Home Daycare

[Qpmomma]

Ok, I may be taking the plunge and quit my job and start a home daycare. My mom has a vacant house that just sits, and she wants to do something with it. My husband isn't all for it. At my job now I get insurance and he will have to add me to his which is $80 more a week, and I would be cutting my pay in half if I quit my job.

We have a 20 month old who goes to a church daycare 5 days a week. If we had another kid right now we would not be able to afford daycare and we both want another baby. Plus, My baby is at daycare more than she's at home.

My daycare would be open from 6am-6:00pm (my mom would run it in the mornings and I would in the afternoons). The only non-holiday day I would want off is Christmas eve. The house has 3 bedrooms (one would be my daughter's room because I feel she needs a place that isn't taken over by daycare), a kichen, bath, livingroom, loft, fenced in patio and swingset.

I also have my dog training certification and I plan on training dogs on the weekends (my other passion). I just really hate the job I have now and I'm away from my baby all the time. It's a high stress job and the stress is messing with me physically.

If all goes well, we can have the daycare upnand running at the end of this month.

[Michael]

Nice to have you back. The weekdays are busier and you should have some more comments after the weekend.

[3kidzmama]

First, good luck!! It's wonderful to be able to work and have your children with you.

My advice would be to advertise like crazy before quitting your current job, get your name out in every way possible. Next, be sure to have a back-up plan "just in case"!! You may not need it, but you never know in this economy.

Is there some way your mom could run it on her own for a while to get it up and going, before you quit your job? If so, that would be ideal, in my opinion, in order to see if you are going to be able to make it.

Again, good luck!!! Children are fantastic!!!

[Qpmomma]

Thanks for the replies! No, my mom owns another company and she needs to be there too. She can pay me to start out until we get kids. I need either 3 preschool age kids or 2 infants to be able to do this. I am not taking in part time kids. And I am not going to be licenced at first. In my state I can have 5 kids without being licenced. My mom and I took the state class on daycares and licencing.

The house is near a school, library, and house addition. So, we should be able to get the kids we need. I'm not charging what other home daycares charge in my area, and I can stay open more than other daycares too. There's one home DC that is run by an older lady. She charges more than some facilities. When she's sick she has no one to cover for her, and she takes off for a week on Christmas and Thanksgiving. My mom will run it when I am sick and the only days I will be closed are Christmas eve, Christmas day, New Years day, and Thanksgiving day. The job I have now requires me to work weekends and holidays, so this will be so awesome!

I have a membership to the children's museum and zoo aand I can get in 10 childeren for free. I want to be able to take the dcks but I don't know how that would work. Would I need to get special insurance?

The more I think about it, the more I want to do it! How long did it take you guys to get 3 kids?

[MNMum]

It sounds like this may be a good option for your family. I recently quit my RN job and I am doing daycare 4 days/wk. I started in August. I was able to get clients right away and I am full now, but daycare for little ones is in high need in my area. I think my background, experience with children, and setting helped with getting clients quick, too.

Some things to think about: Do you really want or need to be open 12 hours/day? Could you either open early or stay open late, but not have to do both?

If you feel you are going to be providing a quality service, I would not go much below the going rate in your area. It was difficult for me to decide on a rate, as I am only open M-Th. However, I now know my day care families are getting a great deal, and I don't feel that raising rates on them right away would be appropriate. Don't sell yourself below market value.

I also had to work Holidays and weekends in my previous job, and no way did I want to continue doing that. Really think about that one. Maybe take at least Memorial Day/Labor day as well. Often times at least one parent has the holiday off. Other posters can give their two cents on this one, that is just my opinion.

I would recommend setting up a website. Pictures speak 1000 words. You can do a "classroom site" on Shutterfly really easily and they look great. And they are FREE!

If you are planning on becoming licensed soon, let parents know that. Usually they understand that it is a process and are willing to sign their kids up if they know that licensing standards are being followed and the provider is working towards licensure, which can take many months.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Before you do anything check the regulations in your state. In FL, unless you reside in the house full time, you CANNOT be a "home daycare", you must be licensed as a center. Also check with your city's ZONING regulations. If you have to be a center, you will need proper zoning.

[Qpmomma]

I've thought about that and honestly, there is a need for daycares to be opened for 12 hours. And the job I have now I get in at 7:30am and I may work until 1-2 the next morning and I still am expected to come back in at 7:30 the next day. This past weekend I was so excited to go out of town with my mom and baby. I had my bags in the car, ready to get off at 4:30pm. At 2pm I was told I had to stay and woek all weekend. I was in tears I was so mad. When I got married I had to cancel a dress fitting because I had to come in. I may go ahead and take off for school holidays( Labor day, ect).

As afar as licencing goes: the house is actually on my mom's 20 acre property. It's connected to the main house that my mom lives in by a door, so technically, it's part of the main house. The second house was built for my sister and her 2 kids, but she moved out last year and my mom wants to do something with it. We looked into commercial property, but in our state you need a teaching licence even if you are not running a preschool.

It has a long driveway with a lot of parking, and my mom has it plowed anyway when it snows. It has it's own entrance. It also has a fenced in back porch with an attached fenced in play set. My mom has an acre pond and she had it all fenced in so my sister's kids could play without having to worry about the pond.

The only thing is I will be taking a HUGE pay cut at first. However, most of my pay goes towards daycare and gas anyway.

[cheerfuldom]

it may not be as huge of a pay cut as you think if you are spending that much in daycare. you have to consider your current daycare costs with your future daycare income as your new income, ykwim? like I have 3 kids. with what I make from my daycare and the savings from not sending my own kids to daycare, I make a lot more than at my previous job

[Unregistered]

Sounds like a great idea, i do say advertise for sure. Of course it does help to be part of a church body who might be happy to have a smaller group setting for kids. They tend to do better that way.