Agency: yes or no

I personally wouldn't ever go with an agency. I have been a parent (non subsidy) through an agency and resented having the pay the additional money when I felt they did very little for my provider. There was a TON of problems with that agency. Not sure if all agencies are like that but it left such a sour taste in my mouth that I didn't want to be an agency provider when I made the decision to open. There are lots of people in my area not requiring subsidy so getting clients wasn't an issue.

Plus some of the agencies in my area have odd rules. The most recent I've heard about is a no TV rule. And not that you can't have TV running during the day, but that there is to be no TV's in the house at all. :blink: I also have a friend here locally that was through an agency. The agency set the fees and hiked fees by close to $100 per month but didn't pass any of that raise on to providers. In fact they didn't even tell providers, my friend found out through an upset parent. Those providers made than $500 per month for FT children, the lowest paid in the city for agency.

I do this partly because I enjoy setting me own rules and parameters, why let someone else govern you? That being said you need to do what's best for you. I would go into a meeting with a list of requirements yourself.

ie: Do they let you set your own fees or are they preset by the agency? How many client referrals is average in your area - they need to help you stay full. Will the agency provide or help you enroll in any schooling to become certified? Also ask for a list of rules and policies so you can review them and decide you agree PRIOR to making any agreement or decision. Make sure that the agency will be helping (not hindering) you and that you can feel 100% comfortable adhering to thier regulations.

The main reason I am thing about going with an agency is that I have not formal training. The agencies say that I will get free training. Yes I have worked as a nanny years ago, and I am a mother but I feel that it would be in the best interest of the kids and myself to at lest start off with getting the training. Also out of the 15 emails/calls I have received only 4 did not ask if had subsidy spots and out of that four, three wanted discounts. Only one family was willing to pay my fees.

I am interviewing more then one agency, and will review all the info on both very carefully, before making up my mind for sure. If they have any polices that make me uncomfortable or are just plain stupid than I will go on my own.

In regards to training ~ in Ontario we have Early Years for young families to take a part of a place free to get your babies out and meet other Moms ~ in my city they offer free daycare provider courses. See if you have something similar to that.
Yes you have been out of the business for a while being a Nanny a while ago but, the instinct and caring you have to get into this business doesn't go away. I know many providers who have all the training behind them and not the 'soft skills' to do the job and should get out!

If your feeling uncomfortable with some policies, listen to what your gut is telling you.
Starting up a daycare is tough...the first year of getting clients can be rough- we struggled a bit but it does get better as your reputation spreads through word of mouth. As you gain experience you can built on your website (webs.com is a great free site- ask the ladies what sites they use and you can check them out)
Good luck on your choice. Since you asked, I'll give you 3 cents worth ;) and tell you that I wouldn't go with an agency either. This is your business and being able to control how things are run is the perk of the job Micro managed is something that doesn't suit me at all.
Good luck~ remember we are here to help if you need any suggestions, advice or as we all do, vent on those tough days

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Originally Posted by Valerie E. M-C

The main reason I am thing about going with an agency is that I have not formal training. The agencies say that I will get free training. Yes I have worked as a nanny years ago, and I am a mother but I feel that it would be in the best interest of the kids and myself to at lest start off with getting the training. Also out of the 15 emails/calls I have received only 4 did not ask if had subsidy spots and out of that four, three wanted discounts. Only one family was willing to pay my fees.

I am interviewing more then one agency, and will review all the info on both very carefully, before making up my mind for sure. If they have any polices that make me uncomfortable or are just plain stupid than I will go on my own.

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You would get just as good training from attending the workshops at the CCPRN and in many cases better training because it will be practical and hands on information from actual daycare providers with experience. That kind of support is hard to find in other places. At the same time you can get the support you need to remain private and in control of your environment.

What about the amount of people wanting subsidy or a discount. My building is in an area where there are lots of rent to income housing. with so many people asking for subsidy, wouldn't it be wise to go with an agency at lest to start? or am I just panicking/worrying that I wont find any reg fee paying families by Sept/Oct? I will be officially quitting my two retail jobs on September 7th.

Valerie, I would never go with an agency either because I don't want to work for anybody else. Being self-employed is wonderful 99% of the time in my opinion. We like to give our best advice on this forum based on our experiences.

HOWEVER, you take all of our good advice and weigh it and do what is best for YOU! If starting with an agency is best for you then go ahead and do that. You will learn a lot about having people on subsidy in your care I'm afraid. I was on subsidy when I was a young single Mom and my children were well behaved, clean and well-fed. However, that is not always the case, especially in the low rent housing. I vowed when I was a hard working young Mom never to let us get that low that we needed low rent housing because those people actually frightened me. I'm not being prejudiced, I saw it all with my own eyes and lived in poverty scraping by with 4 children, just barely making ends meet. I've been there.

Now, what about advertising and interviewing and give yourself a chance to start up with working families who can pay your fees and see how that goes for a couple of months before you join an agency? Do you have that kind of time? It takes a while to get up and running sometimes.

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Originally Posted by Valerie E. M-C

What about the amount of people wanting subsidy or a discount. My building is in an area where there are lots of rent to income housing. with so many people asking for subsidy, wouldn't it be wise to go with an agency at lest to start? or am I just panicking/worrying that I wont find any reg fee paying families by Sept/Oct? I will be officially quitting my two retail jobs on September 7th.

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I started out with an agency for the same reason ~ I was with them for two years and they were not able to refer me ONE client because while there is lots of people ELIGIBLE for subsidy the actual WAIT LIST to GET IT can be long depending on your area .... and for clients who are eligible but not able to GET IT paying the agency inflated full market fees is impossible ~ they tend to seek out private clients in the meantime while sitting on a 'waiting list' for subsidy somewhere and for people who are not 'eligible' for subsidy they are going to prefer to pay the lower private fees that does not have a middle man taking a portion of it ~ none of my clients I found privately had any interest in going through the 'agency' so eventually I just gave up the contract with them cause there was no real benefit to ME and it was actually causing a financial loss for me because finding kids 'over 3' is hard and I had found a child who would be only 3 weeks short of turning 3 when they needed care to start and they would not allow me to take her if I wanted to stay with them until she was 'over 3' and well the mom needed care to start and could not wait so I would have lost her ~ so I gave up the contract cause to me '3 weeks to young' according to their ratio rules was not worth loosing a client over who was not going to be any more 'independent' in that time frame :roll:

As for the training ~ yes in your area you have the CCPRN and Ontario Early Years centres ... I know my community offers a Home Childcare Training program for $60 to cover the cost of manual materials and guest speakers and so forth that is quiet helpful for new providers! Way cheaper than going through an agency cause not sure about in Ottawa but in my area agencies pay LESS per child/per day than you can get privately so if you are able to get PRIVATE clients you can use that extra income to engage in your own 'training' in whatever level that you feel will help and motivate you in your business ~ tailored to YOUR needs and strengths verses some agency 'group training for the masses' .... honestly I never attended any of the agency stuff and preferred to seek out my own PD and networking anyway!

If you are looking for training there are the family daycare training modules - think it is three modules divided into sections. The CCPRN offers these as group sessions. The units start from the very basics as in should I open my home for daycare and how to set it up, goes through budgeting, child development, dealing with parents, etc. and the great part is that is geared specifically to home daycare providers. Worth looking into whether you are with an agency or not.

I was a nanny (10 plus years) before I opened my day home. I would not give a decent chunk to an agency. And to teach me what? I know how to look after children and dealing with parents is not diffucult. You just have to force your contract if there is any problem.

Just be confident( not saying you are not) and start. There is a lot of information on this web site and if you need help for particular situation ask here. We all are lovely people :) who are willing to help. The best part is it is free! :)
Think of what you can do with the money you are willing to pay to an agency. Give you a hint. Shooooopppinggg :laugh:

Wow, you have all given me a lot to think about. My husband and I have decided that after my meeting with the agency on Wed. We will sit down and go over everything form both agency and my plan if I solo go private. We will then decide what will be best for your family at this time. Thank you all for all your advice.