Thinking of starting a day care

[adahl]

Hello I am new on here. I am looking into starting a day care. My husband and I would like to start a family of our own and I am trying to see what I can do after the baby is born to work from home. I realize I have to get licensed. I have als heard there is a program you can get on through the goverment to get some money back on providing food. Do any of you do this? Also I have no clue what I should charge, do you guys have any resources for me?

[MichaelC]

Which state do you live in?

[Unregistered]

Google your state in a ' how to start a day care in -' format. I did that for PA and this was one site i was given. It gave me the licensing agency contact info. Also as for what to charge, my mother and i were going to reopen our daycare in NY, because we live in a city, what to charrge was an easy qustion, call all other local daycares pretending u r intrested and get an idea of wat ur area charges.

[Unregistered]

i'm new to this, i'm a single mother looking for daycare assistance, and i don't know where to start. I really need some kind of direction. I need to get my 1 year old son out of the sitting situation that he is in right now. please help

[Unregistered]

Hi I am wondering if it is safer and more practical to start a family day care inside my home prior to branching out into something bigger center-based?

[Unregistered]

If your new to daycare and are looking to add to family income, and are questioning "starting big compared to small" I'd suggest starting small.
I have worked in big centers before and when I decided to open a daycare I decided to do a home based daycare first and I'm glad I did!
Initial outlay was $4,000 (we remodeled our basement to a playroom, crib room, kitchen and bathroom for the daycare) and all the cribs, high chairs, etc.
Well the first year (I live in Massachusetts) I earned $45,000 with only 6 full time kids. I am now in my 10th year and still run between 6 and 8 kids (I have the state license for a 6 + 2 which means 6 kids under 5 and 2 school aged kids) and am earning more than $60,000 a year. My business has paid for all 3 of my own children's college educations.
I have looked into starting a bigger business, center care as they call it here, but have found the profit margine, not to mention the headaches, wouldn't make it any more financially worthwhile.
I suggest starting small, seeing if it's really what you want to do, then you have the option of going large.
Additionally, I am now registered in my town as a preschool and I really love doing preschool with the kids each day. Some of my children only come for the preschool in the morning and others stay all day. So even though I'm small I have respect in the community and find my business very rewarding.
Good luck, it's a wonderful line of work

[Unregistered]

like you i have been doing in home childcare for about 9 months and i love it. I'm kinda stuck here. I live in Louisiana and i'm certified through the child care assistant program to care for 6 children. Were to i look to get info on gettin liscensed to keep more in my home and how many more can i get. i would like to hire a helper but with 6 kids i can't afford it.

[Cassandra]

Thank you! This was VERY helpful ...

If your new to daycare and are looking to add to family income, and are questioning "starting big compared to small" I'd suggest starting small.
I have worked in big centers before and when I decided to open a daycare I decided to do a home based daycare first and I'm glad I did!
Initial outlay was $4,000 (we remodeled our basement to a playroom, crib room, kitchen and bathroom for the daycare) and all the cribs, high chairs, etc.
Well the first year (I live in Massachusetts) I earned $45,000 with only 6 full time kids. I am now in my 10th year and still run between 6 and 8 kids (I have the state license for a 6 + 2 which means 6 kids under 5 and 2 school aged kids) and am earning more than $60,000 a year. My business has paid for all 3 of my own children's college educations.
I have looked into starting a bigger business, center care as they call it here, but have found the profit margine, not to mention the headaches, wouldn't make it any more financially worthwhile.
I suggest starting small, seeing if it's really what you want to do, then you have the option of going large.
Additionally, I am now registered in my town as a preschool and I really love doing preschool with the kids each day. Some of my children only come for the preschool in the morning and others stay all day. So even though I'm small I have respect in the community and find my business very rewarding.
Good luck, it's a wonderful line of work