Opening a in Home Family Daycare

Hi E.. I also run an in home daycare in Albertville, welcome!!
You have gotten some great advice already but I just wanted to add one piece. Remember that this is your business and you can and should be picky about who you are bringing into your home. Especially since you have your own children there with you.
You will get tons of information at the orientation. Your licensor should be Becky and she is fabulous to work with. Right now there are not many people in this area looking for daycare because so many people are laid off but there are always calls for infant care.
One other thing that I wish I had space for, a jumper, slide or jungle gym in the house. For those little ones to burn excess energy on inside days!
Good luck to you and feel free to contact me of you have other questions.

We started a family day care in 1994 and went into debt, wrong area and my husband was the day care provider. People wanted to come but didn't like the neighborhood. Make sure you have enough money set asside to tide you through as you get started.
best of luck,
Sheryr

I ran a state licensed daycare in my home for more than 12 years and loved it! There are a lot of regulations to meet but your licenser will give you information that spells it all out. Some things that worked for me are: try to have a dedicated area for the daycare separate from your family area. Organize your day into a schedule, for instance arrival, breakfast, story time, nap time, music time, school time, outdoor time and pick-up time. It will depend on the ages of the children that you care for. There is no such thing as over-organizing when it comes to daycare. A very specific contract and policy are essential. The most loving and nurturing daycare can only survive if it is run as a business. Call other daycares to find out their rates before setting yours. I was able to support our family when my husband was out of work. My income varied over the years from $25,000 to $33,000. And the tax advantages are fantastic!
It is very rewarding to watch those young kids grow and learn!
Good luck to you.

I run an in-home unlicensed daycare. Just one family at a time and it's very low key. I only have a couple of pieces of advice that I figured out. At least for our area, craigslist gleaned better quality clients then newspapers. Go figure. No idea why, but it's been true for me. Of course, word of mouth is your very best friend too. So, really work hard on building a good image.

Right now it's especially hard to get clients. Everyone who is out of work is trying to open a daycare. I used to be able to charge whatever I wanted because I was the only nice daycare in the area and now I have to stay priced very competitively.

If you go with Providers Choice food program, you can do the same Calendar Keeper sort of software on the program..they have a full accounting program free of charge. I love being able to enter stuff and print it out at the years end. And agree..Tom Copeland is the MAN for DC paperwork. He is the most knowledgeable person and he is based right here in the Twin Cities. If you get a chance to do his Business Seminars..do it! Also with Providers Choice, you can do Auto Pay thru them...I have used this for a few years and its either that or cash...no more bank trips and parents love it (its like a bill pay deal with automatic deductions from them and deposits to me...we do 2 week chunks).

A complete contract...good filing system (I do color coded folders....red is for child files...green is for my pet info needed for licensing..blue is for all my training certificates....yellow is for grants....etc...)....set your space up for ease for you as well as the kids.....and licensing. And yes, you will get used to not having things in the kitchen drawers..your toothpaste in the bathroom drawer, etc!!

But the best thing ever?? Magnetic locks. They are a PITA to install..just ask my hubby! But at leat in Hennepin County, they are the only way you can leave your toothpaste in the bathroom drawer..or the plastic baggies in the lower cabinets, etc. The magnetic locks are the only ones that qualify as an appropriate safe barrier..otherwise they have to be up higher. Everything....medicines, toothpaste, deoderant..plastic wrap, staples, pens and markers and glue..pizza cutters and potato peelers..diapers and wipes...the list is endless. We built cabinets all over the house to accommodate my daycare...then did the locks to make the house livable for my family as well.

Good luck!

The first thing you need to buy are books by Tom Copeland. He is a licensed attorney who specializes in day care so he KNOWS all the ins and outs of our business. If you use his books and forms you won't need to hire a tax preparer. You can purchase a starter kit from Redleaf Press for about $75, remember it 100% tax deductable
http://www.redleafpress.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1484

Make sure you have written policies that are very clear and precise, also parent/provider contracts....and then stick to your policies/contracts. This is one business that people will take advantage of you real fast.

One little thing that I do is I offer something that no other day care in our area does, I supply the diapers.......I have in my policies that I will supply generic (Target, Walgreen etc) diapers but if they can only use a certain name brand then they must supply them. Can't tell you how many parents are floored by that one. I buy diapers when they are on sale and have a large stock pile at all times. I also supply the formula, but I am on the food program so I do get reimbursed a portion.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. I can also suggest a couple of Yahoo groups that are for day care providers. I get a ton of good information for the groups

Good luck and welcome to a very fulfilling occupation...
Renee

Find a good tax preparer that is familiar with home daycare tax returns.

A wagon is invaluable.

Get one of those specialized day care expense tracking books. There will be things listed in it that you didn't even think to track (like time spent cleaning after hours).

Stock up on fire extingushers and smoke alarms - the county is crazy about those things.

Consider whether or not you want to accept county referrals or not. While the pay is consistant, I have found that the moms were not so consistant :(

Buy the biggest first aid kit you can find :)

Good luck!

While you're setting up your daycare area make sure that you establish some rules with your own kids, such as having an area that's strictly theirs or where they should keep any toys that are special to them so that others don't play with them, etc. It's very important that you have an area of your house which is "private-family only".

Have your furnace/ac checked by a professional with documentation. in my county all smoke detectors needed to be combo smoke and carbon monoxide. make sure you super child proof your house put knives way up and lock up cleaners and medications. even in areas that wont be used for daycare. call your county licensesor and they will send you a check list of things they look at.

I did home daycare for alittle over a year. I agree with the other poster the Red Leaf Press offers some wonderful books/information for childcare providers. Buy their yearly calendar and fill out everything. It will have everything you need to keep track of for taxes. At the end of the year, take your calendar to your accountant, and it's all there. This is a must have!

I would advise you to have a clear and specific parent handbook and contract. Many providers request for paid holidays (the parents usually get them at work, so you should too!) and maybe a week or two of paid vacation. Ask around your local area to find out what is the norm. Set policies on pick up/drop off times, what you will do doing the day, illness policy, late pick up/late payment, etc. When you interview a family, so over the handbook with them, IN DETAIL, word for word, and have them initial a copy that they've read and signed it. FOLLOW everything you say you will do. I was often too nice to my parents, and would let the first late pick up or late payment slide, but then it was harder and harder to enforce these things. Do it right the first time, and always follow through. That would be my best piece of advice.

Consider hiring or befriending a neighbor that can help you out sometimes. THings will come up, like dr. appointments, renewing your driver's liscence, you might not be able to afford to close, but you might be able to pay someone to come over for a couple of hours. This really helps your families out, and gives you some piece of mind that you can handle things that might come up during the day - this is occasional, but you will need it. Message me if you want more info. good luck!

E.,

I looked into doing at home daycare at one point. Remember to contact your home owner's insurance company. Your policy needs to change and be prepared for your rates to go up. We use State Farm Insurance in Minnesota and they had all kinds of stipulations. (I don't know what was state law and what was insurance company's policy.) We had to put up a fence in the yard, we had to agree to regular in home inspections, etc. I was only doing a mother's co-op preschool with the option to pay me to teach another mother's week if she didn't want to teach. State Farm told me as soon as you accept money from someone to watch their kids, all the rules of liability coverage change. I am sure many people watch kids for pay and don't go through all of this and never have an issue. But the unfortunate one who has an accident happen in their home can have serious legal problems, so it's best to look into it ahead of time.

S.

one thing to know is that you should try your best to run it as a "educational" day care; it will get you more kids. i constantly was "losing" or just plain not getting kids because the parents would rather sit on the waiting list for the preschool 15 miles away.

anyway, thats one thing ive heard.
also, just when you think your house is childproofed, you find its not. the licensor should come out to your house eventually and check things out. all porches and stairs must be safe; backs of steps must be enclosed (so no one slips their foot through). ... etc etc.
water test every year, training required every year, the more you can make your day care look like a school/preschool, the better and more attractive it will be. i had mine in my double wide, and it was fine, but i didnt like my house looking like a preschool all the time, so it really was just kids coming to my house and playing. you know? it was a normal house. so if you have a separate space that is a plus for everyone.
look up information on food programs. federally funded programs to reimburse you for meals. they dont pay a ton but its nice to have that extra $. the licensor should give you that information too. just take it step by step and dont try to hurry. :)