Do you want to start a daycare business with no money from Home? If yes, find in this article a stepwise guide on starting your own home-based daycare with licenses, registration, setting up the daycare center, and more.
Over the years, things have changed in our lives. From raising children to taking care of parents, it has experienced a huge transition over the few decades. As most parents choose to work full-time now, they often fail to be there at home all the time.
What is a Daycare?
A daycare is basically a service-based business offering care for children. Parents will leave their children at your place, and you have to take care of the child. If you are someone who loves to spend time with children, this job would be a perfect fit for you.
You even have the scope to grow from there and hire people under you. You can start a full-fledged daycare business out of a home daycare.
Is Daycare Business Profitable?
However, it must be informed at the outset that if you are planning to start a daycare business at your home, it is a must important to talk to the family members prior. If you have parents, get permission from them first. If the answer is yes, follow the steps mentioned below to start a profitable daycare business.
A daycare basically provides all the needed services in exchange for a fee. While the market has a huge demand for quality daycare services, only a few are there offering all types of services. The economic opportunity is massive, and the business will soon see huge growth in the coming few years.
If you are planning to start a daycare with no money from home, here’s a full guide.
20 Steps to Start a Daycare Business with Almost No Money
Step 1. Research the Market
Daycare is a predominantly locality-driven business. You need to gather enough information from your immediate community, on whether there is a demand for daycare services. Thorough research will provide you with the number of young couples looking for daycare services for their kids and what kind of facilities they are looking for.
Step 2. Create A Home Daycare Business Plan
You need to start from scratch. If you wish to start a daycare with no money, you need to work on your business plan carefully. Write everything you will need. From licenses to insurance to marketing, you need to write down everything. Start with how to want to operate, your organizational plan, target audience, finance, and marketing.
Regardless of the size of your business and investment amount, craft a business plan. Include the investment, business objective, and marketing plan. You can craft a business plan of your own or you can take an expert’s help. Otherwise, you can also consider taking help from a business plan software for writing the business plan more efficiently.
Step 3. Competitor Analysis
As a home daycare business, you need to carry out research on all your competitors. Once you lock in a target audience, check out the other players providing daycare services in your desired locality. Know the rates, and if possible, find out how good they are, are the customers are not satisfied, and more.
Step 4. Name Your Daycare Business
Choose a catchy and attractive business name for your daycare business. A funny and relatable business name is extremely crucial as parents must relate to your business and the childcare services you offer. Check this guide to know more about naming a business.
Step 5. Plan of Educational Program
It is very important to set up an educational curriculum for the kids. Visit nearby daycare centers and collect information regarding the educational program offered.
Determine a specific age group of babies that you will accept for your service. This is very crucial. Ensure that you are comfortable with the age and set up the training module.
Step 6. Fix Pricing
Fix your pricing very carefully. The fees should be on par with the services you provide. You must charge a fair rate and not undervalue your services. You also need to hire manpower to run a daycare business. Take into account the salary expenses before setting fees.
Step 7. Choosing a Location
If you are going for a small in-home daycare, you are sorted. But in case you wish to expand in the future, you may have to rent a place or look for an existing daycare center. Check all the city’s zoning laws and childcare licensing guidelines before you finalize a new location.
Step 8. Setup The Place
The daycare business is mostly operated in a residential area. You can either rent a space or start from your home if you have sufficient space. Decorate the interior with stuff that will make the kids enjoy the stay. In addition, ensure an outdoor space for extracurricular activities.
Step 9. Financing Your Home Daycare Business
You can skip this step, as you are not going to spend anything as of now. As you wish to operate from home, you need no additional costs. Though, you may have to pay for a few licenses. In case, you don’t even have that money, it’s better to babysit for a few days and save some money.
Step 10. Register Your Daycare Business
If you want to run a headache-free daycare business, it is wise to register your business and run the business legally. Every country and state provides different company formation platforms. Talk to a professional and decide upon the best-suited structure under which you are going to run the business. For example, if you are from the United States, forming an LLC will ensure some extra benefits.
Step 11. Licensing Requirements For A Daycare Business
This will vary largely from place to place. Though, common licenses and permits include general permission from the state. Check with the licensing guidelines in your state and city. Also, do check your city’s zoning laws and childcare/daycare licensing guidelines. Open a business bank account to receive fees from parents.
Step 12. Set Up Your Policies & Procedures
You need to set up your own policies and procedures. Write out policies and handbooks to hand to families. You can refer to any Child Care Aware for a detailed guide. Though as a beginner, you can choose to offer your services without a handbook for the time being.
Step 13. Bookkeeping & Accounting
Most beginners do not give due importance to proper bookkeeping. However, if you don’t manage your finances properly, you will find it difficult to understand the financial health of your daycare business. You also might find problems in filing annual returns. Choose proper accounting software in this regard.
Step 14. Create a Crisis Management Plan
As you are the one responsible for anything that may happen, it’s really important to have a crisis management plan. This will help you in any unwanted situation or in a time of crisis. You need to be well aware of all the health, safety, privacy, and nutrition protocols. Refer to your local daycare licensing requirements for more specific details.
Step 15. Buying Furniture
You will be needing some special furniture and supplies. As the kids will stay at your place, you may have to buy games, furniture for kids and some other stuff. You can refer to any Daycare Guide for in-detail references.
Step 16. Safety Measures
As a daycare business, you need to make sure all the safety measures are in place. There are a number of safety issues you need to set up. As you choose to operate from home, you will have to childproof your home first. Also, make sure you have safety equipment like fire extinguishers and disaster supplies in place.
Step 17. Hiring Staff
You may need daycare staff as you expand. Make sure you check the criminal background. You need to rigorously verify all the staff records. Being a service-oriented business, your daycare center is only as good as your staff.
Step 18. Insurance You May Need For Your Home Daycare
Though you may not need any insurance in a few states, some of the guidelines mandate insurance. You will need insurance policies primarily for liability. The secondary insurances include property and workers’ compensation.
Step 19. Listing Your Home Daycare Facility
You need to list your home daycare in all the local directories of childcare businesses so that interested clients can reach you directly. As you a home daycare, it’s really important to list your facility on all the possible local directories for direct inquiries.
Step 20. Marketing Your Home Daycare Business With No Money
The best way to promote your home daycare is to start to let people know via parent groups, local events, and communities. Use social media to promote your facility for free. You can even contact people in your area to let them know about your new daycare business.
There are many low-cost ways to promote your small business on a shoestring budget. Check this article to learn more.
If you are planning to start a daycare, having formal expertise in this field will be an added advantage. Having an educational qualification in child education will be more than handy. If you don’t have one, try to attend short-term Montessori courses conducted in a nearby location. If you have the opportunity, involve yourself in an existing daycare center and learn the job extensively.
Finally, daycare is a business for keen responsibility takers. Here, you are in charge of small kids. Therefore, prepare yourself to take any sort of action that is necessary. Check your characteristics and personal traits. You must have the capability of having control over a difficult situation. Additionally, you must have qualities to mix up with the children.
Frequently Asked Questions?
What Daycare Services Will You Offer?
This will vary from client to client. As a daycare owner, you will have to offer different services for kids. If you are offering daycare for a child, you may have to prepare meals, offer snacks, and do activities for children like playtime, reading, and more.
For infants and small children, you also need to change diapers with all the above services.
How Much Money Can You Make With A Home Daycare?
This primarily depends on your location and specific needs. If you are able to offer high-quality services, the daycare services can pay you well with a steady base of clients. Coming to the growth potential, a home daycare business can grow big depending on your quality of services and demographics.
You can charge your clients either an hourly rate per child or a monthly rate for fixed services.
A daycare business will never go obsolete. While it’s going to grow and multiply in the coming years, you can choose to start a successful daycare business from home today with almost no money!
Editorial Team at 99BusinessIdeas is a team of experts led by Rupak Chakrabarty with over 25 years of experience in starting and running small businesses. Started in 2010, 99BusinessIdeas is now one of the largest free small business resources in the industry.