You don't say what province you live in. Each one has different rules about the number of children you can care for, licensing requirements, etc. If you can hook up with a childcare association in your area you will be able to get a lot of information through them. You could also consider one of the agencies that would help you set up your home, help with finding some clients, etc.

If you are unhappy in your current job than that is a large part of the battle in making the transition to home care. It will be lonely at first and the novelty of being with your child 24/7 may in fact wear off and you will start craving other adults. That is where playgroups could be a good thing to take your group to.

I might be inclined to set a date in the future for opening such as June or September which gives you time to get the pool fenced - a legal requirement in some provinces and the house set up so that you have a plan for where children will nap, eat, play, etc. You will need to formulate a contract to give the parents of what you expect from them and what they can expect from you. If you set up the transition over time it will make it seem more natural to you and also give a better chance of having lined up at least a couple of children for when you open.

Ideally make sure that your family could still pay the basic bills - mortgage/rent, utilities, basic foods if you didn't work at all so that there isn't as much pressure to be full so again it might mean taking time to adjust things like how you spend discretionary money since you may have less of it in the future - ie get used to cooking simply and not eating out.