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Suggest You - Babysitting or Business
Interviews can be stressful at the best of times, however there are some factors we can be aware of which can stack the odds more in our favour. Interviews have got more sophisticated over time and now you can be faced with many challenges, your ability to role-play and physiological testing can all come into play. While no one can know for certain, what type of interview they are going to be faced with, keeping your cool and being able to adapt quickly and easily to almost all types of interview is a must. Here are 5 top tips to help get you through your interview successfully.1. Make sure you are fully prepared – while this should go without saying, it is surprising how many people are not truly prepared for their interview. If you are unprepared then you
Why not think about:
· registering an appropriate business name that describes the activity and furnishes you with the basis of developing a “brand”?
· writing regular fortnightly newsletters for parents, with a bit about what children are experiencing in care and other useful snippets on health, wellbeing, family support services etc?, or, go “one better”
· establishing a simple, functional and “family-friendly” website with newsletters and other information? (great inexpensive marketing tool if you are looking to attract new care as
A great name is like extra octane in a brand. A bad, boring or sound-alike name won't necessarily kill a brands chances for success. In most cases however, it dramatically dilutes the brand equity and potency.Do You Have A Name That Basically Sucks?If so, shame on you. If you acquired it, I send my sympathy.Should you change it? Yes. It will cost some bucks, but it's also a great opportunity to get a lot of great attention and renewed momentum. Weigh it out, look at the cost versus the benefit and remember that change can be scary, but a lame brand can be scarier!Birthing A Brand NameThe task of developing that killer name has become quite complex. For years, business owners and management named their offspring, then creative ser
Internationally, there is a huge “home-based” child care industry, with features that make it quite unique in the world of work. For example, home based care is:
· essential in order to keep the wheels of industry turning
· grossly undervalued by the community in general (including many of the users of this service!)
· often greatly undervalued by those providing the service (e.g. “I just look after kids during the day”)
· typically a self-employed and very underpaid venture
· subject to varying degrees of regulation, if regulated at all
Value what you do
Having worked extensively in the area of children’s services I have come to realise that even staff working in commercial or government-funded child care facilities can underestimate the importance of their contribution to the wellbeing of families and the needs of industry. How much harder then, to maintain a realistic perspective when your work takes place in your own home, unseen and unheralded by society at large! Reframe negative or self-deprecating perceptions about being the provider of child care - recognise that you have undertaken a professional responsibility.
For many carers there comes a point in time where they want to take a different direction in their work lives. However, they may feel that they have few skills to offer a prospective employer after years of working “out of sight: out of mind”. Consequently, they limit their own opportunities either by not making the attempt to establish a new direction, or by underselling themselves to prospective employers.
Planning what you do
In reality this is no more than a state of mind, or attitude about oneself. Prevention of course is better than the cure, and a properly planned strategy will help you to maintain a positive and realistic outlook, as well as being a great investment in your future.
Plan your home based child care as a BUSINESS. If this sounds cold-hearted, think again. After all, a successful business is as much about quality as it is about income. No business has a viable future without both of these factors. Identify the main functions involved in caring for children, such as:
· planning appropriate activities to encourage and support the development of children. Keep a record of these, for your own benefit and as a way of communicating with parents about their children. A recording system can be very simple, but will project your commitment and competence. In a home based care environment, this attention to quality is paramount. Parents DO NOT want children to be in poor environments, no matter how inexpensive!
· invoicing/receipting fees and general administration. Not only will this satisfy tax requirements in most jurisdictions, but it will reflect an organised approach to administration as well as quantifying the financial success of your business.
Why not think about:
· registering an appropriate business name that describes the activity and furnishes you with the basis of developing a “brand”?
· writing regular fortnightly newsletters for parents, with a bit about what children are experiencing in care and other useful snippets on health, wellbeing, family support services etc?, or, go “one better”
· establishing a simple, functional and “family-friendly” website with newsletters and other information? (great inexpensive marketing tool if you are looking to attract new care as w
Without a doubt, the King of Reality TV is Mark Burnett. From Survivor to The Apprentice to The Contender, Mark Burnett has been the man behind some of the most successful shows in history. But how did he do it? How did this former British Paratrooper become one of the most powerful men in Television.A big part of Mark Burnett's success can be attributed to his special forces training. In so many instances, these men find themselves in situations where all seems lost, but they continue on regardless. This sort of mental toughness and discipline is essential to the entertainment industry, where things will go against you and you most certainly will feel at times like you are ready to give up.Anyone who has spent time with Mark Burnett can vouch for hi
· typically a self-employed and very underpaid venture
· subject to varying degrees of regulation, if regulated at all
Value what you do
Having worked extensively in the area of children’s services I have come to realise that even staff working in commercial or government-funded child care facilities can underestimate the importance of their contribution to the wellbeing of families and the needs of industry. How much harder then, to maintain a realistic perspective when your work takes place in your own home, unseen and unheralded by society at large! Reframe negative or self-deprecating perceptions about being the provider of child care - recognise that you have undertaken a professional responsibility.
For many carers there comes a point in time where they want to take a different direction in their work lives. However, they may feel that they have few skills to offer a prospective employer after years of working “out of sight: out of mind”. Consequently, they limit their own opportunities either by not making the attempt to establish a new direction, or by underselling themselves to prospective employers.
Planning what you do
In reality this is no more than a state of mind, or attitude about oneself. Prevention of course is better than the cure, and a properly planned strategy will help you to maintain a positive and realistic outlook, as well as being a great investment in your future.
Plan your home based child care as a BUSINESS. If this sounds cold-hearted, think again. After all, a successful business is as much about quality as it is about income. No business has a viable future without both of these factors. Identify the main functions involved in caring for children, such as:
· planning appropriate activities to encourage and support the development of children. Keep a record of these, for your own benefit and as a way of communicating with parents about their children. A recording system can be very simple, but will project your commitment and competence. In a home based care environment, this attention to quality is paramount. Parents DO NOT want children to be in poor environments, no matter how inexpensive!
· invoicing/receipting fees and general administration. Not only will this satisfy tax requirements in most jurisdictions, but it will reflect an organised approach to administration as well as quantifying the financial success of your business.
Why not think about:
· registering an appropriate business name that describes the activity and furnishes you with the basis of developing a “brand”?
· writing regular fortnightly newsletters for parents, with a bit about what children are experiencing in care and other useful snippets on health, wellbeing, family support services etc?, or, go “one better”
· establishing a simple, functional and “family-friendly” website with newsletters and other information? (great inexpensive marketing tool if you are looking to attract new care as
Finding the right staff is critical, as we discussed in the article "Finding Staff to Complement Your Business". But what about keeping good staff? Is it important? Is it worth the effort to keep the right folks on the job? Let’s look at the four areas that staff turnover affects – in a business of any type. Those areas are: Productivity, Revenue, Customer Satisfaction, and Long Term Viability.EFFECTS ON PRODUCTIVITYIncreasing work for the remaining staff... This is rather obvious, but think about the work that’s being left undone. If a staff member has to cover the phones because the receptionist has quit, she is going to omit work somewhere. In the choice between her regular work or answering the phone she’ll do the one she feels is more
Planning what you do
In reality this is no more than a state of mind, or attitude about oneself. Prevention of course is better than the cure, and a properly planned strategy will help you to maintain a positive and realistic outlook, as well as being a great investment in your future.
Plan your home based child care as a BUSINESS. If this sounds cold-hearted, think again. After all, a successful business is as much about quality as it is about income. No business has a viable future without both of these factors. Identify the main functions involved in caring for children, such as:
· planning appropriate activities to encourage and support the development of children. Keep a record of these, for your own benefit and as a way of communicating with parents about their children. A recording system can be very simple, but will project your commitment and competence. In a home based care environment, this attention to quality is paramount. Parents DO NOT want children to be in poor environments, no matter how inexpensive!
· invoicing/receipting fees and general administration. Not only will this satisfy tax requirements in most jurisdictions, but it will reflect an organised approach to administration as well as quantifying the financial success of your business.
Why not think about:
· registering an appropriate business name that describes the activity and furnishes you with the basis of developing a “brand”?
· writing regular fortnightly newsletters for parents, with a bit about what children are experiencing in care and other useful snippets on health, wellbeing, family support services etc?, or, go “one better”
· establishing a simple, functional and “family-friendly” website with newsletters and other information? (great inexpensive marketing tool if you are looking to attract new care as
Let's face it the busines world we live in today is extremely competitive and those who sit back and do business the way they always did it are sure to perish. Think back to the general store. Every year you knew approximately how much you were going to make. A good year mean't 10 or 15% over expectations and a bad year meant 10 or 15% under expectations. The extra profit would mean you were able to purchase a luxury item. The slight loss mean't you cut back on a luxury item.Today the world has changed. You earn more but the word savings is a word few know anything about. To compete today you always need to be on the consumers mind in a positive progressive way. Look at well established companies like Kodak and Bell. There monopoly days are over and they ar
· planning appropriate activities to encourage and support the development of children. Keep a record of these, for your own benefit and as a way of communicating with parents about their children. A recording system can be very simple, but will project your commitment and competence. In a home based care environment, this attention to quality is paramount. Parents DO NOT want children to be in poor environments, no matter how inexpensive!
· invoicing/receipting fees and general administration. Not only will this satisfy tax requirements in most jurisdictions, but it will reflect an organised approach to administration as well as quantifying the financial success of your business.
Why not think about:
· registering an appropriate business name that describes the activity and furnishes you with the basis of developing a “brand”?
· writing regular fortnightly newsletters for parents, with a bit about what children are experiencing in care and other useful snippets on health, wellbeing, family support services etc?, or, go “one better”
· establishing a simple, functional and “family-friendly” website with newsletters and other information? (great inexpensive marketing tool if you are looking to attract new care as
Interestingly enough the majority of people who ask me whether their sales letter is too long have missed the boat somewhat.You see, their mind is focused on the length of their sales letter rather than the job the sales letter has to do, and when they do that it is impossible to write in a manner that will convince the reader to take action and buy their product.No, your main focus when writing a sales letter must be on the job it has to do and that, in a nutshell, is to convince the reader that he or she needs to buy your product.Pay special attention to the word 'need' here. You must focus upon the emotional need of the reader - this could be nothing more than simple 'one-upmanship' over a neighbour instead of a logical need.For it i
Why not think about:
· registering an appropriate business name that describes the activity and furnishes you with the basis of developing a “brand”?
· writing regular fortnightly newsletters for parents, with a bit about what children are experiencing in care and other useful snippets on health, wellbeing, family support services etc?, or, go “one better”
· establishing a simple, functional and “family-friendly” website with newsletters and other information? (great inexpensive marketing tool if you are looking to attract new care as well)
· developing ways of collecting feedback from parents and children on a regular and ongoing basis?
Implementing ideas such as the ones above will serve to enrich the quality of your service and will evidence a range of skills in a way that may be beneficial in the future.
How does planning help with future flexibility?
Why would any of this make a difference, if and when you wish to resume a role as a salaried employee? Clearly, if you value the investment you have made in caring for children, you are likely to project this positively to others. A quiet confidence, or self belief conveys itself in many subtle ways. Being able to state that you were the owner/manager of the “ABC” business (insert your registered business name!) for a given period of time also creates a perception of success.
More importantly, you will be able to articulate your experience from a work/business perspective. Your experience in providing care will enable you to speak with confidence about:
· planning
· marketing
· customer service
· quality assurance
· financial management
· administration
· risk assessment and management
· communication and interpersonal skills
· skills in the use of technology (this would include managing a website, if relevant)
· compliance with regulation (if applicable)
and many other facets of the work you have been doing. In short, you will be able to identify and describe a whole raft of skills that will be transferable to many different contexts. Employers are impressed by demonstration of skills and competencies and are even more impressed when you are able to demonstrate how these might transfer into a new employment situation.
In summary…
Even if you do not want to take up a role as a salaried employee in the future, following the tips above will assist you in providing a high quality service to children and families, increasing your perceived value to clients as well as increasing your “job satisfaction” and morale. In the event you do want to make a career change, you will have a much stronger platform from which to do so.
Final tip : To make a good start, ensure you remove the phrase “I just look after kids…” from your vocabulary.
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