Do you feel alone? Remember the Alamo!

The Alamo - San Antonio, Texas

Many of our good customers are Kids R Kids centers from all over the country. I had the pleasure of attending their annual Owner's Meeting last week in San Antonio. It was encouraging to be around them and hear their perspectives on business and life in child care work in general. I saw how they learn from each other, share ideas for improvement and even share critical financial information with each other in the spirit of genuine help and concern.

If you are a solo operator of a child care center you may feel isolated with no one to share ideas, concerns and challenges. Many times those of us that own businesses can feel overwhelmed. I meet once a month with 6-8 other guys like myself. We act as each other's informal board of directors and help each other navigate this thing called business. It is extremely valuable - so valuable that we each block off an entire day each month and actually pay $400 to go!

How can you get some of the help you need? One idea may be to form an informal board of directors of people you trust. Build an agenda, feed them some food, ask them for ideas and input. Another idea may be to form a small group of other owners (maybe not even all child care owners) to meet and help each other.

Don't do it alone...get some help! The guys at the Alamo had their rally cry - what's yours?