Help! - Opening My Own Childcare

Rules on licensing, who must be licensed, ratios, etc, etc...are different in every single state. Sounds like you are going the legal, licensed route for your state! Good for you!

I am in MN, so those things are different, and we are the only state where it is illegal for us to call around about pricing (its considered price fixing due to a legal case here 20 some years ago), but we have a good Resource and Referral for the state..county breakdowns...of pricing averages as we are all asked to do a yearly "rate survey" and they compile the info. But gals who live a few blocks from me charge differently than I do!

Does your area commonly do Food Programs? Mine has all online programming. We track daily and submit monthly then get direct deposits from them (sort of like the school lunch program...$$ reimbursement to help us pay for healthy foods..and we have standards and meal components we must serve..get visits from reps who monitor us a few times a year. We also get 2 hours of free training from them each year. The online program also has a great accounting program, some forms that are nice and other materials! Its called Minute Menu Kids)

Have a good and very thorough policy book and contract. Cover late fees, your paid time off, who is responsible for back up care (parent or provider), be specific with illness policies, a bereavement policy/days off for yourself (rarely used but if you need it you will wish you had it in there). Decide who is providing what...bottles, nuks, baby food and formula (Food Program dictates some of this for me).

Be prepared for interviews. I did an inexpensive logo thru Vistaprint (like $20) and now use that for Craigslist ads, the cover of my policy book, on business cards and address labels (I also got from Vistaprint). When I do interviews I have colored file folders to send home with parents, with a sticker with my logo on the front , policy book inside along with a few business cards.

I also set up a Shutterfly webpage that people can find on the net (for advertising). All my own daycare photos, but no children's faces...I feel strongly about that for that avenue online. I now also have the logo used for a Facebook page I use to interface with families and other daycare provider friends (since I don't "friend" my clients). I can PM the link if you have any interest in seeing it.

See if your local area has associations. We have statewide ones, county ones and then smaller more local "neighborhood" ones. I, along with a few other gals, started one in our area when another similar one went belly up. We felt the need for it was great...they provide an avenue for networking, mentoring, monthly training and for us, a referral service (thats my job on the Executive board...I am the Referral Coordinator). We go monthly (for 8 mos of the year) to a training/meeting..get training hours, chat with providers who know JUST what is like to do our job...maybe vent a little and definitely get other ideas...its a great resource!

I am pretty organized..and VERY firm in my policies and it has served me well for 14 years. The one area I stink a big stinky stink at, is tax stuff. I just hate it and procrastinate to high heaven about it every single year. I have all the tools to make it easy...and I just avoid it like the plague.

EDIT TO ADD: My own filing system is color coded, altho I find getting the colored file jackets more difficult now??(they are the ones that are sealed on the sides, not open ended). Red are the kids files. Green is my pet vaccinations and other records. Blue is my training certificates (I have every single one from 14 years, separated by licensing year renewals, all in one big thick blue file folder!). Regular Manila are more random things like county papers and extra forms (and a few other things as they are easier to get and cheaper to buy...but I use COLORFUL markers to label). Yellow are for the years that I have gotten grants (loads of papers!) White is food program.

Good luck!

In your state regulations book there should be a chart with the pay scale they pay to child care providers who have a contract with them. For example, in Oklahoma a county that has a town larger than X is considered an enhanced area and they pay those providers more than the counties that are not enhanced. The pay scale should give you Summer and regular or something called blended.

I always liked the school kids since they got out of school, had a snack, either did homework or played, then went home within an hour or two. I got $11 per day for them and it was just about 2 hours of work. Not really even work at that, they entertain themselves well. In the Summer I got more per day since they were not part time. Thus the blended rate.

Don't spend money on advertising. Only older people read the paper, working people listen to CD's in their cars, and fliers only make litter. Using the state and having a contract to take low income kids is really your most dependable source of income. That money will be there the last 3 weeks of the month, the first week of the month those with copays will be making their payments. Some checks will bounce, that's just fact. But having that regular deposit the rest of the month is what really helped me. I could pay my staff and put back enough for that first week payroll. I met all my bills and had some left over for me.

I took kids all kinds of hours. I was open from 5:30, if needed, until 2am. I had a staff person work early and I came in aroune 7:30 to take kids to school. I then took the 3 and 4 yr. old class. I fixed lunch when a part time staff came in at 10am. After lunch I did paper work and relieved teachers for their lunch breaks, then I fixed afternoon snacks. Then off to get school kids.

My afternoon and evening staff came in much later than the other staff. I had an assistant director who took over the evening shift. She stayed until all the kids were gone then cleaned, running the vacuum and cleaning the kitchen.

I worked Sat and Sun by myself and had no kids under 3, that way I could have 12-20 kids by myself. Most were school kids.

You can have lots of fun doing this and I hope you really enjoy it.

Here is a link that I find to have good information. It is aimed at Oklahoman's but has good common sense for anyone wanting to open a child care business.

http://www.okdhs.org/NR/rdonlyres/E7DE27A5-31A6-45CE-950F...

Here's a link to the same thing I googled but put in CA instead of OK.

http://www.bing.com/search?
q=opening+a+childcare+center+in+california&src=IE-SearchBox&Form=IE8SRC

Call surrounding licensed child care providers and inquire on rates as if you were a parent. Most lisenced sitters provide meals, are on a schedule (much like K) and have set hours. You must be organized in your record keeping and must keep food separate from food for your family (if in-home) My mother has had her in home child care for almost 30 years and hasnt gotten licensed because its too much work & not worth it when you figure out rates & taxes etc. Its a lso a good idea to get with your tax preparer before you open so you can be sure to be prepared. Good luck on your endeavor

Hello
I just saw your post and thought I would say hi--I was born and raised in Newark. I havent been there in 17 years though, but still miss it sometimes.
As far as the daycare goes, my neighbor advertised on Craigslist and got a great amount of replies on there. Also, if you are interested in doing any before of after school care, maybe ask the schools in the area if you can advertise or leave your number with them. I know rates vary from state/city to state/city. When you go through the licensing they should be able to provide you with more of that info. Call around to different centers and see what their rates are--they are usually a little higher than home daycares. With your education you might be able to charge close to the same though.
Good Luck with your new business!

I did in-home childcare for 27 years and loved it. My rates were way too low so I won't advise on that. If I had it to do over I would get into the food program and not spend my own cash on 4 or 5 other kids meals. My best advertising was word of mouth. I started with keeping a good friends baby so she could attend a Bible study where the children had to be 2 or older. She mentioned to another gal, and I ended up with her 1 yr old. Then another gal asked them about their childcare and I had a 3rd child. It snowballed from there and I had a waiting list. The best advice I would give you is to ask around other teachers who have small kids. Ask the parents from your current class and see who might love you as the teacher and would love you to have thier younger child in your home. If you end up with several kids from teaching parents you will have the same holiday schedule as them and they are usually way more thrilled with good daycare than parents who's jobs don't include other people's kids.