In Home Child Care Business, A Quick Start Guide

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Opening a Daycare

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Create forms for your child care business.

Preparing a Budget for a Child Care Business

You may need to create enrollment forms, emergency contact forms and statements about your child care business policies. Advertise your child care business. Place ads in local newspapers, and post fliers in places parents frequent. For example, a grocery, library or laundromat bulletin board may be a good place to catch the eye of parents in need of child care. Jordan Meyers has been a writer for 13 years, specializing in businesses, educational and health topics.

Meyers holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Maryland and once survived writing health product descriptions in just 24 hours. Skip to main content. Tip If you've been convicted of certain crimes, you may not qualify for child care licensing.

“In Home Child Care Business, A Quick Start Guide”

For example, a child abuse record will result in a license application denial. Starting a Child Care Business? Resources 2 Daycare Resource: About the Author Jordan Meyers has been a writer for 13 years, specializing in businesses, educational and health topics. Photo Credits child play in grass image by Pavel Losevsky from Fotolia. Accessed 17 September Small Business - Chron. Each state has numerous laws designed to protect children but those laws differ greatly from state to state.

Contact your appropriate state agency to find out how to become licensed. First, attend an orientation. To be eligible, you must live in the home where you will provide the care. You will likely have to make home modifications, submit to a background test as well as a Child Abuse Index check and take 15 hours of preventative health and safety training. The maximum amount of children in a home-based childcare facility in California is 12 children—no more than four of whom may be infants in most cases.

Other circumstances may change the maximum number. The licensed caregiver you must be home 80 percent of the time children are present. A substitute adult may care for children up to 20 percent of the time.

Smoking is not permitted during normal hours of operation. Other fees may apply.

Also make sure that you have appropriate insurance like fire and theft in addition to homeowners insurance. You may also need general liability coverage.

Laws and regulations in your state will differ but expect to spend a considerable amount of time learning about the many requirements before opening your doors. Although there are a lot of rules, startup costs are minimal unless significant home modifications have to be made. If you outgrow a home-based business, the next step is a daycare facility.

For example, would it be advantageous to offer unusual hours for your daycare? Would an organic, vegan or kosher menu give you an edge? For Lindner, it all came down to curriculum.

I decided to focus on STEM. Here are some important questions to get you started:.

9 (Often overlooked) steps to opening a daycare

What time do parents need to pick up their children? Are there consequences for being late? What services will you provide and what items are parents responsible for? What is your policy for sick children? How many days off will you take? Are those days paid? How will you handle late payments? Alternatively, a childcare attorney can advise you on the elements of your contract.

This is a simple yet overlooked part of opening a daycare.

How to Open a Child Care Business (with Pictures) - wikiHow

Lindner emphasizes the importance of keeping things local and targeted to your potential clients. Tell everyone you know. She advertised her business in a local family magazine and wrote a press release for some of the local newspapers. Post flyers for your business in local libraries, community centers, coffee shops and grocery stores. Clients could visualize it. Even though it may feel counterintuitive, Lindner recommends giving a few months of free tuition to some parents you know.

McGregor has learned from her three centers that word of mouth from happy clients is the real key to success. Highlight your experiences and display your licenses. Do whatever you can to get those first clients through the door. Sacrificing some profit up front is worth it to build a lucrative business. Opening a daycare can be scary.

This article was originally published in February It has since been updated to reflect information relevant to Which Work Environment Fits You? We value your privacy and will never share your number with any third parties.

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