Opening a daycare can take some time and come with some challenges, but in the end, is well worth it. If you are interested in opening a daycare but you’re not sure how difficult it may be, you’re in the right place, as we’re going to cover opening a daycare, how hard it is, and everything in between.
No, if you know what you’re doing and can effectively be proactive in your plans, opening a daycare is not hard. To ensure this, we have covered a few important topics in this article, including the following:
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- Steps to open a daycare
- Possible challenges you may face
- How to overcome these challenges
- What you should always remember
Steps to open a daycare
Opening a daycare can be a long process if you aren’t sure what you’re doing.
Luckily enough, after reading this article, you can be sure that you won’t find yourself in this position!
The first thing we are going to do is to cover the steps necessary to open a daycare, which will make the process much simpler.
Steps to open a daycare:
Write a business plan
This will be the overall structure of your business and will encompass essentially every aspect of your place.
Obtain the necessary licenses
Although this will vary by location, most areas require that you obtain both a business license and a childcare license before you open a daycare center.
Find a location
This means either finding a commercial location or meeting all of the requirements to convert your home into a daycare center if that is your plan.
Develop policies/procedures
Although you may include this in your business plan if you don’t make sure to do so.
Establishing policies and procedures early will make the first few months of operating go much smoother and will make your business function better overall.
Hire staff
While it may be possible to run a daycare center by yourself, you will be limiting the number of children you can care for.
When hiring staff, check with your local and state offices of child safety (or equivalent offices) and see what requirements staff members must meet if they wish to be hired.
Advertise
Once you’re ready to open, you need to advertise your business to ensure that when everything is ready to go you’ll actually have clients to make it all worth it!
Check out our step by step guide here!
2. Possible challenges
Although we never like to think about what could go wrong when we are planning our futures or our plans, thinking about the possible challenges you may face is a very healthy exercise that may help you deal with them if they do come up.
As a result, we’re going to look at some possible challenges you may face when opening a daycare center.
Possible challenges when opening a daycare:
Gathering the necessary funds
At times it can be tough to gather the amount of money you may need to open a daycare center, and without the money, you may not make it far.
Finding clients
Childcare is an ever-growing industry that many parents have multiple options for, making it difficult to attract clients at times.
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping usually isn’t something you think of when you think of daycare centers but is absolutely something that can be a major challenge when operating a daycare center.
Not being able to effectively bookkeep can make operating a daycare service difficult to handle.
3. How to overcome these challenges
As we’ve just discussed, there are a few potential challenges that come with operating a daycare center, but that doesn’t mean you can’t overcome these challenges.
Given the right tools in information, meeting these challenges can be a breeze.
It just so happens that we can and are going to provide you with the tools and information you need to overcome the challenges we discussed earlier.
How to overcome these challenges:
Challenge 1: Not having the necessary funds
Overcoming these challenges is something many people who have started their own business have had to do, and can be done in a few different ways.
The first is to start with what you can afford.
You don’t need brand new toys and equipment at the start of your daycare business, starting with older or slightly used toys and equipment is perfectly ok!
Keeping your business within your means is important.
The second way to overcome this is to look for low-interest business loans, as they may give you the boost you need without costing you too much in the long run.
Challenge 2: Finding clients
Just like any business you need clients to be able to operate and stay open.
The best way to attract clients as a daycare center is to create an identity for your business.
Whether this identity is a wacky name or a fun piece of equipment that you know kids love, creating an identity for yourself and focus
ing your advertisement around that identity is what is going to help you find the clients you need.
Challenge 3: Bookkeeping
While bookkeeping may seem intimidating, you don’t need to be a librarian to know how to bookkeep effectively.
With all of the technology, we have at our fingertips, ignoring it would simply be a huge mistake.
There are hundreds of programs that you can download to your phone or computer that can help you keep your bookkeeping in order.
It will allow you to keep everything organized and at the tip of your finger whenever you may need it!
4. What you should always remember
It’s completely understandable if you are still worried or intimidated when it comes to opening a daycare business after reading this article.
But there is one thing you should always remember when going through this process.
You are not alone!
There are hundreds of thousands of small business owners across the US and the world who have all gone through what you are going through!
We all know the struggle and the anxieties that come with it, if you need advice, reach out to a small business owner near you.
In most cases, they would be more than happy to help or at the very least give you words of advice and encouragement.
It is going to take some time and may seem scary, believe me, you can do this!
Related Questions
What are the costs when opening a daycare?
The average startup costs for opening a daycare center are between $10,000 and $50,000 depending on several variables.
The costs for opening a daycare include the following:
Building costs
Opening a daycare requires a building, whether that building is your own home or a separate commercial building.
If you decide on opening a daycare center in your own home, you will have to pay for any necessary conversions or updates to your home.
If you decide on using a commercial building, then you will have to pay for the said building before you can operate in it.
Necessary licensing
Opening a daycare center requires several different licenses, both for yourself and all of your employees and building.
That being said, obtaining these licenses can be a bit of an expense and should be included in your estimated costs.
Insurance
Most states require daycare centers to have insurance to operate legally.
The types of insurance and the costs of that insurance is going to vary greatly depending on the state, so before opening a daycare, it’s important to research this information.
Supplies
Running a daycare requires a significant amount of supplies, from cleaning equipment to toys.
While purchasing these supplies isn’t going to cost as much as some of the other things on this list, it still is a cost you are going to have to consider.
How do you advertise for a daycare center?
In the new digital age, we are in, advertising anywhere but the internet can be a mistake.
The internet has given us access to a wide array of resources that has made advertising that much easier.
Using the internet to advertise for your daycare business is a great use of technology to expand your business, and we are going to go over a few ways in which you can use the internet to advertise your daycare center.
How to advertise your daycare center on the internet:
Reach out to parent groups
Parent groups are everywhere, particularly on Facebook.
Reaching out and posting on these groups is a fantastic way to reach parents in your area and it’s free!
Make your own blog
Blogs are a fantastic way to advertise your business in a free and simple way.
They allow you to paint your business however you like while also giving potential clients a way to reach you if necessary.
Operate social media
After you have a blog, reaching out to other social media is a great way to spread the word about your business.
Create an account on various platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, all of which will allow you to reach a wide array of audiences for free.
Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.
To learn more on how to start your own daycare checkout my startup course and documents here.
Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Childcare Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online daycare business resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a childcare business owner, I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Daycare Business Boss: I want to help childcare business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.
