Trying to Start My Own Childcare Business

I charge $200/week or $40/day with a set schedule. I don't do drop-ins unless a client needs to add a day randomly.
I give everyone 10 days per calendar year to miss for free and then it's 1/2 price for additional missed days.
If I close for a holiday, illness, or any other reason, there is no charge. I do not get paid sick days or paid vacations. I am a business owner and any days I take off are at my own expense. I only close Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. Other holidays that at least one parent has off, like Labor Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, and no one comes in are gimme holidays for me and use one of their free days or 1/2 pay.

My cousin used to have her own daycare. She was open 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. If the parent came after 5:30, she charged a small fee.

She closed her daycare the 1st 2 weeks of July every year----and the week of Christmas. So, she had 3 weeks off.

If she was ill, her Mom cared for the children in her home daycare.

She would make 300.00 a day for 6 kids --- 8-5:30 pm. She had a great rep and always had a waiting list. Her pay was 1500.00 per week for a 50 hour week.

Some parents worked 8 - 4. Others worked from 9 -5 pm. So, her days were on the longer side!

The kids napped for 1 1/2 hrs a day.

The parents brought lunch/diapers/change of clothes and she supplied snack and crafts.

The best resource for you would be Burlington County Child Care Resource and Referral agency, which is in your area. Here is a link to their staff directory page:

http://www.bccap.org/cc_contactinfo.cfm

You might ask them if they have any data regarding rates of payment; subsidized programs will often pay less than private payers.

I had a preschool and actually checked other preschools online when determining price. You also need to make a business plan which will factor in your overhead (insurance for your business, supplies, staffing costs) and take into account the market rate in your area.

Do look into the resource I sent you. These agencies are designed to help people start daycares and family daycare businesses and will include resources such as introduction to the USDA programs, conditions for licensure, etc.

For what it's worth, I had parents pay a monthly tuition in advance; any missed days (on my part as the provider) were prorated out of the next months tuition.

Is is a hugely regional issue... It really varies a lot. I know it was a LOT cheaper in my hometown, where there were enough home-based daycares that the supply far exceeded demand, so the prices were rock-bottom. Here, it seems like there aren't many home-based at all (regulations are a lot stricter) so most people are stuck with bigger day cares and their prices.

I would look into daycares in your area.

I did home daycare for many years. I charged a weekly fee. I had a contract which I got from red leaf press. I gave each family 2weeks of time for vacation which they did not pay me for. I did not allow that to be taken a day at a time. It was to hard to keep track of. I had 1week of paid vacation time each year. And when I was sick I would take that day off of the next week's pay. I did not get paid sick days. Parents had to pay someone else for those days. If parents took random days off (going to the zoo etc) they still paid the weekly fee they took off I did not.

I think that this will be based on the area where you live. There will be a lot of variance by geography and size of market. You might start looking at your local want ad sections to see what others are charging. Also look for places that people would put flyers or business cards for childcare businesses. You could always call those people and ask what they charge, what hours they are available and how many children they keep. Don't tell them you want to open a competitive business, but it would be ok to inquire in case you were wanting to leave your child(ren) at some time and it will help you get a good idea of what to charge. Check into your local and state rules too to find out what regulations you need to be following in setting up your business. Good luck!

You need to find out what the going rate is where you live, it may be vastly different from where I live in Missouri.

When I used an in-home daycare, we each had 2 weeks unpaid. She typically took a 2 week vacation in the summer to visit either her family in England or her husband's in Florida, which she told us about as soon as she knew the exact dates, usually it was around the 4th, allowing us to make other arrangements.

It was in our contract that we give 2 weeks notice for our own vacation so she could plan (sometimes she could pick up extra kids those days to make it up) but if something came up, like my sister having a baby and we wanted to go visit, we just let her know it was coming up and she was happy to accommodate.

She never took sick days, if she was ill, her husband would stay home from work that day and watch the kids under her supervision. We trusted him as well and were fine with that arrangement. Had she taken sick days aside from her agreed upon vacation, I would not have paid her for those days, I would have had to scramble for emergency child care or take the day off myself.

If my kid didn't come in that day and it wasn't an already agreed upon vacation day, I had to pay for that day, it was in the contract. Make sure you have a clear contract, both of you sign two copies and you keep one and they keep one. It cuts down on people claiming they didn't know the policy.

Our vacations are typically Wed-Sunday, so I would take the weekly rate, divide it by 5, and pay for the 2 days that way. She never indicated that this was not the way to do it. Like I said, sick days never factored in.

My aunt had a daycare and she had a few backup people she could call for sick days. She obviously had to pay those people but it did not effect what people paid since she was always open. IMO...a daycare really shouldn't be closed except for planned vacations, holidays and weekends. Honestly, I wouldn't use a daycare that the provider had paid sick days. Not saying I would want my child there if the provider was sick either...but I think you need a backup plan.

Great answers but the best one was Nervy Girls.

Starting a business is a great thing and success will come when properly prepared. Rates and costs are all things to be considered. You will need to make a certain amount over a certain time to cover your costs. Will the rates in your area work for the costs you will have from this business venture?

My state regulates child care when you are caring for more than 5 children not related to your family. Check out what regulations may apply in your state. This is also important information. You don't want your business shut down because you didn't know the rules and follow the regulations.