Daycare is a booming business right now because of the number of parents returning to work after the pandemic. Kids need top-notch childcare, and parents want to know their little ones are under the guidance and watchful eye of caring individuals.
If you have an eye for entrepreneurship and you enjoy being around kids, maybe consider starting your own daycare. This sounds like a difficult task, but it’s also a very rewarding one. We’ll talk about some of the best tips for becoming a successful owner of a daycare right in your home.
Getting the best insurance for a home daycare is something you need to think about quite a bit. You’re taking care of other people’s kids, after all, and the parents are going to be critical of the environment in your home. We’ll talk about all of the ways to alleviate your fears of interacting with parents and how to take care of the kids in your daycare effectively.
Table of Contents
1 – Have Intellectually Stimulating Materials
One of the ways to attract parents to your daycare is to have toys, activities, rooms, and other stimulating environments for kids. Don’t just stick the tykes in front of the TV for a few hours and call it a day. Try to look into what scientists and child psychologists think are the best methods for developing children in a daycare setting.
This can be hard because you’re battling the moody personalities of the kids. When children are outside of their comfort zones, such as at school or at their house, they can start to act out. Make your home daycare as familiar, family-friendly, and inviting as possible. Ask parents what activities they have the kids do in their own homes so they can simulate that in daycare.
2 – Get Good Insurance
When you’re responsible for taking care of kids, you really have to make sure your daycare business is protected against parents who want to file lawsuits or blame you for anything even remotely bad that happens to their child. Injuries as small as falling off a couch onto the floor may upset parents who have high expectations for their daycare.
Having liability coverage will cover the costs of scenarios like this, to things like kids damaging something in your home. Make sure you’re applying for business or commercial insurance policies when you start your daycare, as your typical homeowners policy won’t often cover damage caused by children in the daycare.
3 – Form Bonds With Parents
Communication is a key part of the daycare process. You’ll quickly find you need to ignore and overcome some initial combativeness parents will throw your way when they first put their child in daycare. Parents being critical is their way of deciding whether they are getting their money’s worth and feeling their kids are safe in your care.
Once a good relationship has been formed between your daycare and the parents enrolling their kids, you both can make the caregiving experience more beneficial for all parties.
Because daycare is such a local business, remember word of mouth can spread rapidly. If you have parents putting in good reviews around town, to their friends, and online, you’ll see your business grow.
With success comes more decisions to make, such as whether your home can sustain this growth and whether you need to rent another building. Get others involved in the home daycare business so there’s more space to house the children.
4 – Think About Where You’re Located
Daycare availability has much to do with your location. Look at where your house is and decide whether it makes for a good daycare location and home-based business.
Is it next to an elementary school or a church? Are you in the city or the suburbs? If you have a large house with the capacity for more children, being in the big city allows you to take on more customers.
If you’re in a diverse city, make sure you’re in touch with the cultural identity of the kids who are enrolling in your daycare. Being close to ethnic food restaurants is a perfect opportunity to bring healthy food kids are familiar with into your house for daycare. It’ll also show parents your business is inclusive.
If you have the capital to move your daycare to a larger building or into a city with more opportunities for growth, maybe you should consider doing so. Outgrowing your home is a great problem to have when you’re an entrepreneur.
5 – Use Savings Effectively
Running a business from your house means you need to have a savings account with a lot of extra capital to pay for unexpected expenses. We already talked about insurance prices, but running a daycare requires a lot of money. You need to fund the food, toys, educational materials, and cleaning supplies to maintain your daycare.
As you get more children enrolled in daycare, you’ll see these expenses continue to grow. You may pour too much money into the business and not turn out a profit. Having a savings account before you go into entrepreneurship is a great idea. This allows you to have some more of a cushion in case you get overwhelmed with the costs of running your business.
6 – Talk to Family About Their Role in the Daycare
Ask your friends and family if they want to get involved with the business. This will allow them to share the expenses and the profits with you, easing some of the stress of being a solo entrepreneur.
If you’re married with your own children, see if your family is okay with you starting a business such as a daycare in your home. This is the type of business that affects other people living with you and vice versa. Everyone has to be on board to make it successful.
7 – Find What Makes You Unique
Daycare is a fun business to get into because the kids are the number one priority. Being creative and finding what makes your daycare unique is what will lead to the most success. Don’t be afraid to try a new way of entertaining the kids with a game or activity. Talk to parents about what their kids like to do, and what they think their kids would be stimulated by.
If you always think with a creative mindset, there’s no obstacle you can’t overcome when starting your own daycare.
Shawn Laib writes and researches for the insurance comparison site, ExpertInsuranceReviews.com. He wants to help people understand how to start their own home businesses and succeed.
