A daycare can be lucrative if you have experience working as a kindergarten teacher or love kids in general and know how to care for them. But if you need experience opening and managing one, use our guide to get a good head start.
Top Tips for Starting a Daycare Business for Newbies
Here are some of the top pieces of advice that any aspiring daycare business owner can find helpful:
1. Decide the Type of Daycare You Want To Run
Before creating a business plan for your daycare, you must determine what kind you wish to operate. Determine if you want to open one at home or want to invest in a larger commercial facility. Either way, you will have to get different permits depending on the type you choose. Also, determine the age groups you want to focus on. This startup guide can give you a good head start.
Next, decide on the business entity. This will significantly impact how your business is taxed and how you operate it. Will you have partners, or are you establishing the business independently? Different business entities offer different types of protection. For example, if you make it a limited liability company, you will be protected against liabilities.
2. Find a Suitable Location
If you don't wish to open a daycare center in your home, find a suitable location or facility where you can run your business. Several local businesses, recreational centers, and churches have space to accommodate a childcare center for a monthly fee. Search online and in your local paper to find options.
Once you find a good location, check out the city's zoning laws and licensing requirements to ensure your business remains compliant. Legal issues can set you back considerably. Ideally, look for a location that is child-safe and easily accessible. These are the things that parents look for in childcare centers.
3. Get Insurance
Without insurance, you cannot get a license from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). You first need liability insurance that can protect your business in case of accidents and mishaps.
While home-based daycare centers don't require insurance to get licenses from the DHHS, you should still consider getting small business insurance. When you are looking after other people's children, you are at risk of lawsuits. Protect yourself wherever possible.
Besides liability insurance, consider workers' compensation, property insurance, molestation insurance, abuse insurance, and others that a broker can help you choose.
4. Create a Business Plan
A daycare business plan will give you a leg-up over competitors, especially when starting out. It should include the name of the center, mission statement, operations, staffing requirements, marketing, and budget plan.
Also, look up the costs of running the daycare and how you can make it profitable. If you want to avoid using your money, consider getting a small business loan or daycare grant.
5. Create a Contract
After creating a business plan, write up a contract that outlines what you can and will not provide and client expectations. Some of the things you can mention include the following:
· Your policy for caring for sick children
· When parents can pick up their children and the consequences for being late
· Resources you can and cannot provide
· Days off and if you will get paid for them
· How you will handle late payments
· What you may teach children. For example, you may teach them to write their name, but you won't change diapers
· How you will handle accidents at the daycare
Consider hiring a lawyer to review the contract before presenting it to parents, so you don't miss anything important.
Starting a daycare center for the first time can be overwhelming. While every childcare facility is different, they all follow these essential tips to create a strong foundation. The key is to remain motivated and always remember why you are running it in the first place. Some mistakes will be costly, but take them as learning experiences for a better future.
That is what we teach here at Standout Daycare. We offer readymade curriculums on life skills, necessary daycare forms, bulletin board ideas, learning binders, eBooks, and more.
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