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Posts tagged ‘Child Care Business’

FIVE ESSENTIALS FOR COLLECTING TUITION by Karen Marx

Timely TuitionThe following post is a Guest blog post by Karen Marx of Timely Tuition, LLC.

Collecting tuition may be one of your least favorite jobs.  But without enough money coming in, you can’t do all the other things you love.

Here are 5 tips to make collecting tuition a little easier:

1.       Give yourself permission:

You are running a business.  You have a right to be paid for the excellent service you provide.  Any time you feel guilty or reluctant to talk with a parent about payment, remember all of the things you purchase for your center and how you can use the money to improve your service or give your staff better training.  Parents agreed to pay you a certain amount when enrolling their child.  You are simply asking them to keep their word.

2.       Keep it simple:

Create policies that are simple to monitor and easy to follow.  Consider late fees, vacations (yours and students’), sick days, late pick-up, deposits, enrollment fees, and supplies.  Be strategic.  For example, charge annual fees in August for everyone, instead of tracking individual family’s anniversaries.  As much as possible, set up charges so that families pay the same amount every billing cycle.

3.       Put it in writing:

Regardless of the size of your facility, be sure to have a written policy outlining your expectations and the consequences for failing to meet them.

4.       Set the tone:

Go over your payment policy with new parents.  Be polite but firm about your expectations.  Don’t apologize for your prices or fees; instead explain the benefits you offer.  “The supply fee will cover all Monica’s art supplies for the year.  Expect to see some really creative projects come home.”  Require parents to initial key points and sign the policy before enrolling their student.

5.       Be consistent:

This cannot be emphasized enough.  Set your policies and expect them to be followed.  Follow up on consequences (like late fees) immediately and consistently for every parent, every time.  If you don’t care enough about your policies to follow them, neither will your parents.

Would you like a free review of your tuition policies?  Contact Karen@timelytuition.com for more information or visit Karen’s website at www.timelytuition.com. Would you like to be a featured expert or submit a guest blog post? If so, click here to review our theme and submission procedures.

Category:

Accounting, Administration, Policies, Tuition

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Creating An Inclement Weather Plan

Winter is will be arriving soon and this is a great time to develop or review your inclement weather plan. In fact, it seems that some winters we are better than others in terms of the amount of snow that we get,however, it is vital that parents know what to expect in the event there is inclement.

Here are  Nine things that you can do to plan for inclement weather, assure that parents & staff know what to do in the event of inclement weather and other helpful tips:

1. Connect with your local news channel to find out how you can list your snow or closing  schedule in the event of inclement weather.

2. Post a notice of your inclement weather procedures on your door and insert the notice in your parent handbook.

3. Have a list of your parents contact information at home with you; so that you can send out a group text about your planned snow or closing schedule.

4. If you plan to cancel transportation, notify parents at least 2-hours before school starts to allow parents enough time to locate back-up childcare.

5. Ahead of time, purchase ice melt or salt for your sidewalks to melt ice on your side walks.

6. Have a contract with a snow plow or landscaping company to clean your parking lot before your business opens in the event of inclement weather.

7. When conditions are too icy, you may want to consider planning a later opening time to allow staff and parents time to get to the center.

8. Post your plans to open later or close during inclement weather on your social media pages; at least 1 hour before your scheduled open time.

9. Be sure to provide updates to parents via voice mail, your website or your social media pages

I hope that you have found the tips in this blog post to be quite helpful to you. I look forward to hearing about how you plan to prepare in the event of inclement weather.

Shiketa

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Category:

Emergencies, parent communication, Policies

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