Selecting the best childcare software for your business takes planning and due diligence, but if you follow a rational business path, you will find the solution you need for your childcare operation.
Before you begin, you need to know your goals and budget. To winnow your selections down to a short list, you need to look at everything from ease of use to the vendor’s reputation. Requesting a demonstration and enrolling in a free trial are steps to be left until your final decision.
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Before you go to Google…
Most software purchases begin online, typically with a search engine. However, this is not the appropriate first step to selecting childcare management software. First, you must identify your goals and budget for the software.
What problem(s) are you trying to solve with this software?
- Are you streamlining the sign-in process?
- Do you need an easy way to send various notifications to parents?
- Do you want to bill and process payment online?
- Are you tracking meal services?
- What marketing features do you need?
The answer to these and other questions will help you target your search more effectively. Determine what you must have and what you would like to have. List required features if you know what they are. Once you identify your goals, you can set a budget. Consider:
- How much time and money will software save?
- What is a realistic amount for you to spend?
- Are discounts available?
Due diligence at this stage of the process ensures you will find the software that serves your business the best.
Making a short list
When you do go to Google or the search engine of your choice, you will find plugging in the phrase “childcare management software” (with quotes) could return nearly 65,000 results. Leave out the quotes, and you will receive over a million hits.
If you only consider results from the first page, you will have a relatively long list of vendors who may not meet your criteria. However, noting the names of vendors will familiarize you with the field, and you can quickly shorten the list by visiting a software review site such as Capterra. Ask other childcare business owners about the solutions they use and discuss the pros and cons.
While perusing your selections, keep a few factors at the top of your mind.
- Ease of use and flexibility of the software
- Customer support levels and training resources provided by the vendor
- Type of deployment - installed (on-premise) or cloud-based (SaaS)
- Company reputation and experience
If your list is still too long, also consider other services offered to narrow it.
Ease of use is critical to adoption within your business. People tend to balk at using difficult tools. If the language and interface are not intuitive or it takes too many steps to complete a function, you will not have the results you wanted.
Along with ease of use is the level of flexibility and customization you need. Your list of requirements from the first stage makes a handy checklist to use when visiting a vendor website. Take careful notes to find the solutions that meet all or most of your checklist. If there is anything you cannot determine, keep your questions in mind when contacting the vendors on your short list.
Customer support and training are two factors that can make or break the success of your software solution. What level of customer support do you need?
- Customer support may be available online, email, text or phone.
- Live customer support may be available during specific hours and days only.
- Training may be live, via webinar, or as a tutorial.
- Your implementation may come with a limited number of training sessions.
- Additional customer support and training may be available for an additional charge.
Consider the hours and days your facility is in operation as well as the ease of use. If the software is easy to learn, you may not require live training sessions. Your staff may be able to adopt the software without training or with brief tutorials or webinars to get them started.
Selecting the finalist
If you are lucky, you may have identified your finalist early in your search. It is possible a single vendor stands out, and you are satisfied with that choice. If not, there are a couple of tools to help decide tie-breakers.
Ask for a demo of the childcare software. Let the vendor know you want to see a business case for their software customized to your business that includes the ROI (return on investment) and TCO (total cost of ownership) of their solution as customized for your operations.
A good software vendor should be happy to supply this information. The ability to provide a business case also tells you the vendor’s level of experience; if they have sold enough solutions to other businesses like yours, they will be ready to provide you with details about cost and return. In addition, a good vendor will spend the time required to learn about your particular operation so they can put together the best presentation.
Before pulling the trigger, ask your finalist for a free trial and commit to trying out the software before buying. Nothing tells you how easy a solution is to use than using it yourself. Be aware that the free trial version will not be customized and you will need to work with either a pre-loaded set of data or be ready to input enough data to use all the applications your business needs.
Ready to get started? Schedule a free demo today to see how childcare software can help you. »
Choosing the best childcare management software deserves time and consideration. We hope you find these tips helpful as you go through your decision process. Identifying your business problems and feature requirements before beginning your search will streamline the process.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions or take time for contemplation. You want software that you will use for some time to come. Find a vendor who has been in business for a few years that meets all or most of your requirements and fits your budget. Have frank discussions with your staff and sales consultants about what you must have, then run the software through its paces before purchase and implementation.
