Should You Open a Home Daycare?
To many mothers who desire to stay home with their children, the idea of opening and running their own home daycare sounds like a dream come true way to make that possible. It truly can be…if you are getting into it for the right reasons, and your own children and financial needs aren’t the only right reasons to take this route towards WAHM-ville. There is much to consider and many factors that come into play to find out if you are in fact cut out to be a professional childcare provider.
A Genuine Love of Children
Surely you love and adore your own children. You enjoy doing activities with them, teaching them new things and aim to be patient with them. But what about children that are not your own? Even the most kind hearted, loving and caring mothers can crack under the pressure of caring for children who are not her own. These children will be different from your children. Just as your children are likely a bit different from one another; yet you’ve come to know them and what does and does not work for each one. You’ll need to do the same with the children you welcome into your home when running a home daycare. You’ll need to be up for the challenges that childcare presents. They may have medical conditions, tempers and surely personalities and habits you aren’t used to dealing with on a regular basis. You can become familiar with their differences and learn how to best deal with them, but you must desire and be willing to learn- and be patient, loving and offer plenty of grace in the process.
A Warm Welcoming Home
No home is perfect, but yours needs to be a place parents feel at peace leaving their children at. You could be the nicest person in the world, and a parent may like you upon meeting you. However, a messy home (overly messy, not the normal child created clutter) or one that is chaos stricken will turn a parent off and away quickly. Additionally, making your home warm and welcoming means making it comfortable for the children. You don’t need a huge home, but consider the space you do have to use for the number of children you will be caring for at any given time (this will differ based on your state’s regulations). Make that space a safe, clean, mostly peaceful and fun space.
Business Savvy
You may have never worked a day in your life, but you’ll need to possess some business savvy to run a home daycare. You must be willing to follow through with the rules and regulations your state requires of you and you’ll need to get organized, curriculum planning and passionately pursuing parents who are pursuing quality childcare. You can take this challenging, yet rewarding, WAHM position for a test drive by doing some good old fashioned babysitting for awhile to see how well you handle other children and just how many of them you can handle in addition to your own. If after doing so you feel being a professional childcare provider from home is for you, check out Opening a Successful Home Daycare Center to determine the steps you need to take to turn your WAHM dream into a reality!
I had a friend get out of the Home Child Day Care Business. She’d been in a while and loved it. The money helped her family out and her children always had others to play with. Yet, she found out that her home owners insurance would not pay if a child got hurt on her property through her business, unless she took out a different policy which she could not afford.
She looked around. The cheapest policy she did find would mean she’d have to raise the rates to those she was providing care for. She discussed with them whether they would be willing to pay the rate increase or if she did so would they go looking for another provider.
They weren’t willing. Therefore she gave them two months notice as in their contract to find alternative placements in other Day Care Centers.
She did end up keeping one child a bit longer, but that’s because the mother wanted to stop working once her husband who was overseas in the military got back into the states again.
So I guess affording additional insurance if your homeowners policy won’t cover children hurt at your home day care business needs to be factored in.