If any of you are like me, you have experienced good things and bad things over the last few years in our industry. We have increased pay. We have seen enrollment fluctuate. We have struggled with rising costs of food and insurance. And they have all had effects on our bottom line and cash flow.
That was my mindset when I attended the Montana Child Care Business Connect Fall 2023 Summit in Butte.
My main takeaway from attending the 2023 Summit was that we needed to bring in more revenue. I have a larger program, employing 35-45 people so making payroll is always my top priority on the business side. I also have 25 years of alumni who have come through my doors.
After the 2023 Summit, my team and I did a lot of brainstorming. We came up with several family-fun events and additional service ideas, so many in fact that we created a calendar of roughly 5-10 events for the entire year. It got posted to our website and social media.
We hoped the calendar of events would be a great way to interact in a different way with our existing families. But what we found was that graduates of our school and other members of the community wanted to participate too.
We had some initial investments to make the events happen. We also had to put in staff time to organize and advertise. But we did the math to make sure we were bringing in enough money to cover costs and make a profit.
Through the process, we realized that by creating partnerships with the community, we educated others about our program and the importance of early childhood.
We wanted to make sure we gave ourselves the proper planning and organization time to publicize well while also not taking away from our daily responsibilities with the kids.
Our very first test event, a Bingo Night at a local community center, surprised us at how well it was received and attended. It built the foundation and expectations of our future events. We engaged with some fantastic locally owned businesses. Some generously donated prize baskets and allowed us to advertise by posting flyers.
Since then, we have hosted another Bingo Night and have hosted our first large-scale community event, International Mud Day, which was a wild success.
Our biggest goal in hosting these events will be to gain at least 1% of our total yearly revenue, allowing for reduced business risk. The events are also fun and give us a chance to do something different sometimes. Based on the end results of our first couple of Bingo events, and projected income for the rest of the events we have scheduled for the year, we will be able to come close to this goal.
– Raegen Breeden has owned Play N Learn Academy and Play N Learn Preschool and Daycare in Great Falls for over 25 years. Her two center-based programs are licensed for 125 students. She also serves as a mentor in MCCBC’s Mentorship-Accelerator program. Find her events calendar on the Play N Learn website at greatfallsplaynlearn.com.
