The Ultimate ECE Hack: How Teaming Up with Rivals Can Supercharge Your Enrollment

This is the fourth blog in our mini wellness series for ECE professionals. I strongly encourage you to go back and read the last three blogs.

I really want to touch on something I wrote about in my last blog: community over competition. We’ve been duped into thinking that everyone in the same industry as us is a “competitor.” As a childcare provider, here’s why that couldn’t be further from the truth:

1. Google how many children under 6 live in your zip code. I’m sure your center isn’t licensed for anywhere near that number.
   

2. There’s a nationwide childcare shortage. There are literally not enough childcare centers accessible to families.
   

3. Your philosophy and mission (and therefore your target customer) may be different. A play-based program is not likely to attract the same clientele as an academic-readiness-focused program.
   

If your center is struggling with enrollment, the “competition” is not the problem. In fact, shifting your mindset to viewing other centers as your community and collaborators could actually help you get closer to having the program you always envisioned.

Here are 10 ways you can work with other preschools to build community and strengthen your center:

1. Camaraderie

Fellowship is the starting point for any form of community-building or collaboration. Sometimes it’s nice to just share experiences, advice, and stories with other ECE professionals. This is how you get the inside scoop on which parents and teachers to avoid, which suppliers are offering discounts, and which licensing analysts are the most strict.

Had a nightmare teacher recently? Who better to talk to than someone who probably has had similar experiences and can share practical wisdom with you?

Start by joining local childcare associations or Facebook groups, networking, or attending informal meetups. The relationships you form will be the foundation for future collaborations. 

2. Exchanging Staff Slots

I talked about this in a past blog. If you’re considering cost-effective enhancements to your employee benefits package, this could be the perfect opportunity to partner with that center around the corner.

If you don’t like the idea of parents working on-site with their children, consider exchanging a few free or discounted slots with each other. This will help both of you add one more enrollment to your roster and make your center more attractive to quality teachers.

We love a double-sided win-win. A win-win-win-win, if you will.

3. Sports and Other Enrichment Programs

If you don’t think sports and enrichment programs are possible for preschoolers, you’re not just wrong—you’re also missing out. Not only can these programs increase your attractiveness and visibility within your community, but they act as a revenue booster for your center.

Dance recital tickets, concession stands at mini sports games, coding classes, etc., can add thousands to your revenue when done correctly.

Enrichment programs can cost more than double the hourly rate of a standard teacher—unless you work with neighboring schools to hire an enrichment teacher and give them steady hours.

For example, let’s say you want to hire a soccer coach, but the enrichment program in your community charges $60/hour (or $240/month) to offer soccer classes once per week. Instead, you partner with three nearby schools to hire an enrichment teacher at $30/hour to come to all three schools once per week.

You have 20 kids, and you charge each parent a $5 weekly enrichment fee. That’s more than $3,000 extra per year. Add in game tickets, concessions, uniform fees, or team photos and you’ve got the recipe for a whole new revenue stream.

A few extra dollars and a little collaboration are a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.

4. Field Trips

You’re paying for every single seat on that expensive charter bus. Might as well fill it up, right? Consider splitting the seats with another child care center or two and splitting the cost.

Take advantage of tiered group rates. With many companies, the more people you have, the less you pay per person.

You might be leery about bringing your parents in such close proximity to another program, but a parent chaperoning a fun and meaningful experience while bonding with other people who live and work in their community (and at a reduced price at that) is more likely to be impressed with your program than anything else.

However, this is why camaraderie comes before anything. It helps you build mutual trust and respect, so neither of you feels like you’re trying to poach each other’s parents.

5. Community Events

Hosting or participating in community events together is an excellent way to increase your brand’s visibility and strengthen community ties.

Reciprocity is everything. Greedy and unethical business owners position themselves to siphon as much money from the community as possible without giving back anything in return.

Business owners with integrity try to build the community as much as they benefit from it. Two ethical business owners with a plan to impact the same community should not be competing with each other. We can do so much more together.

If you share the same initiatives, working together could provide more exposure for both centers and, more importantly, make a bigger impact on the community.

6. Legislative Engagement

ECE professionals in all roles widely agree that the system is flawed, outdated, and unbalanced. Did you know that you can be part of the change that is so desperately needed?

Invite other providers to attend community meetings, join a coalition or form one, or sit on panels with you! You have to do a little research to find out which coalitions have initiatives you support. Attend a few meetings and decide which ones you want to be part of. Also, check your email! I’ve found out about every panel and research study I’ve participated in through an email from an organization. Of course, take caution to verify that the email is from a trusted sender. If the panel or study is valid, you should be able to easily verify it on Google before clicking any email links.

The information and feedback they gather during those panels and studies are considered when making local, state, and even federal laws that impact us.

7. Fractional Staff

Fractional staffing is a brilliant hack for maximizing productivity and reducing staffing costs to hire professionals you never thought you could afford. Fractional staff I’d highly recommend include:

• HR specialists: handle onboarding, compliance, documentation, and payroll.

• Accountants/bookkeepers: manage finances, budgets, tax prep, and financial reports.

• Transportation drivers: pick up and drop off children from home/school to each center.

• Marketing specialists: create social media content, newsletters, and ads, coordinate events, keep websites updated, take photos, etc.

• Grant writers/fundraisers: research and apply for grants and coordinate fundraising events.
  

Imagine if you didn’t have to handle so much paperwork or pause in the middle of your vacation to do payroll. Think about the value you could add to your center by offering transportation and other services funded through grants, and how your enrollment and brand presence could thrive by having someone consistently marketing your center. Now think about getting all of that at a fraction of the cost.

8. Shared Purchasing Agreements

We’re all using the same supplies anyway, right? The things we stock up on most often—like art, office, and cleaning supplies—are sold in bulk with tiered discounts. The more you purchase, the less you pay per item.

Coordinating logistics may be tricky at first, but it will be worth it when you notice the savings. Even partnering with just one or two other centers can make a difference.

9. Professional Development

Most states require early educators working in licensed facilities to complete a certain number of professional development or in-service training hours each year.

Even if your state doesn’t have this requirement, investing in training and development for your staff is a must for a quality program. If you work with a professional development company that charges by the hour (instead of per person), you could save hundreds—or even thousands—each year by coordinating with other centers.

10. Referrals

You’re probably thinking, “Why in the world would I refer my parents to another center?” First of all, calm down. I’m not talking about the parents you already have or that you’re actively trying to enroll.

But how many times have you turned away parents because you don’t accept infants, or because you close at 5 and they need care until 6? You’re not the only one turning away parents.

If you work with other centers to refer parents to each other, you all benefit from the enrollments, and the parents benefit by having their needs met. The parents will also probably be grateful for how generous you were in providing them with alternative options and keep you in mind when making referrals to their family and friends.

There is a saying that goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

That feeling of always trying to outdo competitors—or fearing they’ll outdo you—is dark and heavy. When you stop seeing other childcare center owners as your competition and start seeing them as constituents of your mission, you will feel free, empowered, motivated, and inspired.

If your center is struggling with enrollment or revenue, working with other childcare providers can help you turn things around.

I challenge you to research other childcare centers in your area. Call a few that you admire, invite them to coffee or lunch, and get started on building those relationships.