How to Start a Home Daycare

Quality child care is always in demand. Parents today work more than ever, so it means the world to have someone they can trust to keep their children safe and happy.

If you want to start a home daycare and provide superb child care from the very start, we’ve prepared the guide to everything you need to know about in-home daycares. From business plans and licensing to marketing and enrollment, we’ll show you everything you need to know.

Let’s open your daycare!

Think about You and Your Community’s Needs

Before you start making a business plan, think about you and your communities need.

Assess whether you’re:

• Interested in child care
• Have the necessary education (or the capacity to get it)
• Organized and a good supervisor
• Good communicator

These are the key skills if you want to start a family daycare.

At the very least, you’ll have to be very patient and know how to communicate with parents. As you grow, you’ll also likely have to supervise staff and keep track of many records, so it’s good to be organized and professional.

When it comes to the community in which you’ll start a home daycare, consider:

• How many daycares there are in your area
• What the advantages and the disadvantages are for your competitors
• Parents’ satisfaction with available options
• Your competitive advantage

If there are a lot of daycares in your area, you may not get the success you were hoping for, so make sure you thoroughly research your competition and your future customers.

This can also be a good way to learn how you can differentiate your daycare and provide for the needs that other daycares in your area don’t cover.

Make a Home Daycare Business Plan

If your community needs it, and you have all the necessary skills (or means of acquiring them) to start a home daycare, it’s time to make a home daycare business plan.

A home daycare business plan is your key to success and financial wellness that comes from reducing overhead costs.

When making a home daycare business plan, consider the following:

• Who will you serve?
• What makes you different from other daycares?
• What is your growth plan?

You should also have a preliminary idea of what your expenses will be. This can include everything from food for the children to advertising.

Once you’re ready, go through a detailed starting a home daycare checklist to make sure you’ve got everything ready.

How to Start a Daycare with No Money

Even though it’s good to have some start-up funds saved up, there are other ways of funding your home daycare.

Small Business Administration lists a variety of options for funding your home daycare even if you have no start-up money of your own.