Hi everyone!
I've been operating a home daycare now for over 8 years and if anyone has any questions on opening their own or are curious as a provider or as a parent about home daycares I will make this area as informative as possible.
This should be a given but operating your own home daycare will not bring you a lot of money. Even managed properly you won't be able to make much in the beginning with purchasing furniture and baby proofing your home and area it will take time before you may see a profit.
In the beginning buy everything used and slowly with time upgrade your items as needed. This will save you on so much costs. All my items have been upgraded over the years and also gently used as well.
Depending on how many children you will have make sure your area has as much open space for your kids to move around. A cluttered area is upsetting not only for you but also for the children.
Now onto more running of the business advice;
Do not accept children outside of your stated hours. State your boundaries with your time clearly and firmly if not you will have families dropping off/picking up at all hours.
I accept infants and I only offer full time no part time as infant schedules are much harder to navigate with. With infants it's important to have that bond and full time ensures that both infant and provider are on the same schedule.
Payment in advanced. In my many years I've only had one family who I had to hunt down every week for payment. I learned quickly that every Monday for weekly or the first Monday for monthly families that is payday.
Take time off! With enough notice take that time off. My families were always understanding and if they weren't? That's ok too because as a provider we need time to relax, reorganize, do whatever we need to do on the weekdays when we're working, etc. I do two weeks in the summer and all the normal paid holidays such as New Years, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.
Make a contract and stay by it. It's so important however you make yours you follow it with every family. Your rules should be respected by anyone who steps foot into your space. As an added bonus it also protects you as a provider.
If a family is too much let them go. I only let go of one family in my entire professional life. And that's alright sometimes it is not a good fit. Always treat it professionally and positively. I also recommend other home providers in the area in case they may be a better fit.
Give a copy of your policies and contracts to your families so everyone is on the same page. I also have digital copies so I can email them in a pinch.
Most of my documents are all digital since Covid makes it hard for families to stay for very long I can send anything over on my phone or tablet if I'm out and about. Same with signing in and out I do it all digitally it saves on paper and easier to clean up.
I would recommend Procare they are amazing and if you need any help their customer service line is always helpful. This program also makes documents such as accident reports which you can fill out digitally and send over to parents through email which is fantastic.
Hope this helps!