How to start a small Daycare which will later become a big one?

[angelcrystal]

My sister and I want to start babysitting in our home, and if it turns out good and we start to see we are getting a lot of children/babies/toddlers then we will open a daycare. But we need to know what are the laws of babysitting in your home, and opening a daycare as well.. What do we need to do?

[fruitloop]

First off, if you are serious about this then it is NOT babysitting. You are making the choice to become a child care provider. Babysitters are teenagers who get paid a hell of a lot more money than we do and only have to do about 1/4 of the work. The rules depend on where you live. In Alberta, you legally can have 6 children not including your own. That is 6 per household...not per adult! In SK, you can only have 5 I think and in BC you can only have 2 unless you are licenced. So, imo...running a day home and running a daycare center are 2 very very different things. You require formal training to work in a center.

[Momof4]

In Ontario you can only care for 5 children, no matter if there are 2 adults or not. Look into the laws in your province or state.

[Inspired by Reggio]

...What do we need to do?

Research, Research or and research

Goggle childcare regulations for your province, call your local government for bylaws, go and visit centres in your area talk to people, find out if there is demand, learn what the income potential is and if it is WORTH it to enter into this and so forth.

Once you know what is required make a business plan so you can ensure you have a viable realistic expectation of making enough income for both of you to do this ~ and I cannot stress this enough go spend some TIME in a childcare program so that you know what you are getting into! Group childcare is not everyone's cup of tea and nothing worse than investing $$$$$ in something and than realizing 'THIS IS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED'

Honestly for every 5 people that go into childcare only 1 person actually MAKES IT ... and that is statistically speaking for every 5 persons who enroll in a Early Childhood Education program only 1 of them will make it to graduation ..... and of those that graduate the average career span is 5 years before they burn out so if you are investing your hard earned money in starting up an actually 'centre' you want to be sure you have what it takes for the long haul ..... it is a hard demanding career both physically and emotionally and you need to be truly motivated and passionate about WHY you've chosen to do it in order to get you through to the finish line!