Home or Center

[Learning Daycare]

I'm planning to open next summer or fall at the latest. I'm a renter so I'm finding it very hard to rent a home with enough space for daycare and one which the landlord will allow me to run a daycare. The other option that I'm considering is finding an actual commercial space and turning it into a daycare. I don't really want a huge place room start with. What I want to do is have a space big enough for around 50 children.

I'm really trying to decide whether to:
1)just start with before and aftercare in the beginning
2) do just preschool in the beginning
3) infants and preschool in the beginning

I know there is a huge demand for quality infant care but it limits a lot because of ratios. Based on your experience, if you were in my position, what would you do? I know a lot of variables go into these situations but I NEED HELP!

[laundrymom]

Just be sure to include utilities and rent/insurance/ wages/taxes into your budget if you go big. It could take quite some time to break even.

[TXhomedaycare]

I think it depends on your experience. Since I had no center experience me starting a home was a great to start. I could not imagine trying to l learn how to run a center with no or little experience. If you have a lot of administrative, advertising and childcare experience then go for the center. Good luck!

[Michael]

We have more threads on Home vs Center: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...home+vs+center

[Unregistered]

Have you done child care before? Do you have the required training to be director or would you have to hire a director? Do you have the credentials to be a lead teacher? How long does it take to get licensed in DC? You will have to pay rent on a center until you are licensed. It gets expensive fast.

I love family child care! I've owned a large center and worked in a few centers. They are not for me! I love the coziness and relative calm of FCC in comparison to centers. Cons of FCC are isolation, if you don't have dedicated space your house gets taken over, longer hours, etc.

[AnythingsPossible]

In regards to renting a home to operate daycare out of, you need to sell yourself and your business to potential landlords. They worry about the wear and tear on the home, but they need to also understand that it is within your best interest to take care of their home. In order to operate a good program you need to keep the house clean, well maintained and orderly; things a lot of renters don't do! Make them understand you are not a risk, but a reliable dedicated renter who will care for their property.
I rented my home that we purchased later down the road and the landlord knew going into the contract that I would be doing daycare.