New here, starting a daycare, help?

[VanessaB]

Hello, my name is Vanessa and I am new to this forum. I've been eagerly reading all the threads and learning lots of information! I am in the process of opening a family child care, however, I would like to house the business in a different building then my own home (I rent a small town home.) So I am looking into church spaces and community centers around my community. I haven't gotten any solid information on what rent would look like (I'll be making more calls today.) I am scheduled to attend a family child care orientation through the county in mid July. I've been writing up a mission, philosophy and goals for the child care. I've been outlining a handbook with policies and procedures. I've been researching the educational methods that I would like to implement into my program.
My idea is for this child care to be more of a preschool for children 2.5 (potty trained)-6 years old.
So does anyone have experience with renting your daycare space? I would gladly take any suggestions or critiques of my "plan." Anything I should absolutely be prepared for that I may over look? Anything else i should be doing at this point? How much do you think would be too much to spend on rent a month?
Thanks so much!

[Blackcat31]

Welcome to the forum!

What state are you located in? There are so many different rules and regulations for each state that it gets confusing.

[VanessaB]

I'm in Minnesota.

[Blackcat31]

I'm in Minnesota.

Well, welcome neighbor! I am also in MN. (Northern MN)

If you have any specific questions about licensing or anything, let me know.

I've been in business for 20+ years and run my child care out of a separate building. My DH and I purchased a home strictly for child care use after I quit my job working at Head Start.

I have a preschool curriculum that we use during the school year, but I accept children from infancy until Kindergarten age (no school age kids though)

Are you looking to become a licensed family child care or a licensed center?

[VanessaB]

Hi Black Cat! I am looking to become a licensed family care provider. It is future goal to own and operate a center though.

[coolconfidentme]

WELCOME!!!

My child care is in a large house in town that I do not live in. (I live in the country.) I'm open mon-fri, 1st 2nd & 3rd shifts. My small town loves my hours. (I secretly love my weekends, .)

[preschoolteacher]

Hi Vanessa, I'm in MN, too (Metro area). Welcome!

I think the first thing you'd want to do is figure out what kind of license you will get. Are you going for family daycare or group family daycare? The difference is how many kids you can have.

You need special qualifications (education, experience) to get a group family license off the bat. Otherwise, you can get it after 1 year doing family daycare.

With a family daycare license, you can care for 8 children at one time. Of that 8, only 6 can be younger than kindergarten-age. Of that 6, only 3 can be younger than 2.

Next, I'd figure out what you can charge for childcare. What are the average going rates in your area? It makes a difference if you live in a city versus a rural area.

Average MN childcare rates for 2012:

http://www.childcareawaremn.org/families/paying-for-child-care/child-care-costs-in-minnesota

Find out how much you would make per week depending on how many kids you would enroll... your rent really should not be a major percentage of your profit. This money you would make weekly is before taxes, before expenses, etc. Once you take out taxes, expenses for food, expenses for materials, rent... is what is left over in your paycheck enough to meet your needs?

Do you own your equipment already (toys, chairs, tables, highchairs, Pack-N-Play, etc.)? If not, have you budgeted for those start-up costs? FYI: Garage sales this summer are the best place to get great toys!!!

Have you considered marketing?

Also take into consideration that daycare providers do not always have full enrollment all the time. There will be a period of time when you will be open, trying to line up families, but will not have all your spaces filled. Then a family might move away or cancel for the summer. You can't count on always having those spaces filled, so having a savings account to pay the rent on lean months is a good idea.

I would read all of the Tom Copeland books! They are great ways to learn about how to start a daycare. And keep coming here. I've learned so much from the other providers.

[Blackcat31]

@Preschool teacher~ Where did you find the info saying that a family child care provider can only care for 8 children?

I was always under the understanding that a newly licensed Class A provider (one adult) can watch 10 children. (moving into group care after 1 year of being an active provider)

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=9502.0367

Also here are the reimbursement rates for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) for each specific county for Non-accredited providers. The rate for reimbursement for accredited providers is slightly higher.

https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-6441A-ENG

[preschoolteacher]

Sorry, bad info on my part! 10 is right. Thanks BC.