Child Care Center
How To Start Your Own Child Care Center
Due in part to our struggling economy many individuals have found the need to start up their own business – and some are more profitable than others. One area that is always in high demand, however, is child care. Child care specialists make anywhere from $25 to $75 per week for each child they care for. In other words, they can bring in some serious cash. There are several main concerns when attempting to start your own child care center, however. You’ll need to obtain the proper licensing and insurance in your area, of course, but there are a lot of things to think about as well.
Where To Begin
First of all, you’ll need to check with your state and local agencies and inquire about any mandates or requirements involved with turning your home into a child care center. Many states require that a daycare provider has a certain amount of actual space inside and outside of the building and that the yard surrounding your building is completely fenced in. Here you can find out about other possible requirements, as well, like the need to have a licensed teacher or nurse on hand. Every state and city is different in this regard, so you’ll want to make sure you are familiar with the guidelines in your area.
Next you’ll want to determine your exact business hours. Average daycare hours are from 6 am to 6 pm. This leaves plenty of time for parents to drop their kids off in the morning and pick up them up before you close down for the night – and it leaves you with enough off-time to enjoy your evenings, as well.
After you have determined your business hours, you’ll need to consider a meal plan for each child. Whether or not you include breakfast is up to you, and some child care centers even charge an additional fee for it. The cost of lunch is usually factored in to the overall weekly cost, but if you are feeding a child dinner then you may want to add an extra dollar or two to their bill.
You’ll also want to make sure you have plenty of outdoor playthings that are safe and appropriate for children of all ages. And of course when there are children playing outside, you’ll need to make sure you have someone on staff that can monitor them the entire time – it only takes a minute for something to go terribly wrong at a daycare.
