Opening non-for-profit daycare in GTA

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Originally Posted by CCCS

Home daycare isn't an option for me, unfortunately. My husband doesn't like the idea and I'd prefer to separate business from personal life.....

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I am not sure about your finances - but if you are really serious about this option what about getting a new property that allows for a house and a separate home based daycare to be run out of it? I have many peers who have a 'dedicated space' for their home based business ... they sought out properties that had either a free standing apartment in the basement OR had a nanny flat where the laundry/furnace and so forth are still 'shared' but at the end of the day they can close the door to their business and commute upstairs to home?

This solution allows all the financial PERKS of being a home based business - instead of paying 'rent' out of your revenue you get to write off a portion of your mortgage which you are already paying anyway - lowering your taxable income? Plus you do not have to worry about nearly the amount of red tape or employees and all the other stress that comes from operating a centre?

Honestly - I work less hours now cause I do not have to 'commute' to work so while I am open 10 hours a day I am not spending an hour driving daily. Plus with the advantage of being able to write off a portion of my mortgage and property taxes and so forth while on paper it seems like I make LESS money I actually have more $$ in my pocket at the end of the tax year than I did in a centre ... the government gets less of my hard earned money in 'taxes' and I get to pay off my mortgage faster as a result creating equity for my retirement ;)

Just food for thought about some of the many perks of 'home based programs' that your spouse might not have considered ;)

You said it write. The centres do impede our ability to truly give the children a responsive programme that they could lead the activities. This is one of the reasons why I will no longer work for another centre. Too much restraints in terms of time. I was also sick of dealing with some gossipy women. Too much stress overall. Whereas being at home caring for my children is best for my family. Thanks for being honest.

Connect you were asking in another post about working with an agency. Remember that while you will get the support to get your paperwork in order, maybe get some clients through them and a bit of resource help that you will also have to endure the down side of the agency. They will monitor everything you do, make comments that aren't always constructive and in general control your day in many cases similar to the centres. Your menu must meet their criteria for example and that is up to your home visitor to determine. I got so frustrated with my worker at one point over menu that I copied the menu from my local daycare centre they had posted on their website for the month, submitted that as my own and she failed it, lol. I started working on getting myself out from under their control.

I would do some community research, perhaps open the phonebook and cold call people asking if they feel there is a need for a commercial daycare centre that is subject to random inspections and is government licensed...offering subsidy. I know in our community we have a lot of dayhome's but we're the only daycare centre. Some people prefer having their children in dayhomes, some prefer daycare centre's - everyone has there own reasons and there own preferance. As for non-profit, we looked into this so we could access funding but, in the end, non-profit is a lot of work and you need to create a board that meets every few months and you need to disclose all financials, openly. Also, you could never sell a non-proft organziation (because no one really "owns it".)
As for the church: I also run a half day Preschool out of a church and while it's great for the Preschool, I would not operate a full child care centre there. The church is shared space ie. funerals, groups, events and a lot of people coming & going.

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Originally Posted by Inspired by Reggio

I am not sure about your finances - but if you are really serious about this option what about getting a new property that allows for a house and a separate home based daycare to be run out of it? I have many peers who have a 'dedicated space' for their home based business ... they sought out properties that had either a free standing apartment in the basement OR had a nanny flat where the laundry/furnace and so forth are still 'shared' but at the end of the day they can close the door to their business and commute upstairs to home?

This solution allows all the financial PERKS of being a home based business - instead of paying 'rent' out of your revenue you get to write off a portion of your mortgage which you are already paying anyway - lowering your taxable income? Plus you do not have to worry about nearly the amount of red tape or employees and all the other stress that comes from operating a centre?

Honestly - I work less hours now cause I do not have to 'commute' to work so while I am open 10 hours a day I am not spending an hour driving daily. Plus with the advantage of being able to write off a portion of my mortgage and property taxes and so forth while on paper it seems like I make LESS money I actually have more $$ in my pocket at the end of the tax year than I did in a centre ... the government gets less of my hard earned money in 'taxes' and I get to pay off my mortgage faster as a result creating equity for my retirement ;)

Just food for thought about some of the many perks of 'home based programs' that your spouse might not have considered ;)

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I had looked into the option of adding a separate building on a property. Most of the towns in York region don't allow that. And even if they allow it, a property that will accommodate this setup will be at least $1.2M:ohmy: So it's out of question for us. I had also considered a house with walkout basement so that the basement can be a dedicated space, but hubby doesn't like to lose his "man cave" unless he have can his own place/building. So we are back to square one:(

So I am pretty much back to the commercial plazas and they are just so expensive! That's one of the biggest reasons why I am thinking half-day nursery. No outdoor play area required! I am hoping to find something right next to a new community as typically people moving into a new community are younger couples with little kids.

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Originally Posted by WAHM

I would do some community research, perhaps open the phonebook and cold call people asking if they feel there is a need for a commercial daycare centre that is subject to random inspections and is government licensed...offering subsidy. I know in our community we have a lot of dayhome's but we're the only daycare centre. Some people prefer having their children in dayhomes, some prefer daycare centre's - everyone has there own reasons and there own preferance. As for non-profit, we looked into this so we could access funding but, in the end, non-profit is a lot of work and you need to create a board that meets every few months and you need to disclose all financials, openly. Also, you could never sell a non-proft organziation (because no one really "owns it".)
As for the church: I also run a half day Preschool out of a church and while it's great for the Preschool, I would not operate a full child care centre there. The church is shared space ie. funerals, groups, events and a lot of people coming & going.

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Since I am in the greater Toronto area, there are tons of daycare centres. I had looked into an existing daycare in Mississauga, a city west of Toronto. Within 3KM radius, there are 22 daycares. 22! I don't know if the local population even supports this many.

At the same, I know cheaper daycares are still largely in demand. The biggest non for profit centre in my town has a waiting list of more than 100 children! But they have their own property and hence can afford to charge less than the ones in the commercial buildings.

I was once told "there isn't any bad location, just bad management". I don't 100% agree, but I guess if the fee is low enough, there will be demand.