Need help on how to start a home day care.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I would start as momof4 with the regulations for your province ... if you go to your provinces government website there should be links to let you know what 'process' you have to under go to get started ... some provinces you can just operate as a private home childcare and others you actually have to get a 'license' with the government and others you have to be with an agency that is regulated by the government and so forth ... each province has varied rules for how many clients you can have at one time and so forth.

You also want to check the zoning and fire code bilaws for your residential neighborhood - not all neighborhoods are zoned for home business or only zoned for certain ones and so forth and some fire codes prohibit daycare businesses being run out of basements and so forth unless there are at least two 'fire exits' that both a child and adult could exit out of...so this could affect 'where' in your home you can run your business - even if you are operating a 'private unregulated model' there are still regulation we have to follow.

Ensure that your HOME insurance will cover you for a home childcare business - and what the ryder cost will be and that it covers the amount of children needed .... for example in Ontario we are allowed to care for 5 children plus our own ... however some insurance carriers will only cover 3 kids or they will cover 5 but they include your own in that number and so forth ... you want to ensure you have proper liability insurance for your business - make sure it is clear in writing how many children can be on the premise where you do business for your policy to remain viable!

Also having a long heart to heart talk with your spouse about how this business will affect HIM because without the support of the family daycare can be very stressful if they resent having to 'share' their home with strangers, if they resent loosing space in the home to them, if they resent the wear and tear on the home, if they resent that when they are off work and wanting to be home 'relaxing' on a day off and you yourself are working that the home is anything but 'relaxing' ... there are lots of 'concessions' that family make to allow us to be home for them and sometimes they cannot see the forest for the trees in all the things they GAIN by their sacrifices!

As mentioned ... find out from other providers in your area what 'fees' for service the market will bare and determine your 'projected' expenses for offering childcare ... how much you want to spend on food, craft supplies, sensory or other consumable program supplies, investment in toys and equipment .... determine if the revenue that you can project is enough to cover your expenses and still leave you with a viable income at the end of the day .... keeping in mind that many first year providers are not 'full' the first or even second year as they get established ... as well as the even once you are established that there can been ebbs and flows in enrollment beyond your control ... ensure that your budget allows for a savings amount being set aside to cover those 'ebbs' where your income can drop if you loose one or two children unexpectedly - aka they loose their job or get a transfer and have to move daycare locations as a result!

Does your area have a local 'home childcare resource centre or network' that you can hook up with? In our area the local Ontario Early Years Centre offers a Home childcare training course - it is awesome for those thinking of going into this and walks people through what to consider in their business from contracts, to bookkeeping, to advertizing and program considerations ... they even give sample contracts and policies for 'best practice' to have in place and so forth ... hooking up with something like that could be invaluable to helping that first year be a success!

Research is key to success for sure .... many people think this business option is 'easy' and while it is rewarding and awesome it is not always 'easy' ... for example as providers we need to have a skill set to be able to avoid conflict with clients while ensuring that we are not ending up a doormat pushed to offer things or do things that are not in sync with our own values and philosophies and so forth that lead to resentment and burn out that rolls over into the program with kids. We need to be organized, have strong time management skills - to be able to meet competing needs of multiple children with a smile aka we need to be able to multi task out the wazoo We need to have patience for the fact that there is constant turnover in childcare ... you will always have someone going through the terrible twos, always have someone potty training, always have someone learning 'social skills' and potentially having tantrums or issues with keeping hands to themselves and so forth ... and just when you get them 'sorted out' they head off to school and along comes another wee one who is back at the start of the learning curve.

Congratulations on your new endeavor and anyway we can help - we are here for you cause we were all the 'newbie' at one time or another and remember that excitement and fear all too well!