Organic Daycare

[Biomom]

Hi!

I'm about to open a daycare that serves organic food and am wondering what the going rate for that would be in the Ottawa area, as fees in general seem to be all over the map.

Also. I'm wondering how long it generally takes to process the paperwork and get the daycare up and running- eg., registering as a business, etc.

Thanks for your time!

[mom-in-alberta]

Enter your postal code on daycarebear's home page and search out what the other dayhomes in your area are charging. If you want to sell yourself as a whole/raw food and organic daycare you could probably get away with charging slightly higher. But understand that it's not something that everyone will be willing to pay more for.
As for the paperwork, etc; perhaps someone in your province can answer that?

[sunnydays]

If you are opening a private daycare, there is no paperwork to fill-out. You are not required to register as a business. If you want to register a name for your daycare, then you can register as a business, but I belive it is a very easy and quick process (I haven`t done it, but I my husband has a business). As for the organic food, you can definitely charge more as your expenses will be a lot higher, but again, it won`t be worth the extra cost to everyone, as the previous poster mentioned. Make sure you highlight the organic food right in your ad so that people understand why your fees are higher. As the previous poster said, searching by your postal code on this site is the easiest way to see what people are charging in your neighbourhood. You can also go to the CCPRN website and check out the current survey of rates by neighbourhood to have an idea of the general range as it takes into account people who are not advertising to fill spots (which you can`t see on this site).

[jec]

I'm wondering how long it generally takes to process the paperwork and get the daycare up and running- eg., registering as a business, etc.

You can do this on line and you can print off your Business licence as it sends it to you by email if you choose. I find this has saved me a few times as clients wanting my SIN , I provide my BIN number instead.
I would just google Ottawa business, registering your business name and you should be able to get a quick link.

There is a daycare in my area that does all organic and she does charge much higher but a lot of parents want what she has to offer.
Good luck on your start up!

[Inspired by Reggio]

http://www.ontario.ca/en/services_fo...06_023798.html

There is the link for registering your business ... I notice you are in Ontario - so you do need to do this if you are advertizing your business by anything other than your full legal name ... which most of choose to do ... I personally do not want my LAST name on the internet

It cost $60 for 5 years, takes less than 5 minutes to do and you get your paperwork via email same day - print it off and you are ready to go ... and the bonus because registering your name also gets you a BIN you can put that on your childcare tax receipts instead of your SIN which is still stupidly required by CRA of a home childcare provider.

Please note that the above link is a 'one stop shop' for business to register for everything ... make sure you click NO to everything other than registering your BUSINESS NAME .... you do not need a license, you do not need a HST number or WSIB or Employer Health Tax number or anything else ... home childcare is exempt from all that!

As for the organic spin on the daycare .... whatever your market can bare depending on the area you live in and clienteles disposable income ... IME while many clients may WANT that sort of environment for their child very few are willing to pay much EXTRA for it over the normal average rate for care.

I myself offer a high % of organic foods plus a almost entirely gluten free menu - however while I am on the higher end for my neighborhood I am not MORE than anyone else on the high end who is NOT offering this .... I offer this because it is important to ME and I am eating this food too and I may have potential clients who choose me over someone else when filling a space because we were similar price and my 'menu' was the deciding factor but IME when push comes to shove if I raised my rates MORE the pendulum would swing to the person who had a good program and healthy menu even if it was not 'organic' in nature but was that wee bit 'cheaper' as a result.

[playfelt]

While it won't tell you how much people are charging for serving organic foods it will give you an insight into how they advertise it if you go to www.kijiji.ca and select otttawa as your city and look under services for childcare. Then in the search box you can put the word organic and then any daycare ad that uses that word in their ad will come up and you can see what you like and don't like about the wording. Another site for doing the same is at www.usedottawa.com again under services. But when you go to use the search box use the smaller one that is on the right hand side closer to the ads and not the general one at the top.

Once you get to the point of advertising you can place free ads on both of these sites too.

As for the paperwork. I don't call my daycare anything and when I advertise just say things like opening for infant/toddlerl in Orleans as my title. Other paperwork you will need to gather is your contract to give to parents. The CCPRN see www.ccprn.com offers start up sessions for caregivers and they also have binders of ideas you can go in to the office and look at. CCPRN is definitely worth the $25 to join ( that is tax deductable too).

[Inspired by Reggio]

.... I don't call my daycare anything and when I advertise just say things like opening for infant/toddler in Orleans as my title....

No website either?

For me I did not want my business website URL to be www.myfulllegalname.com

I am anal though - even my facebook account does not have my last name on it for people to 'search' my personal life against my business life.

[lainey76]

I found 1 organic daycare in Orleans that was charging 55$ (almost 2yrs ago) ... Not what I was looking for just popped up in the search while looking at spots for my son.

[playfelt]

Actually I know of one a couple years ago that tried it and at the time rates for the rest of us were in the $30-35 range. She was also only taking three kids so was trying to do the pay extra for extra attention card too. It seemed like she was always advertising which when you only are taking three says that it was hard for her. BUT.... a lot has changed in two years. Rates now average out at nearly $40 a day and many advertise that they try to serve at least some organic foods - mainly fruits and vegetables but other foods just off the shelf is what most are meaning.

Be very clear in your ads if it is only organic produce or if all means from crackers to pasta to soup to whatever will be organic. Unless you are offering total organic you won't get too many people willing to pay a lot more than the $40 - maybe $45 for organic produce. But the rest of your program will also have to be topnotch as well to match those of homes that are getting the higher fees based on program and offering regular store brands and not organic. That way you will attract a wider clientele.

[Momof4]

I clean with organic products and I serve a lot of organic foods, but not absolutely everything. I'm proud of it and make sure that I put it in my advertisements and on my website and talk about it at interviews. It really appeals to a lot of people but other don't care at all. If those are the clients you want to attract you will find them. Only 1 out of 5 of my families feels the way I do about it at my daycare. The food is very expensive but I'm careful to buy produce that is in season and I have a few places to shop so I can at least check prices.

Good luck to you!