What is the true value of an open spot within an early childcare center? While a straightforward question, the answer is anything but. There are so many factors to consider when you start to dig into the concepts of center economics, revenue optimization, and increased profitability.
Enrollment, revenue per child, and efficient staffing practices all contribute to the success of a center. Included within all of these is the nuance of occupancy management. Centers typically aim for 70-90% occupancy and that could vary greatly, which is difficult to staff for. If you consider the original question within this context, you may be asking yourself what the revenue value is from those 10-30% open spots. Better yet, how can you improve your operation to minimize shifts in occupancy or increase your drop-in bookings to fill some of those spots?
Today’s approach to managing drop-ins can be a huge time drain on you or your staff and may lead you to avoid it. For Educators and Directors, dealing with the daily responsibilities while having to drop everything, pick up the phone, check the room schedules for availability and ensure you have the proper staff on hand to handle any last-minute incoming children increases stress and adds to burn-out. Kangarootime’s new Drop-In functionality eliminates the need to constantly monitor center attendance when it comes to drop-ins. Now you can configure the setup so that open spots become visible in the KT Connect (Parent) App automatically or based on your centers’ dynamics for that day. No more emails, phone calls, or schedule checks. Stop avoiding the drop-in opportunity and embrace it! You will be able to fill more spots and increase revenue. With your costs already in place, your margin improves significantly.
From the parents’ perspective, having to react to last-minute changes in the schedule will only become more common and somewhat of an expectation as the majority of working mothers are now fully employed and this dual-income family dynamic is likely to continue far into the future. Childcare centers’ ability to streamline the communication and securing of available spots to accommodate last-minute changes will certainly go a long way for the parents and positively impact the retention of staff and families.
Now you can start to view your open spots as significant opportunities to help offer flexibility to your families, increase predictability for your staff, and grow your business.
To learn more about how Kangarootime can partner with you, please visit our website. We’d love to hear more about your center!
Kangarootime is the leading all-in-one childcare management software for daycares and preschools. With billing and invoicing capabilities, parent communication and staff management tools, and classroom automation, Kangarootime helps childcare centers grow and scale. To learn more about optimizing your center with Kangarootime, visit kangarootime.com
