How to Start a Babysitting or Childcare Business from Your Home

| December 4, 2012
English: Group of children in a primary school...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Childcare is a rapidly growing industry, as more and more parents (especially mothers) are looking for full time jobs, they need a place to leave their children, with the peace of mind that they will be entertained, educated, fed, and taken care of. For many working parents, babysitters or nannies are not an option, because they prefer a daycare center with trained staff over part time babysitters. Which means getting into the childcare business is a very good idea.

However, even the most sound business ideas need lots of planning and careful execution to be profitable, following are some tips for those who are looking to start a childcare business.

Requirements:

You should start from the requirements or standards laid-out by the local authorities. In many regions you will need some sort of licensing, and you will need to meet some minimum requirements in order to run a childcare center. For example, you will need to have experienced and trained teachers or nannies to take care of the children. The number of required caretakers will depend on the number of children in your center. You will have to provide these children with at least one meal, plus you will have to hire a nurse in case some medical emergency occurs. To cut a long story short, if you are looking to get into a childcare business, you will need to be extra vigilant and take a lot of responsibility, unlike other businesses where you can invest some money, hire some staff and relax.

Financing:

As earlier suggested, you will need to hire caretakers, nannies, chef, nurse, and the likes. Plus you will need a playground, a kitchen in the premises. So, you might have to rent a separate building to start a day care center, in addition to that you will have to purchase all sorts of furniture and equipment. All in all, that’s quite some expenditure that we are looking at. In case you don’t have the capital in hand, you will have to look out for financing. There are different sources, starting from an investor or sleeping partner from your friends or family members, to the more conventional ones like lending from banks. You should also check out with the government sources because many governments offer special resources and funding for small businesses.

Marketing:

Once you’ve arranged the finances, and set up a day care center with all the requisites and staff, it is now time to market your services. To be brutally honest, marketing can turn out to be the trickiest part for many. However, you have got a very inexpensive, yet far reaching medium in form of Internet and you must make the most of it. There are many websites acting as platforms for babysitters or parents looking for someone to look after their kids, you can try reaching out to your potential clients at some of these websites. Apart from the Internet, you can get some business cards and flyers printed and distributed in the nearby localities and offices. Remember that choosing the right area to set up a daycare center will play an important role in your success or failure, so you must do the due diligence while choosing the location.

Saba Mushtaq offers sittercity.com coupons at her blog. You can use the reviews, information, and discount code at her websites to get registered at care.com or sittercity.com, two of the most popular websites for child care, babysitting, and pet care jobs. Apart from the jobs you will also find lots of tips and articles for people involved in day care business.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Category: Work at Home

Comments are closed.