Start Your Own Profitable Childcare Business

Child care (or "childcare", "child minding", "daycare", or "preschool") is the caring for and supervision of a child or children, usually from age six weeks to age thirteen. Child care is the action or skill of looking after children by a day-care center, babysitter, or other providers. Child care is a broad topic covering a wide spectrum of contexts, activities, social and cultural conventions, and institutions. The majority of child care institutions that are available require that child care providers have extensive training in first aid and are CPR certified. In addition, background checks, drug testing not at all centers, and reference verification are normally a requirement. Child care can cost up to $15,000 for one year in the United States. The average annual cost of full-time care for an infant in center-based care ranges from $4,863 in Mississippi to $16,430 in Massachusetts. Approximately six out of every ten children, or almost 12 million children, age five and younger, are being jointly cared for by parents and early childhood educators, relatives, or other child-care providers. Early child care is a very important and often overlooked component of child development. Child care providers are our children's first teachers, and therefore play an integral role in our systems of early childhood education. Quality care from a young age can have a huge impact on the future successes of children.

A childcare business is a great way to earn a living if you enjoy working with children. There are two options for running a childcare business. If you want to care for a large amount of children, your best option is to start a center-based business. Those with children of their own, or who want to work from home, may want to consider a home-based, or family, childcare center.

The business of child care offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to pursue a passion for child care and child development while enjoying the independence and responsibility of being your own boss.

Childcare Business Structure

You don't necessarily need a large home to start an in-home day care business. Use your living room, kitchen, basement and even family bedrooms for child care, meal and nap areas. Your state may require you to have a minimum number of square feet of space per child, but you can generally care for at least a few children in the living areas of your home or apartment. You may learn the square footage requirements in your state by contacting the agency that handles day-care licensing in your area. Additionally, you may need permission from your landlord if you plan to open an in-home day care business in a rental property.

As a business owner, you can set the hours you prefer for your in-home day care. To stay competitive, however, check other child care businesses in the area and learn their hours of operation to make sure your hours meet your market's needs. In addition, you may consider remaining open when most day care centers and family day care homes are closed. For example, you may provide overnight care or open a couple of hours earlier than other child care businesses in the area.

Often, catering to a specific age group makes providing child care easier. For example, you may restrict enrollment to toddlers in order to have an entire group that is mobile. Alternatively, you may choose to accept only preschoolers to make going out for walks and on field trips easier. If your goal is keeping one group of children for a long period of time, however, you may choose infants in the hopes that their parents will keep them with you until they are old enough to enroll in school. Sometimes, however, the fastest way to fill a home day care is by accepting mixed ages.

Planning Your Childcare Business

Planning is an important part of running a successful day care business in your home. A business plan may help you consolidate your ideas for your business and organize the steps necessary to meet your goals. Additionally, you can refer to your business plan periodically to evaluate whether you are on track or need to make adjustments. A budget may also help you manage your business expenses and avoid overspending.

There are many ways to keep the children in your care interested and engaged. Story times, games and songs are good activities for small groups. You may also provide age-appropriate toys and puzzles children may use for independent play. Additionally, you may provide outdoor play equipment or plan frequent trips to a park or playground with your tiny charges. Even going for walks may prove enjoyable.

In many states, an in-home day care business can accept up to six children at one time. Often, a group day-care home may enroll up to 12. If you choose to care for a small group of children, you may be able to give each child more attention. A larger group, however, may translate into higher earnings, possibly enough to hire a helper or two to assist you with the business. You can read an overview of your state's group-size requirements at Daycare.com.

Instruction:

Step 1

Attend a licensing orientation to learn the rules and regulations of running a center-based childcare center in your community. Every community has different regulations that must be followed or you risk losing your license. This should be done before choosing a location for setting up your center, as there may be rules pertaining to distance from liquor stores, bars or clubs. You can learn about licensing orientations by contacting your local municipal center.

Step 2

Determine how many children you are going to care for and the age groups you will service. This will determine how many square feet your center needs to be, both indoors and outdoors, as well as how much staff you will need to hire. The information on square footage and staff-child ratio will be provided to you at the licensing orientation.

Step 3

Choose the building you will use to run your center based childcare. Take into consideration the childcare need in the area you are planning to run your business. To find this information, research the census information for the neighborhood you are considering and look at the age groups and financial information. When selecting the building, verify that the plumbing, food preparation areas, ventilation, lighting and emergency exits meet the licensing requirements for your city and state. It is recommended to have the building inspected for building, sanitation, zoning and fire codes before signing a lease or purchase agreement.

Step 4

Fulfill your licensing requirements. These may include a health physical, immunizations, tuberculosis testing, background check, fingerprinting, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid certification, and preventative health and safety class.

Step 5

Get Insured. Adequate insurance protection is another requirement for your child care business. If you intend to operate the business from your home, you will need fire and theft insurance. If you have insurance, make sure your policy covers the supplies and equipment that you purchase. You will also have to purchase liability insurance to protect your facilities, staff and children.

Step 6

Prepare your center for inspection. Preparation may consist of installing cabinet locks, setting up changing tables if you are servicing infants and/or toddlers, putting up smoke detectors and inserting electrical outlet covers. You may also need to post an emergency evacuation plan and material safety data sheets (MSDS). If your center passes inspection, you will obtain your child care license. If you do not pass the first time, you will be given an opportunity to correct the errors and arrange to be inspected again.

Step 7

Schedule a family childcare orientation with your local licensing department.This is where you will learn how to open a childcare business out of your home while meeting the requirements of your city and state. You will also be given an application packet that you must complete in order to obtain your background check.

Step 8

Read the lease if you rent a home or live in an apartment. Some companies or individuals have a clause in their lease regarding home-based childcare centers in order to protect their property.

Step 9

Complete your immunizations and other required tests to get your license.This may include a health physical and/or tuberculosis test. Caring for children requires a lot of bending, moving and lifting, so you must be in good physical health.

Step 10

Childproof your home. These measures include locking cabinets, moving poisons and sharp objects out of reach, covering sharp corners and inserting electrical outlet covers. Verify that the outdoor play area is safe for children by checking for uncovered wells, poisonous or sharp plants such as cacti, and that access to the road is blocked.

Step 11

Arrange for your home inspection. If you pass the home inspection the first time and have completed your application packet and background investigation, you will be granted your license. If you did not pass, you can arrange for another inspection after completing the errors.

Step 12

Hire people to staff your childcare center. Be careful when selecting your staff, as they will be working in close contact with the children. It is advisable to conduct complete background investigations and ensure the staff is up to date on their immunizations.

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