The Child Care Business Podcast Procare Solutions

Kathy Ligon is the founder & CEO of HINGE Advisors. Trained as a public accountant, Kathy has more than 35 years of experience in educational operations. During that time, she has found there are five pillars to the success of a child care business:  occupancy, tuition rates, discounting practices, salary costs and rent-cost management. Listen as Kathy walks us through each of these pillars in detail to learn how you can grow your child care business!

To learn more about Kathy and her company, visit hingeadvisors.com.  And check out Framework by Hinge, which is an easy-to-use app that helps you maximize your school’s value and position it for financial success!

Procare Solutions recently released our 2024 Child Care Management Software Industry Trends Report, which provides a comprehensive look at the current state of the child care industry’s use of technology as well as challenges that early childhood education programs must adapt to, and overcome, to thrive.

But the findings detailed in this report go deeper than software. In compiling this data, the goal was to better understand the obstacles being faced by child care providers. To provide more context to the findings, we partnered with experts in several areas of early childhood education. 

Listen in as these experts — Beth Cannon, Caroline Jens, Prerna Richards as well as  Kathy Ligon and Kathe Petchel of HINGE Early Education Advisors — discuss topics including enrollment strategies, curriculum and much more! This podcast was recorded during a recent webinar in which all were panelists. 

Technology scares people, and that's true for child care employees.

"Easing them into it helps, and really slowing it down and teaching them," says LaToya Riggins, vice president of professional development of CRAFT by Better Futures. 

Proper training and guidance is key, and so is showing employees how they'll benefit from using technology ... and that you're ready to help them.

"Don't be afraid. Technology is a beautiful thing when used correctly. Give it a chance," she says.

In this podcast, LaToya shares her tips for how to get your staff on board with using technology in their classrooms and for running other parts of the business, including using QR codes for check-ins and getting rid of paper documentation that is prone to errors and takes so much time to complete manually.

One such tip is to break staff into small groups so nobody gets lost or is afraid to answer questions.  And she has a lot more to share.

"One thing about technology is that it's very forgiving. Everything has an undo button," she says.

To reach LaToya, email her at lriggins@betterfuturesdc.com or visit www.betterfuturesdc.com!

Tuition collection can be a breeze when families can easily pay you on time and with their preferred method of payment. And for today’s parents, their preferred method overwhelmingly is digital, whether through autopay from their checking accounts or by debit cards and credit cards.  
 
The perks of accepting digital payments at your child care program are many, for both you and them! In this podcast, you'll learn more how your center will benefit with streamlined financial processes, and how families can reap the benefits of using their credit cards, such as flights or cashback offers!

A tour of your child care center should be your Super Bowl, says Molly Hichens. Are you doing enough to wow families who tour your daycare or preschool?

Molly is a second-generation owner at Bright Beginnings Preschool, which has three locations in Charlottesville, Virginia, and is about to celebrate 40 years in business! She’s also an accomplished child care consultant and speaker. And when it comes to giving tours to prospective families, she has a lot of great ideas to share, including: 
Setting specific days and times to give toursMake the tour posh (her centers bake cookies and offer Perrier water!)Ensure the person giving the tour knows current waitlist numbers and move-up dates for children in the roomHighlight what makes your center special, such as a great curriculumAnd more!Molly's areas of expertise include leadership, intergenerational workplaces, business expansion and increasing revenue while streamlining systems.  Visit mollyhichens.com to learn how she helps child care businesses stand out  from the crowd!

Beginning September 30, 2023, states could be forced to deal with the loss of billions of dollars in federal funding, which will lead to a mass disruption in the child care landscape.

The $24 billion that went to child cares was part of a pandemic program, and has been the largest investment in child care in history. Without that funding, 3.2 million children could lose spots in child cares and more than 70,000 centers could close, according to a Century Foundation report.

In this podcast, Cindy Lehnhoff, the director of the National Child Care Association, explains what's happening and what measures are being taken to save at least some of the funding.  She also discusses the consequences of losing the funding — on centers, staffing, families and the economy — and what some states are doing.

Learn more about the NCCA and its work.