So You Want To Start An In-Home Daycare? How-To's and What To Know
- Elizabeth Gruss
- Dec 3, 2020
- 9 min read
So you want to start an in-home daycare?
Why? WHY? Are you crazy?!
Just kidding- a little. This venture is not for everyone and you can not do this without some serious thought and soul searching. You really do need to know 'why' you would choose to live with a childcare business in your home. I'll dive pretty deep into that and more, but before I do, I want to paint a couple of pictures for you first.
The First Scene-
Imagine: You're drinking hot coffee in leggings and a sweater, hair in a messy bun, on a Tuesday. You are sitting on your couch wide eyed and heart full watching a handful of small children playing with blocks, dolls, and coloring before you. Maybe one of two of them are your own. It's 9 am and there is already a load going in the washing machine and dryer. You're home to change them. The kitchen is clean. You don't miss your old job at all. The sound of small toddlers trying to communicate is beautiful. You close your eyes for literally a second, smiling, and take a deep, fulfilling sigh. But- Bang! Your peace is disrupted. High pitched screaming jolts you back to reality as you open your eyes to chaos. And then we have..
The Second Scene-
Two toddlers are crying in the block section. The dolls are all naked, clothes thrown all over the place- and what's that smell? You try to quickly access when you realize why a child is screaming bloody murder. You run over to stop child A just in the nick of time from hitting screaming child B with a wooden block for, what must be, the second time. Before you can handle this, you see the color-ers have taken the opportunity to sneak the crayons away from the table and over to your newly painted walls. As you try to stop them, you walk past the doll mess, you can't avoid stepping on dolls and their accessories along the way (by the way, ouch). And by doll mess, I mean mess- you've figured out the smell. The child playing with the dolls had not only undressed them, but herself as well and has not only put her dirty diaper on a dolls, but seems to have tried to shake the poop out before doing so. It's.. everywhere. She's screaming now because of the other child screaming. Child A found one of the dolls and is hitting Child B again. And as you are trying to figure out how to stop all of these incidences, clean up, and regain your peace again- the late parent just arrived to poop and screaming, and you, completely frazzled, seemingly completely over your head.
Okay, sounds like I'm over exaggerating, right? Like, you won't really have to deal with a child who needs *constant* supervision and redirection to prevent them from making other children scream bloody murder 1/2 the day due to hitting or biting or toy taking or pushing or just breathing too close. Right? You won't really have to deal with children who take their dirty diapers off, or children who are obsessed with sticking their hands in said dirty diaper then wiping it on the walls? Right?
WRONG.
WRONG.
WRR. ONG.
There will be that and *so* much more. In your house. On your couch. With your child's nice toys.
But, not all is lost- you will still have the first scene moments, and much more of those *if* you educate yourself on early childhood development and behavior, and *if* you put the actual effort in. Eventually, you will learn how to mitigate the bad moments and how to set up your day to hopefully, mostly, prevent them. That being said, even the true professionals end up with a bad fit from time to time. Some kids really struggle with going to daycare and sometimes a family is just a bad fit. This is a business and you always have to treat it as such. Doing so will prepare you for the things you can't control, like bad parents, and give you something you can control- your policies and procedures, your professionalism, the way things are run in *your* home.
Let's go back to your 'why'. Why were you drawn to this idea? What about running a business in your home makes sense for your life? Are you a new mother, dreading going back to work? Dreading your child spending 50+ hours as a random child in a large center? Or perhaps you want to take your childcare career to the next level? Maybe you were a professional nanny, you've done multiples, and want to be your own boss for a change. Maybe you have been working at a center and want to create a better place. Maybe you've struggled making barely more than minimum wage, done some math, and think it's a better paycheck.
Whatever your 'why', there are a couple I'm going to tell you means this is not for you. Run, don't walk away. And I will explain.
1. Easy Money- So, hopefully scene two explained why this isn't easy money. Maybe you know someone who does in-home care and it seems like a breeze for them. Maybe you have been paying for daycare, did a little math, and think it's genius to have a couple extra kids at your house to not only save on daycare, but make that money yourself. Let me tell you- you're wrong. You are so wrong and hopefully this stops you from having to live it to realize it.
I will start with the obvious and say every single child who comes in your house deserves your reason to be because you love taking care of children. They deserve it, and if you don't genuinely feel good from helping them, you will be miserable and unable to give them what they need.
Now that's out of the way, let's not even talk about how this isn't an easy job (it's not). Even with one extra child, this is an business and it costs money to run. Let me repeat- This is a business and it will cost you money to run.
You will be using more electricity, water, food, toilet paper, paper towel, wipes, not to mention, you need a place for each child to safely sleep, you need toys for different development stages, you need highchairs, boosters, plates, cups, silverware, things for them to do outside, safety locks, and, the room in your house for all these extra things plus room for children themselves to move around.
You also are not guaranteed clients. It might take you several months to just find one, and if you don't have a good set-up, you might have a lot of trouble getting anyone in the door.
It is a business, even if you think it will be really chill, you need to keep track of spending (bookkeeping/accounting), advertise and do marketing, figure out taxes, communicate with parents throughout the day, and potentially hire an assistant. Being stuck at home is also, far from easy (what will you do if you are sick or have to do anything during business hours? If you take time off, so do parents, and that could cost them their job and in turn yours).
I could write a novel about every hard aspect of providing in-home daycare, but, if you need that, then you are really so far from the reality of doing this that you just shouldn't. If your reason is easy money, you will get in over your head quickly. It takes some people years to start making good money, and it's only good money because they are working the equivalent of 1.5-2 full time jobs. Does this mean you are doomed? You need to figure out a better job and you thought this could be it? If you can understand this is real work and will be hard, if you are ready to put the effort in, then this can be a really amazing and fulfilling career. And I can tell you exactly how to make it happen.
2. I Want To Stay Home With My Kids- That's great! But, throw those fuzzy dreams out the window. This is not staying home with your kids. Your kids will make this job incredibly hard. Other people are paying you to take care of their children. You won't have time to snuggle your kids all day and your kids will get jealous, and attention seeking, and act out, and make it a lot harder. I really don't know what to say other than extra kids are extra kids. They aren't yours, it's not just extra parenting, it's childcare and you will have to treat it as such to get people to pay you. If this thought didn't occur to you, trust me you are too far from reality for this to be a good idea. You will regret it.
Unless-- you change your mindset, realize there will be pros and cons, and be ready to accept the sacrifices.
If you can do so, I can tell you exactly how to find a middle ground, stay home with your kids, save on daycare, and have a career while doing so.
3. I Know It's Hard, I am a Childcare Provider and Want to Make More-
Here is a sample pay break down. Things can vary depending on what rates are in your area, how many children you have, if you are full time or part time, etc. Below is actually on the higher side of rates.
Ex.
You have 6 children at $40/day each, 5 days/week. That's 240/day*5 days = 1200/week. That's like 60,000/year, wow! But-
You spend $100/week on daycare food (breakfast, lunch, two snacks) and extra supplies like paper towels, soap, wipes, etc. You spend an extra $25/week on utilities. You are thrifty and *only* have spent $1500 on indoor gear like storage, cubbies, highchairs, cribs, changing area, little pottys, baby gates, safety locks and covers, etc and indoor toys. You splurged a little outside and have spent $2,500 on storage, a playset, a climber, a play house, a tent, and random toys. You spent an extra $1000 to add daycare to your homeowner's insurance policy (landlords will need you to have this but also won't want you doing daycare while renting).
So far you spent $5,000 to start and can not avoid spending $6,300 throughout the year on basic necessities just to run your business. Things break, and as you keep going, you will realize why people spend more on certain toys or equipment. You also will want things to make your daycare better like- separate space from your house, separate nap room, covered patio, etc etc. You might not need to spend thousands and thousands each year, but you can assume each year you will want to do something big, to make your day easier and to help your business thrive.
60,000 - 11,300 (5,000+6,300)= 48,700
Remember, you have to set aside money for taxes. Let's roughly say you owe 10,000 in taxes.
48,600- 10,000 = 38,000
And, 6 kids is a lot on your own. You will have trouble getting clients if they think you are alone with 6 small children for 50-60 hours/week. So let's say you find a student to come for 3 hours/day, to help with the busiest time, to help get the kids down for nap, to give you a tiny break, and to fill in if you have to go to an appointment. I also will say- especially with out years of experience, you will want an assistant way more than that. Let's say you pay her $10/hr (I can not find anyone for that cheap who wouldn't quit right away). $10/hr *15/hrs/week = $150/week. 50 weeks/ year = $7,500 (this also isn't accounting the extra you have to pay for having an employee) (You also most likely aren't allowed to have 6 children in any state without being licensed and having a full time assistant)
38,000- $7,500 = $31,500
$31,500/year for your mortgage on a house with extra daycare space, for your utilities, for all of your spending, when you realistically need to be open 50-60 hours/week for clients. When you will have an extra hour of cleaning each day, plus weekends, plus errands, planning, and parent communication. Let's say you just are open 50 hours/week and just have an extra 10 hours of work outside open hours. 60 hours total. Assuming a full time job is 40 hours/week, you are working 1.5 full time jobs.
At 31,500/year, that would be the same as making $10.50/hour.
That 60,000/year is not 60,000/year.
If you have your children in a daycare, please take a second to thank their provider now that you see how little they actually keep from what you pay them.
Are you back? Okay, good. Now, everything I've said is not meant to dishearten you. It's meant to make sure you are aware of what you are getting into. Does this mean you are doomed to be poor if you follow your passion? Not at all! You can make this income work. You can make this business more successful.
If you are still with me, congratulations! Opening an in-home daycare might actually be for you. While I've homed in on some negative parts of this job, there are many benefits and rewarding aspects as well.
Such as being your own boss, cutting out a commute, getting to stay home with your children, setting your own work hours, being active throughout the day, being a positive part of your community, and having the potential to give children the best start to their life.
You want to keep going?
There's a lot more you should know before opening your own in-home daycare. Luckily, I have done this already. I have made the mistakes. I have done the trial and errors, had the good times and the bad. And I'm ready to share it all so you can smoothly start your new career.
Below is my guide for everything you need to know to start and run your in-home daycare.
Click on the PDF and get started!
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