By reading this, you will start off by knowing everything you need to know about starting a daycare business and all the steps you need to take. Also, you need to bring your mind to things you may leave out. Enjoy the read!
What is a Day Care?
Basically, a daycare is any institution that provides supervision and care of infants and young children during the daytime, particularly to enable their parents to hold jobs. Day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks to eighteen years. To start a daycare, it could require you to have extensive training in first aid and be CPR certified. In addition, background checks, drug testing at all centers, and reference verification are normally a requirement. Daycare can comprise advanced learning environments that include early childhood education or elementary education.
Is Opening a Day Care Worth it?
If you are someone who is interested in being a business owner, owning a daycare would be a business worth it for you. You also have to put into consideration some factors like how good you are with kids. However, if you are not good with kids, you can employ people to help you out. Owning a daycare would give you the time you need for yourself. The income you would pull in is also quite reasonable. All factors put into consideration, owning a daycare is worth it if you know what you want.
How much can you make Owning a Day Care?
Research has shown that in owning a daycare business, you could stand to profit an average of $37,000 per year. While some owners of daycare centers also report earning over $60,000 profit per year, some others, however reported hauling in less than $20,000 profit. There are several factors that lead to these numbers including location, size, and demand.
Is Owning a Day Care Profitable?
Many daycare owners start their early childhood caregiving careers at their own homes. They are often fairly profitable because of the low running costs and not having the need for additional staff. To be very profitable, you must be efficient. Try as much as possible to cut cost when necessary but do not cut quality or the safety of the children. To be profitable in your daycare, you also have to be mindful. So not try to grow it too fast. take time in managing expenses, maintaining capacity little by little. Always try to maintain the safety of the children. Happy parents and auditors mean more business coming your way.
How do I start a Day Care with no Money?
If you are thinking about starting a daycare and you have no more, you can apply for grants. You can choose to secure a business loan, either from a bank or from an alternative lender. Even if you start small, there is always going to be start-up costs when opening a daycare. Some of these grants also provide additional education in areas related to child development.
What Equipment do I need to start a Day Care?
In starting a daycare, there are several equipment’s which you would find very necessary. These includes anything ranging from children’s playhouses to furniture to child’s safety equipment. The quantity you would buy depends on the number of children you plan to take in. Be careful not to buy too much, nor too less. Here are a few;
Child-size reclinerCoat/Dress-up RackCow Rocker (toddler) with washable coverEasy Grip PaintbrushesFlannel board with sceneryInfant Bouncer CarKitchen Microwave/Oven/SinkBaby BouncerLarge Felt Boards (30″ x 40″)Light box Desk & ChairNap MatsObservation Activity TablePlaypenPlay structures both indoor and outdoorPlay Houses that are big enoughRed Bopp with Animals and ArcRound Lego Table & ChairRiding Objects such as tricyclesSafety GateSafety Mirror/Baby MirrorSand & Water Table with lidSandbox with LidSmall Table with 2 ChairsSwing Sets; amongst others.
What Age is Best to Start Day Care?
Research has shown that the best age for a child to start daycare is at, at least 12 months. The biggest consideration which you should consider is how your child would take being away from you. Study also shows that starting daycare too early can increase stress level in infants.
How do I Set up a Day Care Business Plan?
Setting up a business plan for your daycare business is one of the very first things you should do when you consider owning a business. You should sit back and think about what you want for your business and how you want to get them done. A business plan may help you organize your ideas for launching your business by identifying the steps you need for business start-up. A day care center business plan will also help you stay on track after you’ve launched your business and as you move toward meeting your goals. It did not set a business plan in stone, however, and you can adjust it periodically as your business grows or your plans change. See Also: 15 Best Personal Finance Classes Online For Beginners & PROs | 2021
What Top Certifications do I need to Open a Day Care?
Most of the time, there are some certifications required to open a day care. You would have to reach out to local governing agencies to find out what certification they require in your area to open a day care. Here are a few general ones;
Diploma or GED
A GED Certification is a certification which separates you from the rest. It is a pretty easy diploma degree which qualifies you to get jobs in construction, maintenance, office and administrative support, occupation and/or physical therapy help, pharmaceutical technology and an array of other fields. By passing your GED exam and completing one year of vocational job training, the areas in which you will be qualified to work is extensive.
Family Child Care Home License (in-home daycare)
Getting a certification in Family Child Care Home gives you an edge in starting your day care business. You would be strictly taught the care and supervision of a child, regularly, unaccompanied by their parent or guardian, in a place other than the child’s own home, with or without compensation. It would also imbibe you with standards for the certification of persons who provide child care for 1 to 3 children under age 7.
Food Handler Certification
If you open a day care and get a certification as much as food handler, it would give parents the courage to leave their children with you. A well-trained and knowledgeable food handler is the backbone of food safety in the retail foodservice setting. It would teach you food safety and meeting the requirements for food for all persons, children inclusive.
First Aid and CPR Certifications
A First Aid and CPR Certification is a must have if you are going to be taking care of people’s children. Health hazards may occur. If you already have a certification, in order to stay in compliance with their guidelines, they require that you renew your certification every two years. If it set your CPR certification to expire within the next six months, it’s time to think about recertification.
General Business License
A General Business licenses certification is a permit issued by government agencies that allow you to conduct business within a geographical jurisdiction. It is the authorization to start a business issued by the local government. This certification would teach you everything you need to know on running a business.
Group Family Child Care Certification
A Group Family Child Care License certification basically teaches you everything you need to know about caring for children in a family home regularly for over three hours per day per child. In this type of care there can be seven to 12 children, ages six weeks to 12 years, plus four more school-age children. To get this certification, you would need to apply online. After you submit an application, you must attend a 15-hour Health and Safety Training.
Health and Safety Permit
A health and safety permit is also very relevant if you are willing to start a daycare business. A safe system is required for all work activities, but particularly for children left with adults. There has to be maintenance activities put in place. Permits are most often required for maintenance work where normal safeguards cannot be used, or where new hazards are introduced by the work. Having this certification would ensure you put in place the necessary tools to ensure the safety of children.
Directors License
The Director’s Certificate program, by Childcare Education Institute (CCEI) provides information for early childhood professionals seeking to further their skills and knowledge in the management of a child care center. This certification would enable you to identify key considerations for developing a child care center philosophy and recognize strategies for maintaining a safe and healthy environment, identify and utilize best practices and strategies for assessing young children’s learning and development, amongst others.
How do I Open a Day Care?
Get Educated: Whilst thinking about owning a daycare, you have to at least be educated enough to affect positively on the children that would be left in your care. As an aspiring small business owner, this is very crucial. An early childhood education degree is a good start as it would even teach you most of the things you need to know about running a daycare.Get a license: One of the very first things you should look into before opening a daycare is to look into the family child care licensing laws and procedures for your state. Each state is different. You’ll have to meet certain requirements in terms of age, education and teaching experience, background checks, home safety, and capacity, amongst other things. To get your license to open a daycare, there may be certain documents which it would require you to provide. You may need a current CPR certification, an unblemished driving record and other documents that show your commitment to children. Gathering all the documentation can be time-consuming, so be sure to plan.
Research Tax Credits- In your plan to open a daycare, you may claim a tax deduction on spaces used for business purposes. This can be the case even if the space doubles as your family room when the children go home for the night. This is a simple yet wonderful way to help cut costs.Seek Grants- To successfully start up a day care at home, you need to get finances. You can choose to secure a business loan, either from a bank or from an alternative lender. Even if you start small, there is always going to be start-up costs when opening a daycare. Some of these grants also provide additional education in areas related to child development.Design your learning environment- How your learning environment looks is one thing that would enable you stand out in starting a day care business at home. You need to imagine what you want your learning space to look like and transform your living space into that. While doing this, you also have to be very careful not to spend way beyond you budget.Get insurance- Getting insured is also another crucial step you need to take in starting up your daycare business. Opening a day care center at home, you should seriously a small business insurance because you risk a lawsuit when you’re running your own business and also caring for other people’s children.Find things that can distinguish you- One of the very first things that can distinguish you in opening a daycare is the name and the way your market your daycare. This step is extremely important. You would want to get a superb name for your day care. In addition, you should also think of having an online platform where people can search for you, find you, sign up, drop reviews and all of that. Parents want to know their children are safe whilst they are out running their own businesses. You need to find things that distinguish you from others and use them as leverage.Pen down your policies and procedures for a handbook- Putting down your policies and procedure for running your daycare would help you more than you know. You would need to decide on some basic operating policies and procedures for your school before you open. You definitely have to decide on things like your hours of operation, holidays and days off, meals and snacks that are allowed for the children, payment schedule, daily flow, children’s ages, late pickups or after school, parts of the home that are off-limits, sick day procedures, emergency procedures, discipline, amongst others. These don’t seem like much of a big deal but you would have to figure them out now. On the long run, they would do more than help you.Hire assistants- Depending on the number of children you will handle; you might be interested in hiring assistants. Running solo when you are taking care of a lot of children can give way for negligence. Every state mostly sets a required ratio of staff to children to ensure that every child receives adequate care. They also dictate the maximum number of children permitted in a group. Following these guidelines, you can know when you need help and consider hiring assistants.Market yourself- Find all the ways you can market yourself. Set up a Facebook page that says your business would come soon. Make a website and get some pictures on it. Post fliers and keep them in libraries, community centers, coffee shops and grocery stores. use social media as much as you can what you can to make your business look professionally ready.Get people to come- Once you have met all these required steps, you are 50% ready. It would be time for you to enroll your first family. First impression always matters. Ensure that the first time they meet you, something about you just makes them want to leave their child with you. Funny right?
Conclusion
Opening a day care can be scary, but since you will take the bold step, it could be worth it. There is no blueprint for success. The key is to stay motivated and constantly remind yourself of the reasons you are doing it. Just ensure you take all the right steps.
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