Advice please :)

[Lee-Bee]

All I can say is that I would not have considered this career if I did not have a husband with a solid career. For me, the job is too 'risky' and inconsistent to be a sole income.

I opened in January of this year. I started advertising in October of last year, signed my first family on in November, second family in December, Third and 4th families in February (one with an April start date). I have been open 2 months and I am full. I was being picky and I was staggering their start dates with 2-4weeks between children so this may have slowed down my signing of families.

But, I spent a TON of money before I had any families signed on and won't be truly profitable for a while yet as I am still adding to the daycare. The upfront costs were pretty huge. Though, I have a self contained daycare and I am charging $15 more than the average home daycare around so had to have higher quality set up etc. It can definitely be done a lot cheaper than I have done it but it is still an upfront cost to a business that is a bit 'iffy'. Not to mention Bill 143 may really mess things up and potentially make it hard to fill spaces, or at least some of the spaces. All my 5 kids are under 15months right now so I would lose 3 children if Bill 143 comes into play and I would likely not fill the over 2 spaces as those children are already settled in home daycares.

Hopefully some other providers can provide some concrete experience but I do feel that this job is risky as a sole income.

Have you considered being a nanny and bringing your child with you? I spent many years working as a nanny I was making $15 an hour, paid sick days and vacations, they deducted taxes and paid into CPP and EI and it was a very solid career due to my experience and education in the field.

This may be an lower up front cost way to work and still care for your child. I think I was bringing in about $35,000 a year (before taxes) but had no expenses and you would be able to live in a smaller house (lower rent).