I second the idea of having an enclosable safe area for when you need to do diaper changes, nose wipes, or if you need to pee!! The only risk you run then is little ones whacking each other, which will happen no matter what, lol.
I know some providers may not be, but I am all about safety gates. A friend of mine teases me about it, but I would rather be safe than sorry. All the stairs are gated, and I keep gates up to keep the smaller kids within my sight when we are not down in the playroom. My cleaning supplies are all in one cupboard, inaccessible to the kids. I didn't want to have locks on all sorts of cupboards, so I condensed it all into one.
One of the things I figured out; have an idea in advance of how you will spend your day. Even if that day ends up being: free play, snack, free play, lunch, nap, coloring, free play, home. It doesn't have to be structured activities, but I found that when I was just flying by the seat of my pants, things got hectic. That may have been just me, though! lol