New to the Forum, New to the Industry!

[BeachBum]

Good evening everyone,

I have recently become interested in learning more about the daycare industry. I am wondering if opening a facility in my city is possible, and hope to gain some valuable information while surfing around this forum.

My love for children and being a big kid myself are the main motivations to opening a facility. People spending fortunes on daycare, facilities that are below par, and the occasional horror story on the nightly news are motivating factors as well.

Not interested in using my home as a daycare, but interested in securing a commercial lease or perhaps purchasing some qualifying real estate for the daycare.

Any basic advice you wish to share with a greenhorn is much appreciated!lovethis

[Play Care]

Good evening everyone,

I have recently become interested in learning more about the daycare industry. I am wondering if opening a facility in my city is possible, and hope to gain some valuable information while surfing around this forum.

My love for children and being a big kid myself are the main motivations to opening a facility. People spending fortunes on daycare, facilities that are below par, and the occasional horror story on the nightly news are motivating factors as well.

Not interested in using my home as a daycare, but interested in securing a commercial lease or perhaps purchasing some qualifying real estate for the daycare.

Any basic advice you wish to share with a greenhorn is much appreciated!lovethis

Welcome!

Check your states regulations, in some states in order to have the day care in its own facility you need to have a BA in order to be a director.

We do have some providers here who rent another house and run day care out of that. Some states allow it, others do not.

But I'll be honest, I don't know that most center owners really make a decent profit. Once you pay rent, staff (biggest expense - I've found that the better I pay the better my help is, but if you have full time staff there are taxes, ss, insurance, that you need to pay as well), supplies, etc. I wonder how much is left? This is where you want to talk to center owners in your area and get a feel for how it's done there. Some areas are better suited for the day care business than others.

One of our members has a small center (just she and her husband, I believe) and that's worked well for them, hopefully she will chime in.
Best of luck to you!

[daycare]

I am also in CA

welcome to the board


try this link, it should take you to all the information about how to open a facility.

http://ccld.ca.gov/

In CA you can not conduct childcare out of a home you do not live in. If you do home childcare, you must live in the home.

I myself have thought about owning and operating a facility, but just knowing the amount of liability it takes, I just stay with my in-home. I have 22 kids enrolled, 14 that attend daily.


best of luck

[Michael]

Welcome to the forum!

[Thriftylady]

Welcome to the four. I know little about CA, except that it is expensive there. I also know that owning a center seems overwhelming to me! I much prefer the smaller in home gig.

[BeachBum]

Many thanks for the warm welcome everyone! Some great insight and resources already, much appreciated!

I spoke with a friend who is in commercial real estate, and she told me that due to the outdoor play space requirement, there is rarely suitable property in the area. I'm going to keep an eye out myself, and also try to think of alternatives. What if open land is leased and portable buildings are brought in? Just an idea off the top of my head.

I look forward to learning more from this forum!