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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Sister Wanting To Join Me Working At My Daycare
Izzyjenni 08:06 PM 04-19-2015
My sister is a new mom and she was planning on me watching her baby (my niece) in the fall. She just asked me what I thought about her joining me working at my daycare. I just opened last year and am not sure what to do. I would love to have her work with me but at the same time, I am unsure of how that would work. My daycare is in my home and I have a capacity of 10 (8 under school age). If we work together we can take more children, but that doesn't mean we make more money since 3 of the kids are our own. Also, since the it is my daycare, do I hire her as an employee or do we operate it together as partners and share the cost. Does anyone else have a similar situation working with a co-worker/family member, or friend? How do you do it? What is the breakdown of income and how do you pay for food/supplies/insurance/etc? What makes the most sense? Again, I may not do this with her but wanted to look into it so that I could make a wise decision? She is an elementary teacher just like I was so I know she would do well and it would be nice to work with another adult and share duties...looking for someone who could offer information on how they do this.
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daycare 08:18 PM 04-19-2015
I didn't even make it all the way through your post.

Don't do it. Never work or hire family or friends. Worst thing you can do.
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Thriftylady 08:21 PM 04-19-2015
I wouldn't do it. These things between friends and family rarely work in my experience. I would say if she wants to do home daycare, perhaps you can help her get started on opening her own.
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Unregistered 08:33 PM 04-19-2015
My sister and I intentionally decided to start a home daycare together in her home with the main purpose of her being able to stay home with her child. We ended up forming an LLC and the start up cost we split. Once we started the "company" pays for the expenses. It has worked out well because there is always one of us here if one of us has an appointment or are sick. We both decided from the beginning how to split the work which came naturally since I have background in ECE. I agree that working with family/relatives does not work for every one, only you will know if it will work out for you and your sister.
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Sunshine74 09:12 PM 04-19-2015
Originally Posted by daycare:
I didn't even make it all the way through your post.

Don't do it. Never work or hire family or friends. Worst thing you can do.
Originally Posted by Thriftylady:
I wouldn't do it. These things between friends and family rarely work in my experience. I would say if she wants to do home daycare, perhaps you can help her get started on opening her own.
I think it all depends on the relationship between the OP and her sister. I work with my sister we both really enjoy it. We compliment each other well (strengths and weakness, not that we say nice things to each other ) and it is pretty easy to get on the same page. But it really all depends on their relationship.

I think that what the unregistered poster did with her daycare is a good idea though.

Originally Posted by Unregistered:
My sister and I intentionally decided to start a home daycare together in her home with the main purpose of her being able to stay home with her child. We ended up forming an LLC and the start up cost we split. Once we started the "company" pays for the expenses. It has worked out well because there is always one of us here if one of us has an appointment or are sick. We both decided from the beginning how to split the work which came naturally since I have background in ECE. I agree that working with family/relatives does not work for every one, only you will know if it will work out for you and your sister.

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Unregistered 11:00 PM 04-19-2015
I did this with a good friend for a few years and it worked out very well. We got along great, had similar philosophies, and it made the job both easier and much more fun having someone to work with. If you own the business, you will need to pay your sister as an employee. Calculate how much extra you will bring in with the extra children you can enroll and see if it is worth the hourly wage (at least minimum wage) you would need to pay her. I have employees, one whom is my daughter), and although overall I make less because of the expense of having the employees (the extra kids don't make up the whole cost of the employee) having the extra person there to help out and talk to makes it worth it to me. One of the biggest bonuses for me in having two people is having one person who can prep lunch while the other watches the kids.
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NightOwl 01:40 AM 04-20-2015
NO. I worked with my sister and it did not turn out well. And our relationship hasn't been the same since. But we are very different people and don't share the same work ethic nor the same parenting styles.
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DaisyMamma 04:29 AM 04-20-2015
It's a very bad idea. That's all.
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Martha Stewart 05:57 AM 04-20-2015
Sister or not, I would hate having someone else being in my home all the time, operating our business. Ultimately, it's your home that will take the beating, you who will assume much of the liability - your insurance, you who should make all the rules regarding your home. I could go on and list all the million reasons I think it's a bad idea. If you want to go into business with your sister, maybe consider a separate facility.
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Blackcat31 06:16 AM 04-20-2015
Originally Posted by Martha Stewart:
Sister or not, I would hate having someone else being in my home all the time, operating our business. Ultimately, it's your home that will take the beating, you who will assume much of the liability - your insurance, you who should make all the rules regarding your home. I could go on and list all the million reasons I think it's a bad idea. If you want to go into business with your sister, maybe consider a separate facility.
This ^^

I don't think the decision should have anything to do with the fact that this person is your sister.

Many people can and do work successfully with family members.

As a self-employed small business owner, I'd have a hard time having a second person in my home all the time. Especially if it was my home.

Another facility maybe.... I can see myself doing that without issue but not in my home and with one of the children that occupies one of THE MOST valuable spaces being your employees/sister's child.
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nannyde 08:41 AM 04-20-2015
Read my hiring a staff assistant blogs.

Does she breastfeed her baby? Does she baby wear and attachment parent?
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NoMoreJuice! 08:51 AM 04-20-2015
Terrible idea, sorry. You will make less money, have more stress, and that equals resentment towards your sister. Maybe not in a week, or a month, but definitely within a short time frame.
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spinnymarie 10:26 AM 04-20-2015
My sister and I also intentionally started a home daycare together. There is definitely a lot of give-and-take - something I think that you have to be prepared for.
We have a partnership, and the company pays all expenses, including rent to my family for use of my home and utilities etc. She has one child, a baby, and I have three: a SA, and two PK. We operate out of my basement - a place that we renovated specifically for our daycare and that I don't use otherwise.
I did this by myself for a year before we joined forces and I can say from experience that it is a far more enjoyable job with her here. We share in all the responsibilities, sometimes equally sometimes unequally and we talk about problems as soon as possible. She does more of the cleaning and I do more of the paperwork and it works well that way. We go to the grocery store together, and buy a cart for daycare, a cart for me and a cart for her all at once.
Last year I felt lonely, isolated, and a bit bored. This year we can do more activities, trade off on the unpleasant ones, complain to one another, etc.
We each have Early Childhood degrees, and get along well - all of which I think are important. We make all the business decisions together.
I think it can be risky and you have to have a plan and know what to expect and what you expect of each other.
I sometimes get annoyed with her, and her with me and we squabble occasionally, but I know for sure that this is the best possible scenario for me and for her.
I can easily see how this would not work at all for some people. My mother and her sister could never work together daily.
ETA: In IL I could have 6 under 6 by myself, or 12 under 6 with two people. I make slightly more this year than I did last year - not as much as I could if I hired a cheap assistant, however, having someone I can count on as an equal makes it worth it to me, and to her.
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