How to Set Up a Loving, Profitable Daycare Business

For people who love children and have always wanted to have their own business, starting a daycare center seems like a natural. Whether you decide to have a small daycare center in your home or go all in and establish the largest daycare business in your city, there are many common issues that must be addressed. Deciding how to design your building in a way that’s safe for the children, along with obtaining the proper licensing and hiring a qualified staff, are just some of the decisions that need to be made before welcoming your first child into your business. If you’ve decided to take the plunge and go into business for yourself, here are the most important aspects to consider in setting up a loving and profitable daycare business.

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Interior Glass Doors

When it comes to choosing how to design the interior of your daycare business, you can create and optimize your workspace by using various types of interior sliding doors, glass partition walls, and glass barn doors. By installing glass partition walls, it will allow you and your staff to view the children at all times. In addition, interior sliding doors and heavy-duty glass barn doors are durable enough to take plenty of force from even the most hyper kids, and are also strong enough so that the kids won’t be able to move them. And remember, along with keeping your facility safe for the kids, the stylish glass interior will also let in plenty of natural light, making the daycare center look even better.

Licensing

While licensing requirements vary among states, it’s important to know exactly what you’ll need for your business. Otherwise, you may find yourself in serious legal trouble if your facility has an issue and is found to not have the proper credentials. When you apply for a license, plan on having representatives from your local health or social services department visit you site, where they will inspect for proper safety requirements and ensure you have the current paperwork necessary to operate your business.

Location

If you have a large enough area in your home, you may be able to operate the daycare business in your home. Otherwise, you’ll need to find a separate building. When doing so, be sure it has plenty of outdoor space for playing, since kids will need this as much as possible. Along with this, try to have various rooms available to separate kids by age, and ensure you’ve got bathrooms and other accommodations for those children who may have disabilities.

Setting Up Your Facility

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To keep your kids happy, plan on having plenty of toys, games, and art supplies at your business. However, be sure the toys are safe and encourage physical and mental development. And to be sure you’ve made safety your top priority, keep any dangerous chemicals out of reach, make sure you have no sharp angles for kids to get cut, and use safety caps and locks on electrical outlets and storage cabinets.

Transportation and Meals

At almost any daycare facility, it’s important to have a van to transport kids for various reasons. Whether it’s a field trip to the local mall or elsewhere, having reliable transportation is important. And if you plan on serving meals, make sure you’ve got kitchen facilities that can accommodate the number of kids at your business, and one that will also meet health department guidelines.

Hiring Your Staff

Perhaps more important than anything else, hiring the right staff for your daycare center can make or break your business. To make sure you get the best people for the job, always look for those who have had prior experience working with children of various ages, and if possible try to hire people who have college degrees in early childhood education or child development. Whether you choose to hire full-time staff or people to occasionally help out during busy times, always strive to hire the best possible people for the job.

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Something Unique

If you want to do something unique that will benefit not only children but also their hard-working parents, consider offering night time day care to help out parents who work the night shift. Since finding childcare overnight can be difficult, this is an idea that parents and kids will love. Not only will parents have peace of mind knowing their kids are being well cared for at night, but the kids will also enjoy the experience, since they will be able to put on their pajamas, have a nutritious snack, listen to a bedtime story, and then drift off to sleep, knowing their parents will be there the next morning to pick them up. If you’re looking for a way to make your business stand out from the competition, consider this unique and much-needed aspect of childcare to your growing business.