitably would then have my name and number and call me back, trying to sell me a car in the future.  What if I had to call 3 dealers to find prices?  Then I would have 3 dealerships hounding me for the next few weeks!

I had found the perfect car, but I still didn’t know if I could afford it.

So what does buying a Honda Odyssey have to do with creating your preschool marketing plan?

A lot, actually.

(Keep reading to find out how you can ask me questions about how to handle the first phone call from a perspective parent.)

Because one of the biggest myths in marketing is that if a company can make their product/service irresistible enough to customers, then price isn’t really an issue; but if it becomes an issue, in the end at least they’ll be talking to the customer and can try to convince them that their product/service is worth it.  Sounds a little “sales-y” to you, doesn’t it?  I don’t know about you, but when I created my preschool marketing plan, I made sure it required as little “selling” on my end as possible!

But what these companies forget is that customers make decisions EVERY DAY based on quality -and- price.  I mean, how many times do you walk into a store to go shopping and end up looking at a price tag?  Or hundreds of price tags?  Every time you consider buying an item, you weigh the benefits to the cost.  And if it has enough benefits to warrant the cost, then you buy that item.  You’re constantly weighing your budget to how many items can fit into that budget, and choosing a preschool is no different.

So what’s a prospective preschool parent supposed to do when they receive a flyer about your preschool, and after they get so excited about it, realize they can’t find a price anywhere on your materials.  What’s going on in their heads?  ”Can I afford this?”  ”Maybe they didn’t list the price because it’s expensive.”

Do you really think they’re going to call you to find out how much it costs?  They’re not even ready to make that commitment to take the first step of communication with you, let alone be led down some path where they might be asked to come take a tour.  Because as much as they might love your preschool, they don’t want to be let down later on by knowing they can’t afford it.

And that is the biggest myth in creating your preschool marketing plan: Not posting your prices on EVERYTHING you market.

But your preschool marketing plan extends way beyond just including pricing.  You should include as much as you possibly can about your preschool, including pricing, class times, the fact that you’re not a daycare, registration fees, location, website address, phone number, curriculum used, your education and experience, licenses acquired, ages accepted and potty training requirements.  Post this information on your website and every flyer, postcard, and brochure you hand out.

Why must you give SO MUCH information about your preschool, you ask?  Isn’t it better to just give a little, get them interested, and sell them on the rest later?  Sorry, folks, but “selling” and “convincing” them in the future is just a huge hassle, and we’re not in the sales business.  We’re in the preschool business, where you need to be straight-forward about how you run your preschool, and if they don’t like it, who cares?  You shouldn’t be talking to them in the first place.

I know that’s a bit dramatic, but I’m thinking of a fellow student who mentioned to me that she’s super nervous about pleasing every parent, and often will change a policy to accommodate that parent’s wishes.  Don’t discount her just yet… because she was a lot like ME before I finally grew myself a backbone and decided how to run my preschool like a business.

Now, it doesn’t mean that you can’t ask for parent feedback and try to IMPROVE your preschool (on the contrary: please please please always make your preschool better every year and use parent feedback to help you grow), but it certainly does mean that if you were planning your preschool to be a certain way because you felt strongly enough about it, then stick to your guns!  It’s called a preschool marketing plan, isn’t it?  So plan for it and put into action.  Parents will see your confidence and believe me, they need to feel that you’re capable enough as a business owner -and- preschool teacher to take care of their child.

Now, if you’re thinking to yourself, “But if I post everything about my preschool (including prices), then parents might not call me.”  Then I would probably reply: “If they don’t call you, then there’s some reason why they would never sign up their child in the first place.  And why waste your time trying to convince someone who will never sign up their child?”

I don’t mean to be rude by saying that your time is valuable, but isn’t it?  You have a family to love, preschoolers to teach, and a business to run.  Not to mention anything you want to do in your spare time.  So make your time you spend on the business as productive as possible, instead of wasting your time trying to convince people why they should sign up in your preschool.

For instance, up until last fall, by using my preschool marketing plan, I had a 99% rate of parents calling me about my preschool and then taking an interview.  From that point, I had a 99% rate that they would sign up.  So you can see that I had done a great job of weeding out non-interested parents way before they even called me.  And that’s because I followed my preschool marketing plan of putting all my preschool’s information on our flyers and website.

But last fall, when we opened our second preschool location and put a huge vinyl sign in the front yard advertising our preschool, my conversions fell WAY down.  All of a sudden I had 3x as many calls, but only 75% of them converted into an interview.  Why the difference, you ask?  Because so many passersby thought we were a daycare–all they saw was the sign and the children–so after I found out on the phone they needed childcare, I didn’t ask them in to interview.  Thankfully, my rate of parents signing up after having an interview stayed at 99%, because I was able to weed them out during the phone call.

So while you may have a random parent call you out of the blue and not know much about your preschool, try to have the majority of those prospective parents be as well-informed as possible so when they call you, they’ll be ready to setup a time to take a tour.

And as calling you is the next step to creating your preschool marketing plan, stay tuned for my next post that teaches you EXACTLY how to handle that phone conversation to get 99% of parents to commit to an interview.

YOUR TURN:
To help make sure I answer all your questions about how to handle that phone conversation, what are your biggest questions about talking to a prospective parent on the phone?