Starting up - how much to charge

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and I'm new to this daycare business. I just had a baby of my own and I would like to start up a home daycare when I'm done my mat leave.

I am a little stressed about it but more excited than anything. I will be contributing to EI as well as paying taxes, and I will be getting insurance and so on. Any little bit of advice would help me.

I am looking to only have 3 children. I want a small home daycare. I am a little worried though about the money. I was going to charge $50 a day and supply everything - food, outings...all that. But now I'm starting to wonder if $50 isn't too much. I live in Ontario. Does anyone know what the average cost per day is for full time toddlers?

The cost will vary by where you live as well as by what you provide. Most caregivers provide food and some outings as part of the fee. Parents provide infant foods, bottles and diapers.

Go to the main page for the forum and input your postal code and it will bring up caregivers that live near you and that would give you a good idea of what they are charging and what they are offering. That should give you an idea of how to market your services in terms of what you will provide and what you will charge for it.

If you give your city, maybe someone that also lives in that area will know of a caregiver support group that is available. Another option is to look into agencies that are in your area. For some just starting out it can be a good way to get started in the sense they will help with what you need including some equipment - especially if you only have your own baby as you will need equipment and toys for children up to 3 years older that your own child.

The CCPRN website has a chart that gives a good idea of the high and low end child care fees in your area - I found it to be a great resourse!

I'm interested to know where you live that $50/day is the norm. That's very high for my city but probably not high for a huge metro area.

You don't have to pay EI because you can't collect EI when you are self-employed in Ontario, but you do have to pay CPP when you pay your taxes.

Actually there is a new program now where you can contribute to EI and draw benefits for maternity leaves. I have heard from some that looked into it more closely that they didn't think in the long run it was worth it because of what they needed to contribute and would get back and especially if they weren't taking a long time off.

If you plan on using EI in the next 5 years (but NOT within a year), it seems to be a decent program. I looked into it when we decided to have our last baby, but I learned that you have to have contributed for (over?) a year. So I couldn't make use of it.

Before I opened, I googled "opening a home daycare" and "setting up a home daycare" and looked at about a million and one websites. I looked for websites of actual providers, not just the ones that want to sell you a document package. I googled images of home daycares, and checked out sites like godaycare.com, kijiji, and of course daycarebear.ca to see what the going rate was for my area.
Have all of your ideas in order, your home set up and all your paperwork together BEFORE you begin to interview people. Know what you will be doing for holidays, sick days, correcting the behaviour of the children, etc. When I first set up, I was telling people all about what I was "going" to do, in terms of creating a "baby area", etc. I learned that they don't care! They want to see it, now. Your home doesn't have to be pretty, with matching toy storage and such. It has to be functional. Depending on what age you are going to be dealing with, I would try to be around kids that age in advance. If you only have your little one and not a lot of experience with kids at other stages, do some dry runs babysitting for friends/family, or put up some ads for p/t sitting to break yourself in a little. It is VERY different dealing with someone else's 2 1/2 year old, compared to your own little baby. You will need some other toys and equipment, such as some booster seats, napping spaces (like a playpen, etc), baby gates and cupboard locks, etc. Again, it doesn't have to be brand new, but get it from a reputable source, so you know it's in good condition.
Also; check the govt for what to expect when it comes to tax time:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tp.../menu-eng.html
Good luck!!!