Starting a day care business provides a great entrepreneurial opportunity if you love children. It could be the best thing you can do to earn an income. The size can range from a small home based operation on a shoe string budget to a large commercial center. It's up to you to decide the course of your business - either choosing to remain small by creating work only for yourself or growing into an enterprise with large revenue.
Starting a day care business is not the same as the babysitting you did as a teenager. Providing a day care service is about really serious business. You need to choose the services you will offer, identify the target child segment, and generally consider all those aspects that are important in any other line of commercial activity. Since the work involves caring for someone else's children, it takes responsibility and serious commitment.
Starting a day care business also has some specific requirements, which you need to be aware of.
* Determine the child-care needs of your community. Choose a site that is appropriate and affordable - it could either be your home or a commercial location. Estimate your startup costs and identify where your budget will come from. You will obviously need to open a banking account for your business. If you plan to hire people for help, decide on an optimal one staff-to-child ratio and recruit accordingly.
* You need a license to run this business, and it can take several months to get all the paperwork done! Requirements vary from state to state; hence it is best to get in touch with a local child-care licensing office.
* Get yourself trained adequately to deal with crisis situations like injuries and fire. Contact your local hospital for first aid classes. Make sure you have a medical kit and fire extinguishers handy to deal with emergencies. Seek professional advice on whether you need any further training and certification.
Once your business is licensed, it might be subjected to surprise inspection, so make sure you comply with all the set regulations! For example, do you follow prescribed guidelines while deciding the kids' menu? Are their play areas safe and secure?
You will find that there are many support groups that may be helpful. For example, "Save the Children", a non-profit organization, provides free nutritional workshops, advice, and reimbursement of food expenses.
Here’s a basic guideline that you help you find the right path when it comes to making your daycare business a success:
* Hire an accountant to help you with money matters. Taking care of your books is almost as important as caring for the children in your charge. You never know when the IRS decides to pay you a surprise visit, so hang on to every receipt!
* Research a bit before you set prices. Be clear about payment terms - it's best to put things in writing.
* Be firm about day care timings. Some parents can be habitual late comers, and will expect you to be understanding at all times. The sooner you dispel this notion, the better.
* Consult an expert before starting a day care business. Some of the websites that offer help and You'll also find...
'The Daycare Provider's Workbook', 'Start & Run a Home Daycare', 'Starting a Child Care Center - The Indispensable Guidebook for Starting a Day Care or Child Care Business' interesting reading.
* Most important, be prepared for minor problems which might crop up from time to time. Starting a day care business isn't child's play, and will bring its share of challenges. And more than its share of joy!
* Any business that is just starting out needs to develop a business plan, however, when you are opening a daycare center it is especially important. Because there are so many different laws and regulations regarding child daycare, it is critical that your daycare business plan covers everything.
Your daycare business plan should incorporate the all state and federal guidelines as well as any licensing requirements for teachers and employees of your daycare. This area has the toughest laws of any business because it deals with children, and each state has their own laws and regulation regarding daycare.
A daycare business plan should be created before you seek funding for your business. The daycare industry is growing and can be successful if your plan offers incentive to parents who need to find affordable daycare. If you plan to accept any type of daycare assistance payments, then you should research the rules and regulations thoroughly and incorporate them into your plan.
* Your daycare business plan will also need to cover all of your start up expenses. These expenses include all supplies, materials, and furniture that your daycare will need to operate on a daily basis.
* You will need office supplies such as computers and software, paper for the printer, desks, file cabinets and any other office supplies you will need. For the furniture in your daycare, the plan should include cribs, beds, playpens, toys table and chairs. You should visit your local furniture store or do an online search for pricing of the furniture.
* You will also need to figure into your business plan food menus and snacks. You really need to sit in a quiet place and figure everything into your daycare business plan.
* When you seek financing, the lender will review your business plan to determine if it is feasible or not. He or she will suggest changes that will make your daycare more lucrative. You have the option to decline the changes, however the lender may become overly caution and decline your application.
* When you are seeking a lender, you have a couple of options. There are many different lending institutions, from banks and credit unions to investors. Each one has advantages and disadvantages and should be researched completely before you make a decision.
Make sure that you come up with a concrete and concise daycare business plan because this is the primary thing that will determine and dictate your business’ success. It is important that you include all information before submitting it for review to financial lenders.
For more:
How to start a daycare Center by StartADaycare.org
