Starting Your Day Care Business
3 Steps Towards Starting a Day Care or any Child Care Service
So, you think you’d like to start a day care or some form of day care service but where to start? Let’s assume you know nothing about the day care industry except that it involves children!!! That’s pretty much the position I was in when I started my day care 10 years ago and I spent a year and a half researching and learning within the day care world including day care centers and home day cares before I got going. Before you go running for the hills in dismay allow me to cut short the research time a little with some pointers on how best to prepare for the exciting adventure that is ‘Starting a daycare business’.
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Contract For Your Day Care
A vital aspect of your day care business is having a foolproof, comprehensive contract in place. I can't stress enough the importance of spending some time on this crucial document. Believe me when I tell you that a well crafted contract can save you from much potential grief and gnashing of teeth (I speak from painful experience!!).
Essentially your day care contract sets out your terms, conditions, policies, rules and procedures and, quite simply, should indicate to all parents who you are, what you do, how you do it, what your expectations are in terms of their behavior and how you deal with complaints and transgressions. There should be no gray areas, nothing left to chance or misinterpretation. Read on »
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Day Care Fire Safety
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Day Care Licensing Tips
If you wish to start a day care you need to find out about day care licensing. There is a procedure involved in getting your day care licensed and the more prepared you are the more seamless it will be. Learning about the requirements for a day care license is a great way to discover exactly what is required and whether or not you are fully ready and able to embark on a business in child care.
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Day Care Regulations and Licensing
Licensing and regulations:
Canada
http://canada.gc.ca/othergov/prov_e.html
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Day care Staff Pre-Employment Background Screening
When opening a day care center, it is essential to conduct pre-employment background checks on all potential staff. These checks safeguard both you and the children in your care. There are two main reasons for performing this step. The first is to verify that the person applying for the position within your child care center is indeed the person they claim to be. The second reason is to research any criminal history that may pose an issue to the children and staff of your daycare facility. Pre-employment background checks can also incorporate a drugs tests to determine if an individual has used recreational drugs. Read on »
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Effective Management of a Child Care Business
There is a lot of work attached to opening a day care
business. The list of things to do will seem overwhelming
and unending. You have your research, your business plan,
designing an area, acquiring staff, obtaining clients and
countless other tasks. However, it is equally important
you lay the groundwork now for the effective management of
your day care business once you are up and running. This
article provides some tips on how to do just that. Read on »
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Helpful Links for Child Care Business Startup Ireland
Start up and business support links
www.teagasc.ie/startingyourownbusiness/template.htm - Business plan template
www.pabalto.co.uk- Business plan pro
www.basis.ie – Business plan guide
www.startingabusinessinireland.com
www.etradebusinessireland.com – County Enterprise Boards
www.corkbic.com – Cork and Kerry business support
www.dbic.com – Dublin business support
www.enterprise-ireland.com
www.fas.ie
www.revenue.ie
www.sebic.ie – South East business support
www.shannon-dev.ie – Shannon region business support
www.westbic.ie – Border, midland and western region support
www.wdc.ie – Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway and Clare business support
www.chambersireland.ie
www.cro.ie – Companies Registration Office
www.dohc.ie/agencies- Health Boards
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Katy's Day Care Saga!!
ClipsAhoy.com
Anyway, my own personal story is probably quite typical. I had a great career in electronics but when my third child was born I was faced with having to find someone outside of my family to care for my kids so I could work … a *gasp* stranger! The thought scared me to death so I resigned as an electronic technician and started my daycare (before quitting, I made sure I had at least two children lined up so I wouldn't be without income). Read on »
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Links To Child Day Care Licensing and Start Up Information UK
Daycare Trust
21 St George’s Road
London SE1 6ES
Tel: 020 7840 3350
www.daycaretrust.org.uk
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Publications Centre
0845 602 2260
www.surestart.gov.uk/publications
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Links To Day Care Licensing And Start Up Information USA
Licensing and regulations:
Canada
http://canada.gc.ca/othergov/prov_e.html
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My Canadian Day Care Start Up Story!
Many of us provide daycare in our own homes- it is a home/family business. Others have a separate facility.
I learned a lot from speaking to my city's registry of daycare providers.(Co-ordinatead Access for Child Care www.cafcc.on.ca ) They provided me with a large binder handbook, regular newsletters, government regulations, tax help, a help line for child car providers. All for free. They also provide courses at nominal rates. I talked with a lot of providers in my area. That and talking here on this site has given me a lot of information and knowledge. And like a lot of people- I learned from my mistakes. Read on »
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Obtaining Finance for Your Day Care Business
Opening a day care is a dream nurtured by many people for
many reasons. Some of these individuals may work in a day
care center and believe they could do a better job with
the added benefit of becoming self employed. Many stay at
home parents figure they are already doing child care what
difference would a few extra kids make except an increase
in income. And lots of people are just straight tired of
nine to five working for a boss who doesn't care about
them. So they dream. But, most of these people that want
to establish a child care business never succeed in doing
so due to a lack of funding. However, there is hope and
this article will introduce you to ideas on how to obtain
the financing required to start a day care business. Read on »
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Rhonda's Day Care Story
ClipsAhoy.com
I was the 2nd born of a large family of 6 children. My family was very nurturing, and children have always been very special, loved, and cherished. My mother was a stay-at-home mom, and did casual babysitting for some years for friends and a few other people, for extra spending money. (Not as an organized career of child care provider.) There were always extra children around at our house! I always had a special love for little ones. In our middle-school years, my younger sister and myself held a “Little School” in our basement for the many neighborhood kids. We read books, did simple counting games, and color, number, and letter recognition games, as well as some simple addition. It was a big hit and the kids were always asking when we would have “little school” again! I also was a popular babysitter in my teen years. Among my regulars were two families with twins, and several large families. Read on »
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Start A Day Care - Website And Blog
So,you want to start a day care. I'm a huge advocate of having a website and blog to support your day care business. I have connected with a lot of clients that otherwise might not have found me or might have overlooked my service in favor of one of the above. They might have overlooked my service in favor of a bigger, better, faster, shinier, more centrally located day care.
People were impressed with my website; with the pictures, information and 'glimpse inside' that it offered. They liked the beautiful setting, the family run element and our montessori program. They felt like they knew us already thanks to the 'personal touch' effect of the website.
Having an online presence has many advantages in terms of marketing and simply communicating with current and potential clients. It is not difficult to maintain or create a website and a professional look can be easily achieved. A vibrant, regularly updated site and blog can sell your business better than anything else. Include lots of information about you and your day care and ensure your site is easily navigated.
The early stages involved quite a bit of work ensuring all my keywords and tags were effective, submitting to online child care and business directories but the work paid off. Most google and other search engine queries for day care in my area will have my business listed in the first few results.
Pictures of your day care should abound, both interior and exterior - nice bright shots of your playrooms and playgrounds. Help parents understand what your day care offers by incorporating details of important policies, your educational curriculum and what you charge. You can include downloads of your day care contract and parent handbook - the more information you provide the less questions they're going to have.
Having a blog associated with your site is a lovely idea and keeps both present and future clients updated and involved. I just recently revamped my site adding a blog (I use wordpress and highly recommend it) and am already reaping the rewards and hearing lots of nice feedback. Consider having a staff page with pictures and mini biographies of your carers (even it it's just you). People love that personal touch and feel that you are less of a stranger to them. You can start a day care..and market it too.}
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Start A Day Care? The Magical Marketing Event That Will Have You Full In No Time!
When opening a day care you are constantly and desperately looking for ways to market your new business. One of the most effective marketing events you can organize is an Open Day. I held one when opening my day care and it proved to be my most successful marketing endeavor reaping rewards to this day.
- The radio station threw in a guest appearance by their fleet of personalized, fun cars plus staff handing out fun gifts. They really added to the festive, special feel of the day.
- I had promotional flyers printed and paid a few kids to distribute them locally.
- Face painting.
- Story telling.
- Clowns.
- Snacks for everyone.
- Local politician to do the official opening ceremony (so all the local newspapers came to take pictures and do a feature - free!).
Arrange that people can tour your day care on the open day in order to see your facilities and find out more about your service;
- Allocate staff members specific rooms and business cards and instruct them to deal with any questions or queries.
- As the day care owner you should be around to welcome people and answer questions.
- I organized a drawing with everyone writing their name and phone numbers on the back of my business cards and gave a voucher to the day care as a prize (this is a nice way to start a marketing list).
The results of that wonderful day are still felt today as many of my enquiries remembered attending the event or hearing about it. Word of mouth advertising resulting from this event was also phenomenal. Word spread like wildfire as people who attended told friends and relatives. . A well organized, properly planned open day will be fun and memorable and people will talk about it. Impressed people will return or will spread the word to those they know to be seeking childcare. So, when opening a day care put your events hat on and utilize the best day care marketing tool out there.
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Starting A Day Care - Marketing Locally
You're starting a day care and you don't want to spend a fortune, you just want to market your day care effectively in your locality but the burning question remains; 'How do I do it?'. Believe it or not, it is not impossible and simply requires a little work and ingenuity. Your first port of call should be the printers with your stationary order which should comprise the following;
- Letterheads
- Business cards
- Small flyers/brochures for distribution. These should offer a tantalising taste of all that is good about your day care including; Read on »
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Tips for Starting a Day Care or Home Child Care Business
You want to be with your kids, you need an income, you want to be your own boss. You've looked at all the dubious
self employment options and you keep coming back to the idea of starting a day care business. But it has remained
an idea. Why? Fear of the unknown, fear of taking the risk, fear of falling at the first child care hurdle.
If you want to start a day care business my advice to you is remove the fear. Get a taster of the child care business first and see if it is a profession you would enjoy. Immerse yourself in a day care environment for research purposes. Get a job or offer your services at a day care or child care service. Try to find one that will allow you to bring your children with you or get a kindly family member to do your child care while you are researching. Do whatever it takes toget the time off work. Remember, this is your day care dream future youare planning. Read on »
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Tips on Purchasing a Day Care Computer
Having the right tools to effectively manage your business is imperative, regardless of the type of business. This is particularly true if you are planning to open a day care. A vital tool in the daily running of your day care so it runs efficiently is a computer. This wonder machine can be the backbone of your business keeping track of day care payroll, general accounts, your day care scheduling and much more. I would consider the purchase of a computer to be a necessity when setting up your day care. Here's a few tips to help you purchase your child care business computer. Read on »
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