When you work with families and young children, you quickly learn parents aren’t just customers. They are people navigating one of the most emotional, vulnerable and transformative periods of their lives – sometimes beginning even before pregnancy.

Carla Davison, founder of Basking Babies, has more than 13 years of experience in the children’s activities sector, both personally and professionally. Through pregnancy relaxation, baby and early years massage, reflexology and yoga classes, as well as sharing and support circles, she has built nurturing communities for parents at every stage.

Success in this sector isn’t just about delivering a great service. It’s about building trust and reassurance that lasts far beyond the early months of pregnancy and parenthood. Carla’s tips will help you grow your business and a thriving community while connecting and supporting parents and babies in a meaningful, lasting way.

1. Draw on experience to build trust

One of the most powerful tools franchisees have is their ability to build trust with parents. That trust doesn’t come from having all the answers, it comes from understanding the emotions parents are navigating. Whether it’s through personal or professional experience, supporting families, recognising worries and responding with empathy helps parents feel understood.

Some franchisees may have gone through their own parenting journey, have a strong sense of empathy from experiences with close friends and family or may draw from prior professional childcare settings. Whatever the experience, the sense of being truly ‘seen’ is often what brings parents back time and time again.

2. Listening can be the most powerful support

Early parenthood can be exciting, overwhelming and isolating in equal measure. When parents walk into a supportive group setting, they are often seeking connection just as much as guidance. Creating a space to listen, without rushing to fix or give advice, allows parents to feel heard by people who they recognise are in a similar position. Connection comes from listening and being listened to, that shared experience reminds parents they are not alone. Over time, this collective understanding can build deep, lasting trust.

3. Creating community with comfort at its core

Community is different for everyone, and at Basking Babies, it doesn’t stop when the class ends. Some parents connect through conversation, while others prefer quiet reassurance. By creating multiple touchpoints from relaxed in-person classes, optional communication groups and informal events like coffee mornings, relationships are able to grow naturally over time. Parents can engage in ways that feel right for them in a community that feels supportive rather than overwhelming. As a franchisee, you’ve created that environment for trust to grow which feels effortless to your parents.

4. Support parents early, when it matters most

Gentle, calming and nurturing sessions give families the opportunity to start slowly, build confidence and form connections at their own pace. During the parenting journey from pregnancy to pre-school, the shared experiences lay the foundation for friendships that continue well beyond classes. Those early bonds shape how parents remember – and return to – your business long after those first few months. In fact, they no longer consider it a business, it becomes an essential part of their pregnancy and their baby’s formative development.

Whatever the brand, building customer loyalty in the children’s activities sector starts with a genuine connection. When parents feel supported and understood, they naturally become advocates, they recommend you to friends as well as return if another pregnancy comes along.  Most flattering of all, many of our customers have chosen to join our franchise family, starting their own Basking Babies business. That’s the power of building a community, when relationships are nurtured, loyalty grows into something much more.