The HINGE team kicked off our sixth annual THRIVE Workshop on Thursday, May 11th with an afternoon of one-on-one meetings to help attendees take a deep dive into their childcare company’s financials using the Framework financial app and let them know what areas of their business to focus on during the workshop the following day. After these in-depth meetings, we gave attendees a brain break and hosted them at the Pendry Chicago’s rooftop watering hole, the Chateau Carbide, for delicious drinks, sliders and mouthwatering mac and cheese bites. The atmosphere was amazing, and we had a great time getting to catch up and meet everyone!

The workshop day began with THRIVE host Kathy Ligon sharing her insights on the state of the childcare industry followed by Tom Wood’s popular 30-minute Leadership Sprints (learn more at www.hingeadvisors.com/leadership-sprints). Afterwards, Kathy took the stage back over to share HINGE’s recommendations for financial reporting, setting tuition rates and discounts, calculating occupancy, driving revenue and benchmarking. Whew!

With more than 30 years in the industry, HINGE’s proven benchmarking model has been used successfully by hundreds of childcare companies across the United States to compare their school to the average financially healthy school your same size. You can take the free assessment at www.frameworkbyhinge.com.

Following Kathy’s in-depth financial content, Aleta Mechtel took the stage sharing “Creative Marketing Strategies for Childcare Businesses.” Her session was extremely popular and shared all the secrets to keeping your school enrollment totally full.

After an information-packed morning, it was time for a brain break and to refuel with a complimetary lunch! Then, staffing content was the star of the afternoon with Kathy sharing our staff cost benchmarks and Kathe Petchel sharing “Critical Staffing Strategies for Improved Profitability.” By now, attendees brains needed another break with a mid-afternoon happy hour including a snack of mini Chicago dogs!

Kathy and HINGE Financial Analyst Taylor Leaphart wrapped up the day’s content with insights on real estate costs and childcare business valuation trends, respectively. Then, attendees broke into THRIVE Case Study groups to review an imaginary childcare school’s financials and decide which areas of the business could use the most improvement. Each group rocked the exercise providing an excellent end to the long, information-packed day.

Thank you so much to everyone who attended this year’s THRIVE workshop in Chicago, IL! The team at HINGE appreciates your attendance and participation and we can’t wait to see you all again in Charleston for our SHIFT Childcare Leaders Conference!