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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Career In The Daycare Field
Unregistered 11:09 AM 03-01-2013
Ok, hello to everyone.... I have been going back and fourth for years about starting a daycare I am going back to my local community college for early childhood and hoping to open up my own family daycare in my husband and I new home. But I have a bit of concern as to how sucessful my daycare will be financial wise... my husband would love for me to go to school for something that has steady pay, in the beginning I was back and fourth with careers in the medical field but all in all I am a introvert I do well being my own boss , as well as helping out my community and I love children I have two boys of my own that will be starting school this year.. but I am worried that about how sucessful will getting parents and children be... and is it steady pay at Times.. if someone could please just share your experience on when you first started running your daycare and how long did it take for you to start getting families to sign up. ? Any advice is helpful thank you..ps my husband doesnt dislike kids I think he is just worried about the pay..he doesnt know to much about this business.
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Cat Herder 11:24 AM 03-01-2013
The best starting place would be your local Childcare Resource and Referral Center (CCR&R). That is what they are funded for.

It varies so dramatically that answering is almost impossible without your zipcode.

Obviously your home and neighborhood appearance will factor heavily as well as your reputation in the community. Sadly, those will be the first indicators to most parents of the quality of service you offer. Word of mouth advertising is invaluable.

It can be a tricky field to navigate, but IMHO very worth it.
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AnythingsPossible 11:38 AM 03-01-2013
This a very subjective question based on area. What works in one, won't work in another. Things are so different based on where you are located. Even towns 30 minutes part are different. I will share my experience for you though.
When I opened my daycare I lived in a town of 125 people. There is a large town 25 miles away that people work in and a local school that employs nuermous people with families. When I first opened, I had one full time family and 2 part time families. Within the first months I had 3 full time and 3 part time families. By the end of the first year, I still only had the 3 full time families, and had full capacity on some days with part time families. Shortly after my first year in business we moved to the larger town. 75% of my families came with me. It took me a little while to replace the families who didn't come. I have been in business for 11 years and have always averaged about 8 kids in care. Generally I have 4 to 5 full time and then part-timers. I am licensed for 10 and have only occasionally operated at full capacity, though that is a personal choice as I think I provide better care with 8 or less. The town I live in is in a very rural area with a population less then 10,000.
If you are currently going to school for Early Childhood, you will certainly make more doing home childcare rather then working in a pre-school, unless your area pays well. Here, preschool teachers average around 20,000 per year. I average $37,000 before taxes.
If you don't enjoy working out of the home, home childcare may be a good fit. A lot of people who do home childcare end up not liking the isolation. I am not much of a people person and have never worked out of the home so this aspect doesn't bother me. What does bother me is ALWAYS being home. I can't make it to my childrens activities at school or after school. I can't run on my lunch hour and do an errand or anything of that nature, I am working 10 hours a day, plus everything that needs to be done after hours. It takes a lot of time. Personally I feel like I am not as good of a parent for my own children due to taking care of everyone else's. Some people manage this well, I do not! I get tired of having little people stuff in my house. My kids are all much older, so booster, potty seats, toddler toys and such would not be in my house if not for daycare. I get fed up with deep cleaning my table and dining room everyday from little hands making messes. There are lots of little things that irritate me, but they have started over the last few years, they didn't bother me in the beginning.
I would recommend calling your local referall agency if you have one in your area and getting their opinion on daycare requirements in your area. Our licensor is very good about telling people rather there is a need or not. At one point we had nearly 30 childcare's in our town--way to many for the area and she kept telling people it would be hard to get business, they didn't listen, and they are also no longer in business.
You have to be aware of what you are getting in to, and realize it will take over your home unless you have a seperate space, which I would highly recomend. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!
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EntropyControlSpecialist 11:41 AM 03-01-2013
I live in a very small community out in the middle of no where, basically. I also only accept a small age range, which limits potential clients. I'm also only open from 8:00am-5:00pm so that also limits potential clients.

I make more doing this (not even being full) than I would being a public school teacher. I went to school to get an education degree, got it, and decided that this made more sense.
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Unregistered 12:37 PM 03-01-2013
Thank you very much on all of the replies, I live in Charlotte, NC. Most of the home daycare here are full and have waiting list. Which is a great sign. Thanks again this puts lots of things in prospective for me.
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melilley 02:24 PM 03-01-2013
I just opened last month and I have 3 full time kids out of the 5 spots! And there are hundreds family day cares in my city. Don't charge less than what you think you should get and make your home look professional, but kid friendly. That's the feedback I have gotten from parents. They like what my home offers and that it is clean and even commented that some providers they went to for an interview looked very rough themselves and that made them uncomfortable. I could go on and on...lol
It's definitely a good sign that there are waiting lists at family childcare homes around you! Go for it!
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