Loving children and being ready to spend most of your time taking care of several of them is not quite enough to start and run your own daycare business. However, it’s the first prerequisite of such decision of yours. You will have to not just enjoy having many children around you, but develop a complex educational program for them and carry out entertaining and funny games, prepare healthy food and snacks and know how to tackle misbehavior and tantrums. Being able to establish a special connection with children of different character and personality and develop friendly relationship is also a key factor to the success of your future business, as parents will trust and bring their children only to that place, where they’re really comfortable staying in, where they learn something new and acquire social skills. Basically, you have to make children happy and willing to learn and play away from their parents.
The fact is that with the population expansion and growing quantity of children in the US, daycare and babysitting services have become extremely demanded. There’re several reasons behind that fact. The most obvious cause is that most of the parents can’t afford staying at home and taking care of their kid(s) without someone’s help, as they have to work hard to provide for their family. On the other hand, people become more and more confident to have several children. That’s why the number of kids, who have to be looked after, has increased over the past several years. So, most likely, your business won’t lack clients if you do everything right.
But, before you can start working, you have to go through quite complicated legal procedure to receive all permissions indicating your eligibility to work in this sphere, allowing you to keep children in a certain pre-prepared compartment and carry out different educational activities.
Moreover, organizational steps like finding out an appropriate location for your daycare, hiring nannies and other stuff if you need so, getting all necessary furniture and preparing the place for children will take quite a while as well.
So, as it’s quite a serious long project, let’s figure out what needs to be done to open a daycare center and the sequence of all those activities to get started as soon as possible. Now, get mentally prepared and go for it.
Step 1. Professional training and licensing orientation
First of all, if you don’t have an education related to the child care and teaching or if you haven’t gone through similar courses, it’s nice to do that beforehand. Parents are more likely to trust a certified professional, you know. Also, as you’ll be working with multiple kids at the same time, and they might have special medical conditions or just get into trouble and hurt themselves (they’re kids, there’s nothing wrong with that), it’s better for you to attend and finish first aid courses to be able to provide decent help when necessary.
Those skills and certificates will serve you even if you don’t open a daycare center of your own in the end, as you will be able to apply for work in the already functioning institution or find work as a nanny or babysitter.
The next step is to visit license orientation to figure out the legal procedure of starting a daycare and get the list of permissions you’ll have to obtain. The thing is that each state and even community has its own regulations which define that subject, and their provisions might differ. Those conditions and permissions are quite detailed, as they determine even how far from liquor stores, clubs and other similar places your daycare center should be.
Also, there’re two separate procedures for opening a daycare center in a separate, designated only for that matter building/place and doing the same thing, but in your own house.
The good thing about that is that you have an opportunity to start business without having to spend too much money on renting/buying the accommodation. So, you actually don’t need too much money to open a small family-type daycare.
Step 2. Visiting other daycare centers
Don’t miss this step, as it’s really important. If you haven’t been to more than one or two daycare centers in your life, then you have to visit at least 5 of them to see your options, get acquainted with the operation specifics and see the differences in methods people use. Pay attention to every small detail, observe the teachers’ interaction and connection with kids and think of what you’re going to do and what you’ll refrain from, what services you’ll provide and which ones you won’t and how you’re going to set up the center.
Step 3. Determining how many children you’ll take at once (and their age)
That derives from the type of daycare you’re planning to open (see step 1). You won’t be able to take care of too many children if you’ll organize a daycare in your own house. But, don’t get disappointed at once, as some parents even prefer sending their children to smaller places, where their kids receive more attention and don’t feel abandoned in a large group of kids, supervised by one or two adults only.
Decide if you’re going to work with babies and toddlers (children above 3 years), as it will influence the way you’ll have to prepare the location and probably the licensing procedure. Besides, it’s a whole different responsibility (you’ll actually be a nursery), so think if you’re ready for that.
Step 4. Fund-raising
Determine your budget and see, how much money you already have in savings and how much you’ll have to borrow from a bank or friends/family members. Don’t forget to include all the licensing fees into that sum.
If you’re going to address the bank to get a loan, you’ll have to develop a detailed business plan to convince bank officials that your cause is worth investing in.
Check for some government small business assistance programs or grants to see if you’re able to receive a part of the start-up capital from them.
Step 5. Finding location and making it baby/toddler/child proof
Searching for a perfect place that’s large, light and comfortable enough for kids is a big deal. Not everyone will be ready to lease his place for a daycare center. But, I’m not saying that it’s completely impossible. Setting it up in your own house is a good option as well.
Once you’ve solved all problems related to the location, start purchasing all necessary furniture, equipment, toys, educational materials to turn an empty space to a real daycare center. You’ll have to set up classrooms, play areas, crafting station, etc. Soft carpets and warm floors are must-haves for a daycare center.
If you’ll accept infants and toddlers, you’ll have to purchase cribs, changing tables, high chairs and all baby necessities as well.
Don’t forget to make sure that all stuff you’re buying is safe for kids. Avoid sharp furniture corners, potentially dangerous toys and unnatural materials.
Step 6. Defining your role in business
Decide whether you’re going to do all the management part only or if you’re going to be directly involved in the daycare’s functioning as a nanny/teacher. Most likely, you’ll have to combine those roles in the beginning. And, if your business develops and appears to be profitable, you’ll be able to hire additional staff.
Step 7. Legal arrangements
This is going to be one of the most difficult and time-consuming steps. I would even recommend to consult with a lawyer to get all clear answers and tips on how to make the process easier without missing one single detail.
- Daycare license
That’s the most important thing to do, as if you don’t get licensed, you won’t be able to operate legally. So, visit your local child care center to find out the license requirements if you haven’t done that during the licensing orientation. You’ll need to fulfill all of them to be able to apply for license. Those requirements will include medical examination, vaccination, clear record, education and professional training, proper location, first aid certificate obtainment and even fingerprinting. The full list is different in each community, so you’ll have to double-check it on your own.
- Center inspection
Prepare your center for a thorough inspection and examination. In order to do that, check out the requirements to the location of the daycare institutions in the office of your local municipal authority and make sure that your place meets them.For instance, smoke and fire detectors, a plan for an emergency evacuation, child-proof electrical outlets are the things you’ll have to install for sure. Besides, if you’re turning your own house into a daycare, don’t forget to make the area the kids will spend their time in completely safe (no sharp corners, open front doors, pools without baby gates, etc.). Close the access to the kitchen and various dangerous items (like washing machines, electrical equipment in general, poisonous plants, etc.)
- Hiring staff
Hire a teacher and a nanny if necessary. Check out their education, experience, health and background before doing that. Also, make sure that your license allows you to hire personnel. If you’re going to include feeding into the list of your services, finding a separate person to cook is a good idea as well.In the long run, you may hire an accountant to deal with the taxes and daycare’s financial affairs.
Step 8. Promotion of your services and building up the clients base
Let your friends, co-workers and family members who have children know that you’ve opened a daycare center. That’s the best and the most efficient way to attract your first clients and receive your very first references.
Print out business cards and leaflets to spread the word about your business. Post an ad in your local newspaper. Visit HireRush.com to create a profile of your own daycare and promote your services among the wide audience. It’s completely free, so why don’t you give it a try? I promise, you’ll only benefit from that.
Promote your Daycare center
