How Do I find CNA Students?
The topic surrounding enrollment strategies is a key element often missed with new
entrepreneurs entering the CNA school business. In order to answer this question, there are some things you need to identify during the business planning phase. Here I will name the top 3 ways to find CNA Students for enrollment into your CNA program.
- Find your niche’
- Discover where your students are – on and offline
- Government Contracts
1. What is a niche’ you ask? You need to really identify your niche’. A niche’ is when you find a way to relate your services to a small group or a special group of people. For
instance my company, The Secret Cocktail, is a CNA school startup company. We don’t set up any and all types of medical programs; our services are tailored to the person who specifically wants to start a CNA school. And if I want to niche’ it down even more, we tend to attract solo entrepreneurs looking to start a private CNA school rather than large organizations looking to start a CNA program for their University.
Now let me give you an example from a CNA school stand point. I have worked with clients who’s schools niche’ was single parents. They strengthen this niche’ by partnering with a local day care and offering “free” child care services to students while in class. Now all students who have kids will be very interested in enrolling in this program over others. It’s a convenience factor and thoughtfulness.
SO… where is this customer? At day care centers, community centers like YMCA, boys and girls club, they are at schools, parks etc. Maybe online they frequent websites like PBS kids, children’s place apparel etc. Maybe they are at local welfare offices, pediatrician offices, who knows? Think like your potential customer.
I have worked with schools who catered to ESL students. During the business planning phase, it was realized that there is a large population of Hispanics in the area. The school decided They would teach the curriculum in Spanish and became known in their community as the only CNA program that taught in Spanish so that student population sought their services out. So where is this customer? Maybe at ESL schools training to learn English. Maybe they frequent a local restaurants that serve Hispanic style foods, or a market that sells traditional latino groceries. Think like your customer and be seen where they are. So see, instead of saying I want to take any and all students that want to be a CNA, you can identify a niche’ ( or sometimes it identifies you) so that you are the known go to for a particular situation that the student may be in.
2. Who is your customer? The only way to get a person to enroll in your school is to understand who your target customer is. This means you need to think like them. You need to be where they are, on and offline. You need to speak their language. Say it in a way they would say it. You need to be able to pull at their heart strings and identify their struggles. Why they need you and your services. (Examples: help with child care or teach the curriculum in Spanish). Does that make sense? This is one I really want to hit home so please type a 1 in the comments if that makes sense to you. Identifying your niche will help you accomplish this.
3. Government funding services. The next place you can find student is by becoming an education provider with your local labor agency. There are different funding programs like the WIA, also known as, WIOA, please write that down, the WIOA. This is a program that is designed to pay for entry level education programs. The CNA program is not a program that qualifies for Pell grant so this is an alternative payment source for student who need quick education. So you need to identify who in your area is the distributor of WIOA funds and find out how you can get on their “Education provider list” Usually the local labor department or workforce development department is over the WIOA program. Once you are a provider, they route students to you who qualify for the funding and are in your area. Easy referral source.
There are a few other funding sources you can look into. Just to name a few: Partnering with local nursing homes to find, train, and recruit employees for them; they pay for the students education in return. There are Veteran assistance program for veteran to gain an education. Most importantly as a business owner I highly encourage you to join forces or become a member of your local SBA or chamber of commerce. They have connections to people that can help you or may be aware of funding opportunities for you or collaborations for your business. But being a member is not enough. You have to build trust among that community, make sure people know you, your business and what your values an missions are as a business owner. That is where referrals come in. People like to help people they know and feel comfortable with.
Well, this wraps up today’s post. Remember you can check out my YouTube channel every Monday to get your dose of #MondayMotivation. Click that subscribe button along with the bell so you can be notified the next time we post a video. View today’s Monday Motivation video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYNmY5oSqKU
So until next time, I am Victoria Randle, Your pusher. Pushing you past your fears to be the entrepreneur you were destined to be……
If you are interested in starting a healthcare training school in your state, we can help! From CNA Schools, Phlebotomy Schools and more we can help launch a training school. Please contact us at info@thesecrtecocktail.com to learn more about our services or click here.
