business plan for children's home

A Sample Children’s Home Business Plan Template for UK

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

A children’s home is a large house where children and young people live together as a group, with professional staff to look after them. Children’s homes aim to meet the needs of children who can’t live with their own families. When a child cannot live with their family or stay with foster caregivers, they may go to a children’s home.

A children’s home is a place for children that provides food, shelter, and space for play and leisure in a caring environment. Children’s homes look after children with different needs.

Available statistics show that in the United Kingdom, there were 2,462 children’s homes as of 31 March 2021, an 11% increase (251 homes) from the previous year (2,211). These 2,462 homes were registered for 9,699 places, an 8% increase from 8,996 on 31 March 2020.

Steps on How to Write a Sample Children’s Home Business Plan

Executive summary.

Themes Valley® Children’s Home will be based in Wigan, Lancashire and the organization will be committed to serving a small number of children who will reside in a family-like setting with trained staff and effective programs.

We will house between 10 to 20 children per time in a family setting that offers the potential for them to enjoy full use of community resources, including health care, education, and recreational opportunities. Wayne Philips is the founder and CEO of Themes Valley® Children’s Home.

Company Profile

A. our products and services.

Themes Valley® Children’s Home will provide a wide range of services that revolve around 24-hour supervision, and support to troubled teens in a home-like setting and we will also provide psychiatric services to emotionally disturbed children.

Our products and services are designed to help provide residential treatment for youth for some time, and then facilitate the return of the youth to a family environment (until foster families are found for them), or properly reintegrate them into the community if they are old enough to live on their own.

b. Nature of the Business

Our children’s home will operate as a charity organization, we will source for finance from donor organizations and relevant government agencies.

c. The Industry

Themes Valley® Children’s Home will operate under the orphanages and children’s homes industry.

d. Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide a safe children’s home that will also provide specialized treatment to children subjected to abuse, and also to cater to children with emotional, intellectual, physical, medical, and/or behavioral difficulties.

e. Vision Statement

Our vision of to become the number one children’s home in Wigan, Lancashire.

f. Our Tagline (Slogan)

Themes Valley® Children’s Home – The Family That Is There for You!

g. Legal Structure of the Business 

Themes Valley® Children’s Home will be formed as a charity organization and we will operate as a charitable incorporated organization (CIO).

h. Our Organizational Structure

• Head of Children’s home (President)
• House Manager (Administrator)
• Nurse’s Aides
• Teachers, Caregivers / Rehab Counselors
• Account Officer
• Front Desk Officer
• Security Guards

i. Ownership / Shareholder Structure and Board Members

• Wayne Philips (Owner and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer) 56 Percent Shares
• Andrew Young (Board Member) 14 Percent Shares
• Rowe Anthony (Board Member) 10 Percent Shares
• John McNamara (Board Member) 10 Percent Shares
• Helen Gordon (Board Member and Sectary) 10 Percent Shares.

SWOT Analysis

A. strength.

• Ideal Location for a children’s home facility
• Highly Experienced and Qualified Employees and Management
• Access to Pool of Donor Organizations
• Highly Secured and Clean Facility
• Highly structured programs that help teens live comfortably as though they are with their families.

b. Weakness

• Budget Limitations
• Lack of full-fledged educational structure
• Inability to initially manage the organization without the support of donations and grants
• Operating from a leased facility (restriction to fully modify the facility to suit our style and taste)
• Inability to retain our highly experienced and qualified employees longer than we want

c. Opportunities

• The demand from individuals aged 15 and under is expected to remain high because the majority of orphanages and children’s homes cater to children in this age bracket regardless of external circumstances
• Government funding and private donations are anticipated to increase for support for children’s homes.
• The orphanages and children’s homes industry is projected to reverse its decline trend and increase in the coming years.
• A pool of finance from donor organizations, individuals, and relevant government agencies.

i. How Big is the Industry?

The orphanages and children’s home industry is not a big industry in the United Kingdom.

ii. Is the Industry Growing or Declining?

Available statistics point to the fact that the industry is presently growing because there were 2,462 children’s homes as of 31 March 2021, an 11% increase (251 homes) from the previous year (2,211). These 2,462 homes were registered for 9,699 places, an 8% increase from 8,996 on 31 March 2020.

iii. What are the Future Trends in the Industry

The orphanages and children’s home industry is changing, and players in the industry are improvising. No doubt, specialized treatment, technology, and social media will change the landscape of the orphanages and children’s home industry going forward.

iv. Are There Existing Niches in the Industry?

No, there are no niche ideas in the orphanages and children’s home industry.

v. Can You Sell a Franchise of your Business in the Future?

Themes Valley® Children’s Home has plans to sell franchises in the nearest future and we will target major cities with high children abandonment rates in the United Kingdom.

• Lack of support from stakeholders and the government
• Unfavorable government policy and regulations.
• Community resistance
• Liability problems
• Reduction in abusive homes and teenage pregnancies

i. Who are the Major Competitors?

• Fraserburgh Children’s Home.
• Brucefield Children’s Home.
• Neil Street Children’s Home.
• Kincorth Children’s Home.
• Roseberry Specialist Care Centres.
• Swann Lane Children’s Home
• Cameron House Children’s Home
• Crosslands Children’s Home

ii. Is There a Franchise for Children’s home? 

No, there is no known children’s home franchise currently.

iii. Are There Policies, Regulations, or Zoning Laws Affecting Children’s home?

Yes, there are policies, regulations, or zoning laws for Children’s homes. The Care Standards Act 2000 says that ‘an establishment is a children’s home if it provides care and accommodation wholly or mainly for children. Children are defined as people who are under 18.

Young people aged 18 and over may also stay in a children’s home, but they must be in a minority. If you want to register a children’s home/school, you must first contact the DfE for secure children’s homes or the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for secure schools.

This is to get the Secretary of State’s approval under The Children (Secure Accommodation) Regulations 1991. If you are planning a new building or to carry out any refurbishment or building works, you must share your plans with the DfE/MoJ. They will get the views of specialist architectural advisers before you carry out any works.

Marketing Plan

A. who is your target audience.

i. Age Range

Our target markets are children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 17 years.

ii. Level of Educational

We don’t have any restriction on the level of education of those we will accommodate in our children’s homes.

iii. Income Level

We don’t have any cap on the income level of those who we will accommodate in our children’s homes. Besides, most people who are admitted to children’s homes have no source of income.

iv. Ethnicity

There is no restriction when it comes to the ethnicity of the people we will welcome into our children’s homes.

v. Language

There is no restriction when it comes to the language spoken by the people we will welcome in our children’s home but we will prefer people that speak English.

vi. Geographical Location

Anybody from any geographical location will be welcomed in our children’s home.

vii. Lifestyle

Themes Valley® Children’s Home will not restrict any child from accessing our facility and services based on their lifestyle, culture, or race.

b. Advertising and Promotion Strategies

• Host Themed Events That Catch Attention.
• Tap Into Text Marketing.
• Use FOMO to Run Photo Promotions.
• Share Your Events in Local Groups and Pages.
• Turn our Social Media Channels Into a Resource
• Develop Your Business Directory Profiles
• Build Relationships With Other Nonprofits and related organizations in our Area

i. Traditional Marketing Strategies

• Marketing through Direct Mail.
• Print Media Marketing – Newspapers & Magazines.
• Broadcast Marketing -Television & Radio Channels.
• OOH, Marketing – Public Transits like Buses and Trains, Billboards, Street shows, and Cabs.
• Leverage direct sales, direct mail (postcards, brochures, letters, fliers), print advertising (magazines, newspapers, coupon books, billboards), referral (also known as word-of-mouth marketing), radio, and television.

ii. Digital Marketing Strategies

• Social Media Marketing Platforms.
• Influencer Marketing.
• Email Marketing.
• Content Marketing.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing.
• Affiliate Marketing
• Mobile Marketing.

iii. Social Media Marketing Plan

• Start using chatbots.
• Create a personalized experience for our teens (housemates).
• Create an efficient content marketing strategy.
• Create a community for our donors and volunteers.
• Gear up our profiles with a diverse content strategy.
• Use brand advocates.
• Create profiles on the relevant social media channels.
• Run cross-channel campaigns.

c. Pricing Strategy

When working out our pricing strategy, Themes Valley® Children’s Home will make sure it covers upkeep, medications, premium, economy or value, and full rehab package for each child. In all our pricing strategy will reflect;

• Cost-Based Pricing
• Value-Based Pricing
• Competition-Based Pricing.

Sales and Distribution Plan

A. sales channels.

Our channel sales strategy will involve using partners and third parties—such as referral partners, affiliate partners, religious organizations, nonprofit organizations, and charity to help refer abused and abandoned children to us.

b. Inventory Strategy

The fact that we will need educational materials, toiletries, medications, and foodstuffs per time means that Themes Valley® Children’s Home will operate an inventory strategy that is based on a day-to-day methodology for ordering, maintaining, and processing items in our warehouse. We will develop our strategy with the same thoroughness and attention to detail as we would if we were creating an overall strategy for the business.

c. Payment Options for Customers

Here are the payment options that Themes Valley® Children’s Home will make available to her donors and contributors;

• Payment via bank transfer
• Payment with cash
• Payment via credit cards
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via check
• Payment via mobile money transfer

d. Return Policy, Incentives, and Guarantees

At Themes Valley® Children’s Home, we offer services, and the nature of services we offer does not accommodate return policy, incentives, but we will guarantee our housemates on the transformation that will occur in their lives if they follow our program.

e. Customer Support Strategy

Our customer support strategy will involve seeking customer feedback. This will help us provide excellent service to all our housemates, it will help us to first understand their needs, experiences, and pain points. Regularly, we will work towards strengthening our Customer Service Team and also Leverage Multi-Channel Servicing as part of our customer support strategy.

Operational Plan

Overall, we plan to expand our revenue by 25 percent in the second year and the plan will include a marketing, sales, and operations component. The operations component of the plan would include attracting grants and fundraising strategies that will enable the firm to boost our service offerings and support revenue growth.

a. What Happens During a Typical Day at a Children’s home?

• The facility is open for the day
• The facility is cleaned and prepared for the day’s activities
• Housemates are welcomed
• Housemates are provided with educational programs that will help them to properly integrate back into society. They are engaged in an active rehabilitation treatment program run throughout the day, where the residents receive intensive individual and group counseling.
• House chores are carried out at different intervals during the day
• The facility is closed for the day and housemates go back to their rooms to get it arranged and then go to bed.

b. Production Process

There is no production process when it comes to children’s homes.

c. Service Procedure

There is no service procedure when it comes to a children’s home.

d. The Supply Chain

Themes Valley® Children’s Home will rely on social workers, counselors, religious organizations, and government agencies in our city to refer children to us. So also, we have been able to establish business relationships with wholesale supplies of educational materials, toiletries, medications, foodstuffs et al.

e. Sources of Income

Themes Valley® Children’s Home make money from;

• Contributions for partners and donors
• Grants from government agencies and charity organizations
• Community support.

7. Financial Plan

A. amount needed to start your children’s home.

Themes Valley® Children’s Home would need an estimate of £150,000 to successfully set up our children’s home in the United Kingdom. Please note that this amount includes the salaries of our staff for the first month of operation.

b. What are the Cost Involved?

• Business Registration Fees – £400
• Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits – £700.
• Marketing, Branding, and Promotions – £1,000.
• Business Consultant Fee – £1,500.
• Insurance – £1,400.
• Rent/Lease – £50,000.
• Other start-up expenses include commercial satellite TV subscriptions, stationery (£500), and phone and utility deposits (£2,800).
• Operational Cost (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) -£40,000
• start-up inventory – £7,000
• Store Equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage) – £2,750
• Furnishing and Equipping -£30,000
• Website: £600
• Opening party: £3,000
• Miscellaneous: £2,000

c. Do You Need to Build a Facility? If YES, How Much Will It Cost?

Themes Valley® Children’s Home will not build a new facility for our children’s home; we intend to start with a long-term lease and after 5 years, we will start the process of acquiring our own facility.

d. What are the Ongoing Expenses of Running a Children’s home?

• Cost of stocking up supplies such as educational materials, medications, toiletries, beddings et al
• Cost of food supplies and ingredients
• Utility bills (gas, internet, phone bills, signage and sewage et al)
• Salaries of employees

e. What is the Average Salary of your Staff?

• Head of Children’s home (President) – £40,000 Per Annum
• House Manager (Administrator) – £32,034 Per Annum
• Nurse’s Aides – £29,660 Per Annum
• Teachers, Caregivers / Rehab Counselors – ££28,878 Per Annum
• Fundraiser – ££26,500 Per Annum and based on target
• Account Officer – £25,000 Per Annum
• Front Desk Officer – £24,800 Per Annum
• Cleaners – £20,000 Per Annum
• Security Guard – £18,000 Per Annum

f. How Do You Get Funding to Start a Children’s home

• Raising money from personal savings and sale of personal stocks and properties
• Applying for a loan from your bank/banks
• Applying for business grants and seed funding from the government, donor organizations, and angel investors
• Source for soft loans from our family members and friends.

Financial Projection

A. how much should you charge for your service.

It is important to note that we will make our facility free of charge since we hope to attract enough grants and funds from donors.

b. Sales Forecast?

• First Fiscal Year (FY1): £150,000
• Second Fiscal Year (FY2): £250,000
• Third Fiscal Year (FY3): £350,000

c. Estimated Profit You Will Make a Year?

Themes Valley® Children’s Home will operate as a nonprofit organization.

d. Profit Margin of a Children’s home 

Themes Valley® Children’s Home is designed not to make profits hence we don’t have a profit margin for our services.

Growth Plan

A. how do you intend to grow and expand .

Themes Valley® Children’s Home will grow our children’s home by first opening outlets in key cities in the United Kingdom within the first five years of establishing the organization and then we will start selling franchises from the sixth year.

b. Where Do You Intend to Expand to and Why?

Themes Valley® Children’s Home plans to expand first to Cleveland, in North East England, and then to Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Tyldesley, Manchester, Bradford, West Yorkshire, and Crewe, Cheshire.

We intend to expand to these locations because available statistics show that the cities listed above have the highest juvenile delinquencies in the United Kingdom. As a matter of fact, with a crime rate of 109.7 per 1,000 people, Cleveland had the highest crime rate of all the police force areas in England and Wales in 2020/21.

The founder of Themes Valley® Children’s Home plans to exit the business via merger and acquisition. We intend to merge with an international charity organization that has a world spread so that the organization can be placed under a trusted hand when the founder retires.

The goal of combining two or more charitable organizations that are into children’s home on a global scale is to try and achieve synergy – where the whole (the new organization) is greater than the sum of its parts (the former two separate entities) and with the well-structured management team and board of trustees.

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Child Care Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

  Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their child care centers. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a child care business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Child Care Business Plan Template here >

What is a Childcare Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your child care business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.  

Why You Need a Business Plan as a Childcare Provider

If you’re looking to start a childcare business or grow your existing one you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your child care in order to improve your chances of success. Your childcare business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your business grows and changes.  

Source of Funding for Child Care Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a child care business are bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable. But they will want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

The second most common form of funding for a child care is angel investors. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding, or, like a bank, they will give you a loan.  

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a childcare business.

A childcare business plan should include 10 sections as follows:

Executive Summary

• Company Overview

Industry Analysis

Customer analysis, competitive analysis, marketing plan, operations plan, management team, financial plan.

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of child care facility you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a child care that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of child care businesses.

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the childcare industry. Discuss the type of child care you are operating. Provide key details regarding your direct competition. Give an overview of your target audience. Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will describe your business concept for a child care business that you are currently operating or plan to open.

For example, you might operate one of the following types:

In addition to a business description, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business. Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What is your mission statement?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include sales goals you’ve reached, new program offerings, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? A Limited Liability Company? A sole proprietor? Explain your business structure here.

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the child care business.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the child care industry educates you. It helps you understand the local market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy particularly if your research identifies market trends. For example, if there was a trend towards child care that includes transportation, it would be helpful to ensure your plan calls for such a service.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section:

• How big is the child care business (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the target market?
• What trends are affecting the child care industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your child care. You can extrapolate such as figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

The customer analysis section must detail the target customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: working parents, young families, baby boomers caring for grandchildren, etc.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most child care businesses primarily serve customers living in their same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your potential customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.  

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With Growthink’s Ultimate Child Care Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Your competitive analysis should identify the direct and indirect competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other child care businesses.

Indirect competitors are other childcare options that customers have that aren’t direct competitors. This includes keeping children at home and/or after school programs among others.

With regards to direct competition, you want to detail the other child care businesses with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be child care centers located within the same residential neighborhood or very close to your local area.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What child care services do they offer?
• What times are they open?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your unique value proposition. For example:

• Will you provide superior child care services?
• Will you provide child care services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a child care business plan, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : in the product section you should reiterate the type of child care that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific services you will be offering. For example, will you over technology or exercise classes to the children?

Price : Document the competitive pricing strategies you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the menu items you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your child care. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your child care located next to a heavily populated office building, or gym, etc. Discuss how your location might provide a steady stream of customers.

Promotions : the final part of your child care marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some marketing efforts you might consider:

• Social media marketing
• Reaching out to local bloggers (particularly “mommy” bloggers) and websites
• Local radio advertising
• Banner ads at local venues

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your child care such as discussions with prospective new customers, procuring supplies, cleaning and sanitizing the facility, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to serve your 100th child, or when you hope to reach $X in sales. It could also be when you expect to hire your 4th employee or launch a new location.

To demonstrate your child care’s ability to succeed as a business, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in the child care business. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in childcare businesses and/or successfully running retail and small businesses.

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your ongoing expenses to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you serve 10 children per day or 50? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : While balance sheets include much information, to simplify them to the key items you need to know about, balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. For instance, if you spend $100,000 on building out your childcare center, that will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $100.000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow forecast will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt. For example, let’s say a company approached you with a massive $100,000 childcare contract, that would cost you $50,000 to fulfill. Well, in most cases, you would have to pay that $50,000 now for employee salaries, etc. But let’s say the company didn’t pay you for 180 days. During that 180 day period, you could run out of money.

In developing your financial projections be sure to include several of the key start-up expenses needed to open a childcare center:

• Center build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of fixtures like tables, chairs, couches, etc.
• Cost of equipment used like computers and televisions
• Staffing costs for support staff members
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your childcare center design blueprint or location lease.

Free Business Plan Template for Childcare Providers

You can download our child care business plan PDF .

Childcare Business Plan Summary

Putting together a business plan for your childcare facility will improve your company’s chances of success. The process of developing your plan will help you better understand your target market, your competition, and your customers. You will also gain a marketing plan to better attract families, a business operations plan to focus your efforts, and financial projections that give you goals to strive for and keep your company focused.

Growthink’s Ultimate Child Care Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Child Care Business Plan.

Additional Resources For Starting a Childcare Center

• Opening & Running a Child Care Center
• Marketing Your Child Care Program
• Childcare Licensing and Regulations

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.

Click here to see how our professional business plan writers can create your business plan for you.

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The Daycare Business Plan Blueprint (Examples + Template)

April 14, 2022

Adam Hoeksema

Starting a daycare business can be a daunting task. There are so many things to think about and plan for. You need to find the perfect location, get the right licenses and permits, hire qualified staff, and, most importantly, create a daycare business plan. 

Creating a daycare business plan is one of the most important steps in starting your business. A well-thought-out business plan will help you get funding, attract investors, and operate your business effectively. 

The bad news is that there is a lot of advice out there on writing a business plan. With so much information and tons of daycare business plan examples to choose from, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. 

The good news is, we've got you covered. In this article, we'll give you a comprehensive guide on how to write a daycare business plan. We will also provide some examples and a free daycare business plan template to get you started. 

But First...Is a Daycare a Good Business to Start? 

Before we talk about how to create a daycare business plan, let's first answer the question: is starting a daycare a good business to get into? 

The answer is a resounding yes! The daycare industry is growing rapidly. It is one of the few businesses that are not only recession-proof but also thrives in uncertain economic times. 

According to the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), the demand for child care services has increased by 26% over the last decade. This demand is only expected to grow in the coming years. 

When it comes to profitability, the daycare industry is very attractive. According to IBISWorld , the average profit margin for a daycare business is around 15%. That's higher than the average for most other industries! 

If you're thinking about starting a daycare business, know that you are getting into a very profitable and in-demand industry. Now let's talk about how to write a daycare business plan that will help you start and grow your business successfully.

How to Create a Daycare Business Plan 

A daycare business plan is as simple as a word document with the following sections:

• Business Description
• Market Analysis

Business Model

• Location and Facility
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Plan

Executive Summary

This article will provide context of what to include in each section of your daycare business plan. As you work on writing your business plan, you will want to grab our daycare financial projection template as well in order to complete the financial plan section.

Your daycare business plan should be an elevator pitch in itself. It should be attractive to potential partners and investors. Basically, it should give them a clear idea of your business, where it is located, what services you offer, who your target market is, and how you plan to make money. 

Creating a daycare business plan doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, the cheapest and easiest approach is to simply start with a blank word document and work through each of the above sections, it can be pretty easy. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to create a daycare business plan: 

Create a Compelling Business Description

Your daycare business's unique selling point (USP) should be the first thing you include in your business plan. What is it that makes your daycare center different from all the others? 

This description should be the foundation of your marketing efforts as well.

There are a few questions you should answer in your company description. They include:

What's your Curriculum Based On?

Potential investors, partners, and even customers will be interested in knowing what your curriculum is based on. This will help them understand the environment children will be in a while under your care. 

When describing your curriculum, make sure to include:

• What age ranges do you cater for?
• The type of care you offer (full-time, part-time, drop-in) 
• Your educational philosophy 
• The activities and programs you offer 

For example, if your daycare is unique by offering a Montessori curriculum, you will want to highlight that.  In fact, you can learn more about how to start a Montessori program here . 

How Big is Your Facility? 

The size of your facility will say a lot about the type of operation you're running. Are you a small, home-based daycare or a large center with multiple classrooms? 

This section of your business plan may include: 

• A floor plan of your facility 
• The capacity of your facility 
• The number of employees you have 
• Type of equipment and furniture you have 

Who Is Your Target Market? 

You can't market to everyone, so you must identify your target market. This will help you focus your marketing efforts and ensure that you're reaching the right people. 

Below is a daycare business plan example that shows how your business description should be:

“ABC Daycare is a small, home-based daycare located in San Francisco, CA. We cater to children aged 0-12 years old and offer full-time, part-time, and drop-in care. 

Our curriculum is based on the Reggio Emilia approach, emphasizing hands-on learning and collaboration. Activities and programs include arts and crafts, music, and outdoor play. 

Our facility can accommodate up to 12 children at a time. We have a staff of four employees who are all CPR and First Aid certified. 

Our target market is working parents in the city who need quality child care but can't afford the rates of larger daycare centers.  We've created an affordable subscription-based pricing model for our target market to fulfill the demand. We generate revenue through monthly subscriptions and have low operating costs due to our small size. 

Our suppliers are local businesses that provide us with food, toys, and other supplies.” 

Do a Thorough Market Analysis

After writing a compelling description of your business, you need to do a thorough marketing analysis. This analysis will help you determine your target market, what type of advertising and promotion will work best, and how to price your services. 

You should also research the competition and see what they are doing right and wrong. This information will be invaluable as you create your daycare business plan.

Keep these things in mind when doing a market analysis:

The Size of Your Market

This is determined by the number of potential customers in your area who need or want your services. 

For example, if you live in a small town with only a few thousand people, there may not be enough demand to support a large daycare facility. 

On the other hand, if you live in a city with hundreds of thousands of people, there may be room for multiple daycare facilities. 

Your target market is the segment of the population that is most likely to use your services. This includes factors like age, income, education, and location. 

After you've identified your target market, you need to show how you plan on fulfilling the demand. This is where your business model comes in. 

Your business model is a detailed description of how your daycare will operate daily. It should include: 

• How do you plan on acquiring customers? 
• What are your pricing strategies? 
• How will you generate revenue? 
• What are your operating costs? 
• Who are your suppliers? 

Your business model should be detailed and easy to understand. It should also be realistic and achievable. 

Here is a daycare business plan example of a business model for a small daycare center: 

“The daycare will be open Monday through Friday from six in the morning to six at night. We will offer care for children ages six weeks to twelve years old. 

Our rates will be $50 per week for one child and $40 per week for each additional child from the same family. We will offer a discount of $20 per week for families who enroll their children for an entire year. 

We will generate revenue by charging weekly rates for our services. Our operating costs will include rent, utilities, supplies, and salaries for our employees. Also, we will acquire customers through online advertising and word-of-mouth.” 

As you can see, a business model is a detailed description of how your business will operate. It's essential to have one in place before promoting and selling your services. 

One thing you should not forget to include in your daycare business plan is the location of your business and your rental agreement. If you are renting a space, including the terms of your agreement and how long you have the space. If you are purchasing a property, include information on the property, such as square footage and any special features that will help your business stand out. 

This daycare business plan example shows you how to include this vital information: 

“The daycare will be located at 123 Main Street in a commercial space currently leased by the owner. The lease agreement is for three years with an option to renew for an additional three years. The monthly rent is $2000, and the security deposit is $3000. 

The daycare will have exclusive use of the main floor, including a large open play area, a small kitchen, two bathrooms, and four classrooms. The daycare will also have access to the outdoor playground.

80% of our space will be used for childcare, with the other 20% used for our administrative offices and staff lounge. 

We have chosen this location because it is close to several residential neighborhoods and has easy access to public transportation. The space is also large enough to accommodate our future growth.” 

There are many daycare business plan templates you can use to help you get started. This is a basic outline of what should be included.

Daycare Marketing Plan

Most daycare business plan templates will include a section for your marketing plan. Most people overlook the marketing aspect of their business, but it is one of the most important pieces of your puzzle. 

In your business plan, you need to outline your target market, your marketing strategies, and how you plan on executing those strategies. 

You also need to set aside a budget for your marketing efforts. Many people make the mistake of thinking that they don't need to spend money on marketing, but that couldn't be further from the truth. 

The following daycare business plan example shows you how you should describe your marketing efforts:

"Our target market is working for families with children between six weeks and five years old. We will reach our target market through online and offline marketing efforts. 

Some of the offline marketing strategies we will use include print advertising, flyers, and word-of-mouth referrals. We will use a mix of SEO, content marketing, and social media for online marketing. 

We have set aside a budget of $500 per month for our marketing efforts."

As you can see from the example above, your marketing plan should be clear, concise, and to the point. Don't forget to include a budget!

Daycare Financial Plan

Your business plan should include a financial plan section. This is where you'll lay out how much money you need to start or grow your business. Be specific and include dollar amounts. If you're seeking a loan, including information on how much you're requesting and how you'll use the funds.

You should also include a detailed budget in your business plan. Your budget should include all of your projected income and expenses for at least the first year of operation. Creating a budget will help you get a clear picture of what it will cost to start and operate your business.

This section should include projected costs for:

• Rent or mortgage payments
• Advertising and marketing
• Operating expenses such as utilities, supplies, and more. 

Startup costs are another vital item to include in your business plan. This is the money you need to purchase equipment, furniture, or any other items to get your business up and running.

If you plan to secure a loan, your lender will want to see a detailed business plan with information on how you plan to use the loan funds. Ensure you include this information in your business plan to increase your chances of securing funding.

If you're seeking funding from investors, you'll need to include information on how they will be compensated. This is typically done through equity, a percentage ownership stake in your business. 

For example, if you seek $100,000 in funding and offer a 20% equity stake, the investor will own 20% of your business. 

Make sure you use a daycare business plan template that includes a section on funding to ensure you include all the necessary information. If you’re planning to get a loan or seek investment, you’re going to need full financial projections. Our daycare financial model will provide up to 5 years of projected income statements, cash flow and balance sheet forecasts.

Next I want to answer some key financial questions for you as you consider how to forecast your daycare financials. I am going to hit on:

• Daycare Startup Costs
• Daycare Revenue 
• Daycare Facility Operating Expenses
• Daycare Profitability

Let’s dive into some key questions. 

How much does it cost to start a daycare? 

It costs between $10,000 and $50,000 to start an in-home daycare business according to Bizfluent . 

It costs between $59,000 and $3 million dollars to start a daycare facility according to Bizfluent . 

So obviously this is a huge range in startup costs.  The main thing that will determine your startup costs is your daycare facility.  Depending on how large your daycare is, whether you are buying, building, or leasing the space, and how much renovation needs to be done, your startup costs can vary drastically.  

Some tips to help you estimate a cost of a daycare facility:

• A daycare facility should have 35 square feet of open floor space indoors per child. 
• So if you wanted a facility that could care for 100 children you would need 3,500 square feet of indoor space for children, plus additional space for offices, kitchen, bathrooms, etc.  Let’s assume that you would need at least 5,000 square feet of space for a daycare facility that served 100 children.  
• A daycare center would cost at least $295 per square foot to construct in the U.S. based on data from Levelset . 
• Constructing a new 5,000 square foot daycare center would likely cost at least $1,475,000 based on $295 per square foot.  
• Now you might not be constructing new, rather you might rent an existing facility which could require renovations.  You will need to get a specific quote for the specific renovations that you need for your space. 

How much revenue can a daycare business make?

A daycare facility can generate $17,680 in revenue per year per child according to Zippia .  

A daycare business with 100 children can generate over $1.75 million per year in annual revenue based on our average revenue per child of $17,680. 

How much does daycare cost?

The average cost of daycare is $17,680 per year, per child in the U.S. according to Zippia . 

This means that the average monthly cost of daycare in the U.S. is roughly $1,475.

What is the typical child to staff ratio for a daycare? 

The typical child to staff ratios for a daycare are:

• 1 adult staff for every 4 infants (age 0 to 12 months)
• 1 adult staff for every 6 toddlers (age 1 to 3 years)
• 1 adult staff for every 10 pre schoolers (age 3 to 5 years)
• 1 adult staff for every 12 school aged children (5+ years old)

Source - Childcare.gov

These ratios will help you estimate how many staff members you will need.  Our financial projection template makes this easy.  Just enter in your ratios and the number of children you expect to have in each age group and the model will automatically calculate the number of staff required to maintain your ratios.  See the input daycare staffing table below:

What are the typical operating costs for a daycare? 

Your largest operating expense for a daycare facility is likely to be your rent. 

It should cost between $20 and $30 per square foot to rent a daycare center space based on available spaces on Loopnet . 

Other operating costs for a daycare center include:

You can see how you can enter in your operating costs into our financial model below:

How much profit can a daycare make? 

The average daycare profit margin is 6.5% according to Daycare Business Boss . 

Once you complete your projections you will want to take a look at our At a Glance tab to make sure that your projected profit margins aren’t way out of line with the industry norms.  You can find projected profit margins for your daycare below:

This is an important aspect that you may not find in most daycare business plan templates, but it's still essential. An appendix includes any additional information to help you understand your business plan. This might include things like your:

• Business licenses 
• Insurance policy 
• Lease agreement 
• Sample contracts 
• Staff bios 

This section adds credibility to your daycare business plan and shows that you've done your homework. Including all of the necessary details in your appendix will give investors peace of mind and show that you're serious about starting a daycare center.

An executive summary is a brief overview of your business plan and is often considered the most important section. It should be two pages long, with a clear description of your business, your goals, and why you will achieve them.

There are several key elements to include in your executive summary:

• Business Name: This is the name you have chosen for your business.
• Location: Include the city, state, and country where your business will be located.
• Business description: Describe what type of business you will be operating.
• Target market : This is the group of people you will be targeting as customers.
• Competition: Who are your competitors, and how will you compete with them?
• Product or service : What product or service will you be offering?
• Sales and marketing: How will you generate sales?
• Financials: Include a five-year income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
• Management team: Introduce your management team and their experience.
• Exit strategy : This is the plan for how you will eventually sell or otherwise exit the business in case you decide to retire or move on to other projects.

The executive summary is the most crucial section of your business plan because it gives investors and lenders a quick overview of your company and its prospects. Be sure to include all of the key elements listed above, and keep it under two pages in length.

What Are The Benefits of Creating a Daycare Business Plan?

Research shows that a business plan helps business owners make better decisions, turn abstract goals into tangible objectives, and track progress over time. But what does this mean for those who want to open a daycare? 

Creating a business plan forces you to think through every step of starting your company. It's a valuable exercise that can save you time and money in the long run. Even if you don't end up following your business plan to a tee, the process of writing it will help you better understand your business and what needs to be done to make it successful. 

There are many benefits to creating a daycare business plan, including: 

Gives You a Roadmap to Follow

As with any journey, it's always helpful to have a map. A business plan is that map for your daycare business. It will give you a clear idea of where you want to go and how you can get there. 

Helps You Secure Funding

A business plan is essential if you're looking for investors or loans. It will show potential lenders and investors that you've put thought into your business and have a solid strategy for making it successful. 

Ensures Your Daycare Business is Feasible

When you're starting a business, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement and overlook potential problems. A business plan forces you to take a step back and assess whether your business is truly viable. It also helps you identify any areas where additional research is needed. 

Final Thoughts

A daycare business plan is a valuable tool to help you make your business successful. 

It is worth noting that your business plan is not a one-time exercise but should be updated regularly as your business grows and changes. This document is meant to be a living document that evolves as your business does. 

If you're unsure where to start, there are plenty of resources available to help you, including daycare business plan examples online, books, and daycare business plan templates. 

You can also use our daycare projection template to get your financial plan ironed out and ready for your business plan.

The most important thing is just to get started. The sooner you create your business plan, the better prepared you will be for success.

You can get the Daycare Facility financial projection template here!

The template is simple to use and will save you loads of time while still producing professional looking daycare projections. ProjectionHub has helped more than 50,000 businesses create financial projections so you can be confident that you can do it too.

The daycare business projection template includes:

5 Year Daycare Facility Pro Forma Financial Statements

CPA Developed & Completely Customizable

Free Support & Projections Review

Compatible with Google Sheets

Free expert review of your completed projections

The template is easy to use and you do not need to be an excel wizard to fill it out. Editable cells are highlighted in blue, a video guide is included, and our team is available to answer any questions you have.

You can see the complete walkthrough and demonstration of the daycare business forecast template here:

Get the template today for just $79

If you have any questions before purchasing, please feel free to begin a live chat or email us at [email protected]

100% money back guarantee in accordance with our terms and conditions

‍ Photo by Pixabay

About the Author

Adam is the Co-founder of ProjectionHub which helps entrepreneurs create financial projections for potential investors, lenders and internal business planning. Since 2012, over 40,000 entrepreneurs from around the world have used ProjectionHub to help create financial projections.

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Child Care Business Plan

Start your own child care business plan

The Toddler Warehouse

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">, opportunity.

The education of our children needs to start earlier and earlier. The school system is failing.  Those who can hire private teachers and tutors to help with their children’s education should.

The Toddler Warehouse is a full-service child care/development facility that cares for toddlers from age three to five. The Toddler Warehouse will be concentrating on the upper end of the market: double-income professional parents. These personally ambitious parents are typically eager in terms of their children’s development and will be willing to pay to have their children attend the best facilities.

The Toddler Warehouse will be offering child care/development for toddlers age three to five. The Toddler Warehouse will be targeting double income professional families who, because of work obligations, do not have the time during the day to care for their child. The Toddler Warehouse will be targeting families that are interested in something more than simple baby-sitting facilities, they would like the children to be enrolled in a program that offers development of many different skills including: socialization skills, arts and crafts, large muscle group workouts, reading, numbers, etc. Parents who are professionals, who are ambitious by nature themselves, are typically eager for their children to move ahead and are willing to pay for the best development care services for their children.

Competition

The Toddler Warehouse will be competing in the child care industry. This industry is fairly broad and populated, there are companies at all levels, from the basic baby sitter services, to competitors of The Toddler Warehouse. There are service providers that offer standard business hours as well as services that offer night and evening hours. There are scheduled services and no reservation drop off services. Price, quality, and gut feeling drives a lot of parental choices. The Toddler Warehouse believes the secret to success is to 1) concentrate on only a portion of the market, and 2) choose a portion of the market that is growing.

The Toddler Warehouse’s mission is to provide top level child care. We exist to attract and maintain customers. When we adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place. Our services will exceed the expectations of our customers.

Expectations

We will be profitable in the first year. By year 3 we will be able to hire more general help which focuses on care since we are all set for teachers

Financial Highlights by Year

Financing needed.

Matt will invest $85,000

Problem & Solution

Problem worth solving.

The education of our children needs to start earlier and earlier. The school system is failing.  Those who can hire private teachers and tutors to help with their children’s education should.

Our Solution

The Toddler Warehouse is a full-service child care/development facility that cares for toddlers from age three to five. The Toddler Warehouse will be concentrating on the upper end of the market: double-income professional parents. These personally ambitious parents are typically eager in terms of their children’s development and will be willing to pay to have their children attend the best facilities.

Target Market

Market size & segments.

The Toddler Warehouse is targeting one specific customer group, the middle to upper class, two income professional family. This group of families have both parents working, not allowing them time to raise their child during the day. This group has the money for child care, and are willing to spend a little extra to get a higher level of care.

This customer segment has already begun teaching it’s child advanced concepts like reading, singing, socialization, etc. The Toddler Warehouse will continue to develop the children’s skills.

This customer group is typically made up of two professional parents. This would explain why the parents 1) have the money for more sophisticated child care, and 2) are ambitious in terms of their children’s learning and development.

Current Alternatives

There are many different competitors in the child care space. The Toddler Warehouse will only detail the direct, or reasonably direct competitors, and will not detail the myriad of other service providers that offer some sort of child care option. The direct competitors are:

• Established, often franchised, child care centers. These are typically larger facilities that offer care to a wide range of ages. The number of children serviced is usually quite large. The child care is adequate, although somewhat impersonal by virtue of its large size.
• Small, home based child care. These competitors are people that have a child care facility based out of their house. The quality of these ranges considerably, some are great, some are sub par.
• Medium sized companies. These are typically independently owned facilities. Some of theses will handle a wide range of ages, others will specialize with a specific age group.

Our Advantages

The Toddler Warehouse’s competitive edge is two-fold:

• Specialized training – The facility can only be as good as the teachers and assistants. With this in mind, The Toddler Warehouse has a specialized training program that all teachers and assistants are put through so they are proficient at teaching the specific programs that The Toddler Warehouse has developed for toddlers age three to five. The employees are put through an intensive week long course and only after they pass the intensive training will they be allowed to work with the children.
• Innovative learning programs – Typical learning programs for toddlers this age focus on specific traits and only work on one trait/ skill at once. While this is successful in reinforcing the skill, it is often very difficult for the child to appreciate the interrelationships of the different skills. Consequently, the child can learn the skill, but has difficulty applying the skill when faced with multiple stimuli. When the child is unsure of what to do because of the multiple stimuli and these several skills that they have learned independently, the child tends to shut down out of confusion. Matt’s Master’s thesis was based on Intertwined Learning Systems that teaches skills not in isolation from each other, but taught together. Matt’s research strongly supports the assertion that when the skills are taught together, just as you would expect to encounter them in real life, the children are able to assimilate the new task into their skill set much quicker.

Keys to Success

Our keys to success are: 

• To create a service based operation whose primary goal is to exceed customer’s expectations.
• The utilization of The Toddler Warehouse by at least 40 different families in the first eight months.
• To increase the number of client’s served by 20% each year.
• To develop a sustainable, profitable, start-up business.

Marketing & Sales

Marketing plan.

The Toddler Warehouse intends to concentrate on the double income working professional families because they are the segment that can most readily afford day care, are the ones who need day care because of their work obligations, appreciate the advanced learning and development The Toddler Warehouse has to offer, and lastly are a growing segment of our society.

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As America continues to be a society of people working long hours, there will always be the need for child care. The trend of longer work weeks is increasing and this drives The Toddler Warehouse’s business.

The Toddler Warehouse’s sales strategy will be targeting double income working professional families. These families have the money to spend on child care and these parents are much more likely to appreciate the advanced learning systems taught at The Toddler Warehouse based on Matt’s thesis.

The sales strategy will be based on a communication effort to explain the virtues of the program and how time at The Toddler Warehouse can speed up the children’s development considerably. In addition to one on one explanations of the program and its merits, the prospective parents will be given tours of the facilities. The tour of the facility will serve two purposes:

• The tour will be used as a way to impress the prospect of the facilities that The Toddler Warehouse has. These facilities were custom designed to achieve very specific educational goals and The Toddler Warehouse is immensely proud of the facilities.
• The tours typically occur during the day and this becomes a perfect opportunity for the potential customer to view the care as it is occurring. This will serve to build a trust bond between The Toddler Warehouse and the parent who naturally is cautious about leaving the child with strangers to have the child cared for and taught the entire day.

In essence, The Toddler Warehouse  is letting the facilities and teacher/student interactions speak for themselves. Because of the high level of service, this is entirely possible.

Locations & Facilities

The Toddler Warehouse, soon to be located in Salem, OR, will offer child care services for kids between the ages of three and five. The Toddler Warehouse will offer services from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The children will be exposed to a wide range of activities including arts and crafts, socialization, large muscle group activities, and general learning. The Toddler Warehouse will be priced out of some people’s budget, but will offer a low student to teacher ratio and well trained staff. The Toddler Warehouse will be located in a recently purchased and converted home that now is solely a child care center.

Equipment & Tools

The Toddler Warehouse offers Salem an upper-end child care facility for toddlers age three to five. The Toddler Warehouse offers a low teacher to student ratio, custom facilities, and innovative learning programs. The Toddler Warehouse hours will be a bit wider rage than normal business hours to accommodate the working parents, the target customer.

The two income families have children, yet both parents work. The Toddler Warehouse is an innovative solution that acts as virtual parents, broadening the children’s skills during the day. This is not a baby sitter facility. The children are engaged throughout the day, learning new skills and reinforcing already acquired ones.

Milestones & Metrics

Milestones table, key metrics.

Key metrics are: 

• The # of families paying fees to breakeven 
• increase the # families paying fees by 20% year over year 
• training teachers and assistants 
• keep on top of the educational tools 

Ownership & Structure

The Toddler Warehouse will be an Oregon Corporation, founded and owned by Matt Ernal.

Management Team

Matt Ernal, the founder and owner of The Toddler Warehouse will be running the daily operations. Matt got his undergraduate degree in English from the University of Oregon. Upon graduation, Matt was unsure of what he wanted to do so he travelled to Indonesia and taught English for three years. For the first year, Matt lived with a local family. In exchange for room and board, Matt cared for the family’s two children. Although he had never done any child care before, Matt found this very satisfying.

Upon returning to the US, Matt was contemplating pursuing something with teaching. His experience in Indonesia was quite positive, both the English classes and caring for the young children. Ultimately, it was the experience with the young children that led Matt to consider a career teaching young children. Matt entered Western Oregon University’s nationally recognized Master of Education Program to pursue toddler development. After graduation, Matt was confident of his abilities and decided that he would appreciate the autonomy of running his own business. He purchased a house for the facility has been working hard on this project ever since

Personnel Table

Financial plan investor-ready personnel plan .">, key assumptions.

Our key assumptions: 

• Kids need to have a place that caters to the way they learn 
• Kids need somewhere that teaches them life skills
• Education starts at a very young age
• Parents need somewhere safe and nurturing to leave children while they finish their workday. 

Revenue by Month

Expenses by month, net profit (or loss) by year, use of funds.

The Toddler Warehouse’s start-up costs include:

• Legal: $1,000
• Stationery etc: $100
• Brochures: $350
• Art supplies: $150
• Kitchen supplies: $200
• Cleaning supplies: $100
• Medicine kits: $100
• Matts and pillows: $150

Total $ 2150 

Sources of Funds

Our founder will invest $85,000 to get the operation up and running. 

Projected Profit & Loss

Projected balance sheet, projected cash flow statement.

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Opening a Children’s Home

Opening a children’s home & the importance of consultancy.

Whilst incredibly rewarding, setting up a children’s home can be a time consuming and costly endeavour. Therefore, we strongly advise getting expert advice right from the outset to ensure the process is as smooth as possible. The Children’s Home Association (CHA) is an excellent starting point for anyone looking to learn more about the process, but if you are seeking support that is more hands-on, then Changing Outcomes are here to help. 

How Do You Set Up a Children’s Home?

Due to the high levels of Regulation and the vast amount of inter-agency work needed to open up a children’s home, careful project management is required to avoid unnecessary delays and mitigate risk. An informal discussion is always advised in the first instance, but our founder Andrew Roberts has produced this step-by-step guide to opening up a children’s home. 

How Can Changing Outcomes Help You?

We offer a viability assessment to all new clients wanting to set up a children’s home. It’s done over the course of two days, as there is lots of information to take in and potential Q & A’s. One of the days will be spent at the property hoping to register as a children’s home, so we can go through the functionality of the rooms and what work may need completing.

If you do not yet have a property, we will utilise this time to provide you with a vivid description of what to look for. The remaining time is spent going through what it takes to get you operational. This includes all aspects required by Ofsted to open up a children’s home including: 

Your registration as a company, all relevant application forms, the statement of purpose, planning permission, the location risk assessment, and insurance.

Post the viability assessment, you will be provided with an individually tailored cash flow forecast, health and safety checklist, and a business plan template. Along with your detailed assessment and roadmap, we guarantee that you will be far more knowledgeable and confident about setting up a children’s home than when you started. 

Take guidance from our experienced team by contacting us today. 

What Registration Documents are Required for the Process?

When opening up a children’s home there are specific documents that need to be submitted to Ofsted for registration. It’s imperative that these relate to your service and that your proposed Registered Manager and Responsible Individual fully believe in them. Ofsted inspectors frequently report that they come across documents that are not personalised to the home and/or where certain practices/procedures have not been implemented. Our experienced team can write these for you. Take a read below to see what we can provide.

• A detailed business plan 
• A children’s guide 
• A statement of purpose
• A cashflow forecast 
• A location risk assessment 
• An equalities policy
• A prevention of bullying policy
• A behaviour management policy (including restraint)
• Your complaints procedure
• Your missing child policy
• Your safeguarding policy
• Advertising for candidates
• Providing application forms, job descriptions, person specifications, scenario work and interview questions
• Leading the interviews for your Registered Manager and Responsible Individual, and carrying out all safer recruitment checks

We can also review your existing documentation and provide you with feedback. To have an informal discussion about how to complete these registration documents, be sure to contact us today.

Opening a Children’s Home with Support from Changing Outcomes

If you need some support with your application for setting up a children’s home then don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today. Changing Outcomes have years of experience in the industry and hold a wealth of knowledge around the process so you are in safe hands.

Get in Touch

7 Business Plan Templates for Kids (Free Printables!)

By: Author Amanda L. Grossman

Posted on Last updated: May 7, 2024

Download one of these (mostly) free business plan templates for kids to help your child focus on a business idea.

What do supersoakers, Apple computers, and Nike shoes all have in common?

They all started as a business plan.

A business plan template for kids is great for two reasons:

• Your child can play around with it and get familiar with what's required (even if they never start the business)
• It helps kids focus on just one business idea at a time, and to see if they should move forward with it

No matter which category your own child falls into – just playing with business plans, or they have an actual business idea – I’ve got just the free business plan template for you.

Honestly? I wish my own parents would’ve given me one of these when, as a kid, my childhood friend and I had come up with our first kid business idea: selling bean bags. So, good on you for getting your kids involved with business plans so early in life!

Best Business Plan Templates for Kids

Use one of the business plan templates for kids below with one of these 16 kid business ideas .

OR, help them to use one of their original ideas sending sparks in their brain. You can use these 3 kid business plan examples for help with filling it out.

1. Solid Gold Biz Plan

I’ve been in business for 7 years and I’ve made about every mistake in the book.

Probably one of the biggest? Was that I didn't sit down to write a proper business plan (or, ANY business plan) until I was several years into blogging. 

Because of this, I created a free business plan template for kids and teens (on Page 6 of this free printable), so that they practice how to do it right, from the beginning! 

What makes my free Solid Gold Biz Plan different is that it starts your child thinking about the problem that they want to solve – because ultimately, that is the purpose of creating a product or a service. To solve a specific problem for people.

It then goes on to ask them simple questions that will focus them in on what it takes to plan out a business idea.

For example, I raise the question of how much it will cost to not only create the product/service but to also deliver it and maintain it. These are sometimes costs forgotten costs when creating a business plan.

2. BizKids’ Guide to Writing a Business Plan

This free business plan guide for kids includes sections for your idea, your marketing (and what makes your product unique), your startup costs, and an area for pricing so that you can make sure you’ll make a profit.

At the end is a one-page summary where your child can write up their answers from the previous pages all in the same place. Great for tacking up on the wall!

3. Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox

Anthony ONeal partnered up with Dave Ramsey to create the  Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox , a kid’s entrepreneur kit and small business guide for teens.

In other words, it’s so much more than just a business template for kids!

The entrepreneur kit includes the following:

• Access to the Free Entrepreneur Toolbox app
• Teen Portfolio Book
• DVD of Anthony’s Training Video
• Parent’s Guide Book
• Pack of Thank You Cards
• Deck of Conversation Starter Cards about Starting a Business
• Goal Tracker Poster

Here's my full review of the Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox .

4. Proverbial Home Maker’s Family Business Plan Guide

This is such a fun guide that you can fill out with your child, teen, tween, or even the whole family. It includes family business ideas, a sales ledger, an inventory worksheet, and much more.

Business Plan Examples

You may be wondering where you can find business plan examples to show your kids or teens.

For starters, you should look right at home. Are you a small business owner?

Then you’ll definitely want my free Take Your Child to Work Day printables – it’s got a section for you to fill in about your own business, which is a perfect business plan example to discuss with your child.

You can also find two business plan examples on the Small Business Administration’s site (scroll down until you see red buttons for Rebecca’s example business plan, and Andrew’s plan).

They’re not entirely kid-friendly but can give lots of ideas for the kind of information and research to put into a business plan.

Business Plan Activity Worksheets

Check out these free PDF Shark Tank worksheets for students . Students or kids can work through coming up with their own business ideas, create an advertisement for it, and a scoring card to judge the business ideas.

You’ll find a free 30-minute Small Business Administration course for young entrepreneurs meant for teens that you can use with your students (or have your child go through).

Hint: In Objective 3, it goes over how to create a business plan.

Are you an educator? Great – you can get a free entrepreneur curriculum for Grades 1 – 12, with lots of worksheets, from the Venture Lab .

Further resources include:

• Teen Business Video Lessons
• EverFI’s Entrepreneurial Expedition
• FEE’s Course on the Entrepreneur’s Role in Creating Value
• Business Plan Note Taker (lots of great prompts to create a business plan with)

Grab 23 more entrepreneur lesson plans here.

I hope you've found some business templates for kid resources that interest you. Below, you'll find other related kid entrepreneurship articles that will help your kids, teens, and students learn about the entrepreneur's career path. 

Related Kid Entrepreneurship Resources

• 27 Youth Entrepreneur Awards and Scholarships
• 5 Kid Entrepreneur Kits
• 14 Kid Entrepreneur Books
• 11 Best Business Simulation Games for Kids
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How to Write a Business Plan for Daycare and Preschool

• brightwheel
• Running a business

Writing a daycare or preschool business plan is a big task, but due diligence and hard work will help you understand what you’ll need to launch and run a daycare or preschool successfully.

What do daycare investors want?

Your local government will have rules and regulations you’ll need to follow as a small business owner and childcare provider. Start by reviewing the childcare licensing guidelines for your state and city. Once you’re clear on licensing guidelines, you’re ready to start writing your childcare business plan.

The purpose of a business plan is to help secure funding. You’ll likely need financing to launch your preschool or daycare, especially if you want to avoid the monthly repayment of a loan. 

Investors provide businesses with money in exchange for partial ownership. As a result, they expect a larger return on their initial investment. Because many investors work in business, they prefer to invest in an established company.

Most investors look for:

Industry background and experience

Financial performance and promise.

Investors want to make money. Therefore, they are more inclined to work with experienced entrepreneurs and business owners to guarantee a return on their investment. 

This might sound discouraging for those with little experience or without a business management background, but the opportunity doesn’t end there. You could consider bringing on a partner with a business background. Additionally, many investors act as a source of business advice. 

You need to demonstrate that your business will make money. Investors will likely want to see signs of business growth before they give you money. 

Additionally, investors will want to know about your financial stability. Questions an investor might ask are:

• What do you plan to do with the money?
• Has your business been up or down in recent years?
• Is your company losing money? Are there signs of growth for the future?
• How do you plan to repay your investment?

Of course, every investor is different, so they’ll consider various factors. While experience and financial promise are at the top of the list for most investors, they might also look for uniqueness, business readiness, an effective business model, and more.

Writing a daycare business plan

We’ve discussed licensing and investors. Now, you’re ready to begin the framework of your business plan for daycares and preschools. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

Business description

Needs assessment, insurance policies, operating policies and procedures, marketing strategy.

Start with the basics: what does your daycare do? Detailing the service you’re offering will help you create a clear business plan. Next, you might want to write some goals or even a mission statement outlining your purpose and motivation.

Start by looking at general daycare or preschool industry trends, then narrow your scope to the preschools or daycares in your local area. Next, you’ll need to figure out who your target customers are and confirm that there is a need for a business like yours in your community. 

Are there a lot of young families in your neighborhood? Are you located somewhere convenient for commuting parents? Does your business offer a specific service that your competitors don’t, like early check-in or extended hours? 

Also, check out the competition. Research the existing daycare or preschool options in your community. Look at current preschool or daycare business plan samples. What makes your daycare or preschool unique? 

Developing detailed budgets will help you run your small business. You’ll need to compare your current cash flow and expenditures to determine whether you’ll make a profit.

Build a budget for unexpected costs. For example, how many children do you need to serve to be able to pay your bills and stay afloat? Child Care Aware of America offers some terrific budgeting resources for this process.

Depending on the type and size of your preschool, you’ll need insurance policies of several different types, including liability, property, workers’ compensation, and business insurance. Check the licensing requirements for guidance in building this part of your preschool business plan.

Create a comprehensive handbook for families and staff that includes you center's policies and procedures. For instance, you'll need to develop an emergency plan , daycare sick policy , and other safety protocols according to your local childcare licensing requirements. 

Your staff handbook will be a helpful resource your employees can reference and include all your employment policies including work and pay schedules, benefits, and information about professional growth and development. You can also include information on your center's philosophy and curriculum, classroom procedures, and expectations for working with children and families.

Your marketing strategy is the key to attracting customers. Decide what type of advertising you will use in front of potential customers. For example, list your school in local directories and participate in parenting and kid-friendly community events. Run a social media campaign focusing on your target population.

Another big part of childcare business marketing is differentiating yourself from other preschools. These days adopting daycare software is a surefire way to attract families with young children. A tool like brightwheel's center management feature will streamline your center's admission process, record keeping, and reporting, saving you up to 20 hours per month. 

You can also use brightwheel for recording and tracking daily events and activities, and sending real-time updates to families throughout the day. It also offers secure, digital check-in/check-out and a paperless billing system. This is a great way to keep your families looped in on daily activities and handle all of your administrative tasks in one place.

Your business is ready!

Writing a business plan can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Once you secure the proper licensing, use the information in this article to guide you through creating a solid daycare business plan that drives investors and financing to your business.

These are just the basics to get you started. For further information, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s website has detailed instructions on creating each necessary part of a successful business plan. 

Childcare and Preschool Supply List

A list of everything you need to start an early education program.

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Discover the Simple Recipe to Getting Your Children's Home Started in the Quickest Possible Time. 

Watch the video below to see the exact strategy you can use:

Secure Payment

What You Get in Your Start-Up Toolkit

Take the hard work and the guess work out of starting up your children's home or service.

Insider secrets to get you started quickly

Save time trawling the net for the information you need to start your service.

If you have spent hours trawling the internet trying to figure out how to start your service and find the details you need, just to get frustrated and disillusioned before you even get started then this package is for you.

We have put together the essential elements that will help you compile the information and data needed to set-up and get your service registered in one easy to follow package.  Everything from locating your children's home, the fee's to charge and where to find placements are included in your online member's area.

Essential registration document templates 

No need to re-create the wheel we have done it for you.

The essential documents such as your business plan, your 12-month budget, your statement of purpose and the required policies and procedures you need to submit with your registration are included for you.

The document templates cover the elements you will need to submit with your registration and include hints, tips and suggestions on how you should complete them to ensure they are ready for submission to Ofsted.

Step-by-step plans to get your registration complete

Planning is key to your success the included guides contain actions for you to follow.

If you are finding it difficult to know where to start, you will benefit from the implementation and registration plans to give you momentum.  Also, included in each of the guides is an action plan to help you achieve the best results for each essential area.

Additional support is offered via email and easy to follow videos will follow.  You can also give us a call with any questions you might have. 

New Provider, South East England

I just want to say I was a little apprehensive about purchasing this package. I had looked at the website a few times and then finally made the purchase. I must say it has exceeded my expectations. The quality of the templates are great and it is really helpful to have a step by step list in granular detail. I have also felt well supported. I have spoken to Maggie on the phone and she has been great. Thanks again for your support.

Members Area Content

• Essential start-up questions.
• Guide to fee's, commissioning, tenders and placement finding including action plan.
• Guide to locating your home, planning regs, staffing costs and getting established including action plan.
• Service implementation plan.
• Registration checklist planner with links to Ofsted documents.
• Business plan template includes 12 month cash forecast.
• Children's home statement of purpose.
• Children's home locality risk assessment.
• Policies and procedures needed for submission to Ofsted.
• Full annual budget spreadsheet done-for-you.
• Safe recruitment and employing staff checklist.
• Workforce development plan.
• Health and safety risk assessment.
• Quality monitoring reporting documents.
• Preparing for your registration interview registered individual includes essential questions.
• Preparing for your registration  interview registered manager includes essential questions.
• Managers person specification and job interview questions.
• Staff induction pack.
• Additional support and follow up by email and via web.

Business Plans for Kids

Download the Sample Business Plan for Kids

Business Plan for Kids

Teach your students how to write their own business plan and create a successful business.

More Business Planning Resources

The 4 p’s of marketing.

Learn how to market your business with product, pricing, promoting and placement.

How to be a Pro

Tips on making a sales pitch, interviewing for a job, or meeting a potential customer.

Are you Making a Profit?

We’ll help you find out! Use this worksheet to do the math and put your business on the right track.

Child Care Director Resources How to Make a Preschool Business Plan

How to Make a Preschool Business Plan

11th August 2020

An important early step for starting any new business is to make your business plan. Starting a preschool is no different! What expenses do you need to take into consideration? How can you think about setting your pricing? What ages should you take? What hours should you operate? Here’s how to think through each of these decisions to form your preschool business plan.

Preschool Business Plan Basics: Wonderschool’s Iron Triangle of ECE Finance

Before you think through specific business decisions you’ll need to make, it’s important to understand what you’re striving for. Meet the iron triangle. For a preschool business to be financially stable, the iron triangle must be met:

• Full enrollment: ensure that all of your spaces are full.
• Full fee collection: ensure that you are collecting all of your tuition and on time.
• Revenue covers real cost-per-child: you need to ensure you are priced in such a way that your revenue is truly covering the cost of caring for each child.

Important Business-Related Decisions You’ll Need to Make

Type of license: Most states have at least two options for in-home child care licenses . Often there’s a “small” license and a “large” license, with a large license allowing you to have more children. If you’re just getting started you’ll have to choose which type of license you want. There are usually different requirements for each. For example, in California, to obtain a large license for up to 14 children, your home must meet certain fire safety requirements like number of exits and you need to have previous experience working in a licensed child care program.

One thing to keep in mind is that just because you have a license for a certain number of children, does not mean that you need to fill all of those spots. If you qualify for a larger license, you can get it and still only serve 6-8 children if you so choose.

Regardless of what you choose to do, you’ll want to make sure you understand the details of your particular license. How many children can you have at one time? What ratio of staff to children are you required to maintain?

Hours of operation: Do you plan to run a full day program? Or a half-day program? Will you operate a more “normal” school day schedule and offer before and after care for an extra fee?

Families need all sorts of care options. Think about your immediate community when thinking about your hours of operation. If you have a lot of stay at home parents, a part-day program might be perfect. If you have a lot of dual-earning parents who commute a long distance to get to their workplaces, you might need to offer extended hours.

Keep in mind that what you decide on initially does not have to be set in stone. You can always change it later, if needed. You’ll know if you’re not offering a good match for what the families in your community need if you’re not getting much interest, or if families aren’t enrolling once they tour.

Schedules you’ll offer: Related to your hours of operation, you’ll need to think about what schedules you’ll make available. Will you allow parents to enroll part time? Or do you only want full time enrollments? If you have part time schedules available, what does that look like? Is it Monday, Wednesday, Friday? Or is it half days?

Keep in mind that you can charge a higher rate for part time spots because it can be very hard to fill the alternative spots, plus the added paperwork for you. That said, not everyone wants to offer part time care.

Ages you’ll enroll: Deciding who you’ll enroll will depend on your comfort and background. If you have a lot of experience caring for and educating a specific age group, that might be your starting point. Most in-home programs serve a variety of ages, so even if your experience is with preschoolers, you may want to consider branching out from that. If your goal is to fill up quickly, infant care might be your ideal starting place, because that is an age group that is in constant high demand.

The ages you enroll will also dictate what you can charge. Because of the lower ratios required for infant care, you can charge more for infants. Often programs have separate pricing for children under 2 and children over 2.

Meals or other things you’ll offer: Will you provide snacks or meals? Or will you ask parents to provide those every day? Will you hire a yoga teacher to come once a week? Will you provide diapers, or will parents provide diapers? These are all expenses you’ll need to account for in your tuition pricing. Remember that one part of the iron triangle is ensuring your pricing covers the actual cost of care per child. These expenses should be taken into account.

Your plan for hiring staff: You may not need to hire staff until your enrollments surpass a certain number. Determine what that number is for you– do you feel comfortable caring for three children alone, but not four? Decide at what point you’ll hire help, and how many hours you intend for them to work. Will you have a full time assistant? Or two part time assistants?

Decide on how many hours per week you will need to pay your staff, and then determine what you can afford to pay them. Researching on Indeed can be a great way to get a sense of pay scale for assistant teachers in your area. Keep in mind that paying a higher amount will likely yield more higher quality and more reliable candidates. If you’re priced too low you either won’t find anyone, or will have to deal with increased staff turnover.

Your vacation policy: You’ll want to think through your vacation policy, both for time you take off, and for time your families take off. Will parents need to pay while they’re on vacation? Or will you give them a discount? Will parents need to pay while you’re on vacation? Or will you give them a discount? There are pros and cons however you do it, but you’ll want to think this through and include your policy in your parent handbook so the expectations are set from the start. However you structure it, you deserve to get paid vacation, so if parents aren’t continuing to pay while you’re closed, you’ll want to make sure that gets added to your tuition calculations.

Use the Above Information to Determine Your Pricing

Pricing can be a bit of trial and error. Generally, it can be a good idea to price yourself a bit lower when you’re just getting started. Then, when you’re full, you can gradually increase your prices.

To determine your starting point, add up all of your anticipated monthly expenses. You’ll need to price yourself to make sure you cover those expenses, and also pay yourself. Keep in mind that as a business owner, you’ll be responsible for paying your own taxes. You can generally expect to pay 30% of your revenue to taxes.

Keeping it All Organized

Pricing might feel like a bit of a puzzle that needs to be fit together, and it should. You want to make sure your pricing reflects your real costs as a business owner. The final piece to your business plan is that you’ll want to make sure you figure out how you’re going to track all of your business expenses. This will make it easier when it comes time to pay taxes, but it will also help you keep an eye on the health of your business. There are a variety of tools available to purchase to track this stuff, or you can start out with your own spreadsheet or pen and paper system. Whatever works for you is fine, just set it up and use it. Sometimes our tendency with money is to bury our heads in the sand, but that won’t help you make informed decisions down the road.

Starting a new business always comes with a certain amount of risk. By thinking through all of the different facets of your child care business, you will better be able to mitigate that risk. It can be scary to stand up and say “this is what my time as an early educator and care provider is worth,” but your business plan should give you confidence to do just that. Good luck with your successful and sustainable child care business!

Essential reading

What landlords should know about in-home preschools or child cares in california.

4th April 2017

Dear California Landlord, This letter is to inform you of ...

Empowering Children in the Classroom

4th February 2021

As a parent, educator, or caregiver, you have an important ...

How To Get Your Child Care License In Oklahoma: A Simplified Guide

22nd March 2022

You’re great with kids, and you know it! But still, ...

Meredith Downing

Meredith Downing is the Curriculum Lead at Wonderschool, where she supports directors to build high-quality programs that help students grow and succeed.

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How to Start a Kid-Focused Business If you're a child at heart and an entrepreneur in spirit, you have what it takes to start one of these 5 fabulous kid-oriented businesses.

Feb 1, 2008

Do you fondly remember your favorite childhood toys? Do you have happy memories of long games of Monopoly or Risk? Do you find younger kids' perspectives interesting and often funny? When you see older kids horsing around, do you sometimes get the urge to join in?

If you answered yes to these questions, chances are you enjoy children and the way they play. Chances are also good that you'd enjoy being a part of that play time. You can achieve that by starting a kids-related business. As you'll discover in this article, now is a great time to do it.

What's Inside

• Introduction
• What It Takes
• Niches Business by Business
• Days in the Life of..
• Start-Up Costs for

First things first, however. No matter what your background, skills or interests might be, a solid understanding of the kids' industry is crucial before you decide where your own special niche might lie. Read on to find out whether a business catering to kids might be for you.

Kids' Industry Overview There's no shortage of potential customers in this industry: According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, more than 73 million children under age 18 live in America, and this number is growing every year. Birth rates in the late '80s and '90s were the highest recorded since the end of the famed baby boom in 1964. By 2020, the number of children is projected to reach 80 million and to account for approximately 24 percent of the U.S. population.

The size of the kids' population is good news. So is the fact that parents and grandparents are spending more money than ever on children. Most compelling of all, however, is the surge in kids' own purchasing power.

Because of changes in the social and family roles of children, recent decades have seen sharp increases not only in kids' direct spending but also in their influence on household spending. In the 1960s, an era when kids were largely expected to be "seen and not heard," children influenced an estimated $5 billion of their parents' purchases. Kids now influence upwards of $500 billion in household spending, including food, toiletries, and a host of other items (even the family car!) outside the traditional realm of kids' products.

So how much do kids spend on products for their own use? According to research conducted by American Demographics magazine, 4-to-12-year-olds spend more than $40 billion, while teenagers (ages 12 to 19) spend $155 billion of their own money.

There's no question children have more money of their own than ever before-and businesses know it. Children today are the subjects of an unprecedented marketing blitz, not only on TV, but also in school. According to the American Psychological Association, Madison Avenue spends more than $12 billion a year on marketing to children. Child psychologists estimate that the average child sees 40,000 advertisements each year, and that the average 3-year-old can identify 100 brand logos.

What does this mean to you? Children are savvier consumers than ever before. They know what products and toys are out there. To make sure your business will stand out in this marketplace, you have to be sure you're providing something that kids want-and that means doing lots of research. Let's start with the following overview of the five kinds of kids' businesses profiled in this book and the trends shaping each of their industries. In the next chapter, you'll find more details about how to carve out a specialized niche in one of these businesses.

Trends in Kids' Businesses Each of the following kids' businesses-party planning, gift and bath products, educational toys and games, plus-size clothing and cooking classes-is covered in-depth in separate chapters in Kids'-Focused Businesses Startup Guide. For now, here's a quick industry analysis for each.

Kids' Party Planning This is a booming industry, especially in the teen party sector, where coming-of-age parties are increasingly popular. In addition to the traditional birthday and graduation events, bar and bat mitzvahs and sweet 16 parties signal a trend toward increased celebration of kids' milestones. Given the significant Hispanic population, quinceñera (age 15) parties in particular can be expected to rise in popularity.

Although no numbers exist for this market, experts predict that the industry will continue to grow, as parents provide not only a greater number of parties but also more expensive ones for their children.

Kids' Gift and Bath Products The sheer breadth of this category, which encompasses everything from books and music to fragrances, makes it a promising market.

Just to take one tiny subset of the market as an example, parents spend more than $80 million annually on baby soaps in food, drug and discount stores (and that's not even including Wal-mart), according to market research company Information Resources.

Consider, too, another small segment of the market: baby gifts. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, American births are holding steady at approximately 4 million per year. Multiply that 4 million by the number of gifts given per baby, and you get promising potential in baby gifts alone.

Since spending on and by children typically increases every year, kids' gift and bath products should be a strong market for the foreseeable future.

Kids' Educational Toys and Games The Toy Industry Association estimates that the traditional toy industry (which doesn't include electronics such as video games and handheld electronic games) is worth an estimated $22 billion in annual sales, with nearly half those sales being generated during the holidays (see "Toy Story" on page 1.4 for a breakdown of popular toy categories). Educational games like Cranium have enjoyed huge mass appeal. In the eight years since its inception, this board game, together with its sibling titles, has sold more than 15 million games in 10 languages and 30 countries. Educational toys like the LeapFrog learning laptops have also been popular. Industry observers believe that educational toys' mass-market appeal will only continue to grow, as parents continue to search for meaningful enrichment activities for their children.

Kids' Plus-Size Clothing Childhood obesity has become an important issue over the past decade. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, one-third of U.S. children and teens are either obese or on the brink of becoming so. Babies are also larger than ever before, so interest in clothes and equipment for bigger babies and children can only continue to increase.

What's the size of this market? According to a new study from the Packaged Facts Division of Marketresearch.com, sales of women's/girls' plus-size apparel is $47 billion, accounting for 27 percent of all clothing sales and nearly 40 percent of all women's/girls' apparel sales. And let's not forget the boys: Men's/boys' big-and-tall sales are $29 billion, representing more than 16 percent of all clothing sales and 50 percent of all men's/boys' apparel. And there's no sign of this market slowing down any time soon.

The NPD Group estimates that in the 9-to-12 age group, 31 percent of boys and 38 percent of girls are sizing up and wearing men's, juniors' or women's sizes. Global Purchasing Co., a retail strategy planning and training firm, notes that the availability of attractive, flattering and stylish children's plus-size clothing is scarce, and that mothers and children alike are dissatisfied with the selection and styles.

Kids' Cooking Classes Parents want their kids to be well-rounded and high-functioning adults. Yet many people either do not have time or do not feel qualified to teach their children traditional skills. Interest has grown in classes that teach cooking, sewing, carpentry and even etiquette. Cooking classes and products for kids have become especially popular.

The proliferation of cooking shows on TV and a recent educational emphasis on health and cooking in response to the childhood obesity epidemic have also added to the number of kids interested in experimenting in the kitchen. According to the Food Network, TV chefs such as Rachael Ray often draw more tween fans than 35-to-45-year-olds at public events. The Bay Area is currently leading the kids' cooking trend, with interest high in cookbooks, cooking demos and classes, but this market can be expected to keep growing nationwide.

Do you have what it takes to run one of these businesses? Not surprisingly, the typical owner of a kids' business enjoys being around children. Even if you're not dealing directly with kids on a daily basis, you'll still need to get feedback from them and be sensitive to their interests, so having an appreciation for how they think, learn and play is essential.

Personality Matters Being interested in kids isn't all you'll need. Depending on what kind of business you start, you may need some of the following traits as well:

Patience: Working with kids takes patience, even under ideal conditions. Accidents and bad moods can create a tense atmosphere, not to mention you may need to deal with a wide range of behavioral issues, personality differences, energy levels and attention spans. You need to be able to work through it.

Flexibility: The ability to deal with the unpredictable glitches that arise is essential.

Sense of fun and wonder: Kids live in a world of magic, excitement and endless possibilities. Try to enter that world with them. This is especially important if you're designing kids' gifts or toys.

Empathy: Remember what it was like to be a kid? The better you are at putting yourself in the place of your young customers, the stronger your business will be.

Persistence and energy: As with any business, perseverance is an important success factor. Launching a business is a time- and energy-consuming venture. It's not unusual to work 70 to 80 hours per week during the first year, or even longer. Helpful Experience In addition to having a personality that meshes well with children, there is an entire range of skills and experience needed to run a business. If you're operating your business solo, you'll need all of them to at least some degree, unless you outsource the work. If you hire employees, make sure to hire people whose skills complement, rather than duplicate, yours.

As a general rule, you should have some kind of experience with whatever you're selling. You or your employees may need a background in the following:

Sales/marketing: While you don't need a degree, you do need to be good at selling-or hire someone who is.

Public relations: Any business owner needs to know some basic guidelines for dealing with the public and the media.

Accounting/bookkeeping: If you don't have an employee to handle these tasks, consider outsourcing them. To tackle them yourself, you'll need some previous experience and preferably a bookkeeping class.

Management: Chances are, you'll start out with no employees and therefore won't need this experience. As your business grows, it may become more important. The more employees you have, the more time you'll spend on management-type tasks. Informal management experience is usually sufficient for dealing with a small number of employees.

Design: If you're planning to design the products you sell, you'll need some design experience, preferably with the particular kind of item you have in mind.

Sewing/arts/crafts: Launching a custom sewing business (for custom-made plus-size kids' clothes) naturally requires skill at sewing.

Teaching: A teaching background is helpful, although not mandatory, for conducting cooking lessons. You can get by without formal training, but it's best to have at least some practical experience.

Cooking: As common sense would indicate, you need cooking experience, even if it's not formal training, to teach cooking classes. Even if you hire all your teachers, knowledge of cooking basics is important.

Event planning: There's no substitute for experience in party planning. Consider volunteering to help at a few children's events or getting a part-time job with another party planner to learn the ropes.

Parenting/mentoring: No matter what kind of kids-related business you decide to start, experience with children is important. If you don't have it, do whatever it takes to get it.

Following are some niche possibilities for each of the five types of kids-related businesses. Keep in mind, however, that children's products and services already constitute a niche market. For some of these business types, further specialization may not be practical.

Kids' Party Planning You already know you'll need to make yourself stand out in kids' party planning by establishing some kind of niche, but where should you look for one?

Probably nowhere, at least not immediately. Instead, you should try different types of parties to see which work best for you and which offer the best market for you. This strategy will also help ensure that you don't wind up without enough parties to plan..

Even once you're better established, be careful not to restrict your market too much. You can become known for, say, tea parties and yet still produce other kinds of children's, and even adults', events. In all but the biggest, most affluent markets, too narrow a niche is a problem in children's event planning.

With the understanding, then, that perhaps only about half your business may be in a niche market, here are some possible ideas:

Tea parties: Usually these are dress-up parties at which "tea" is served and often a little etiquette lesson given. These are popular for girls in the 4-to-9-year-old age range. With the proper marketing and adjustment of activities, the age range could probably even be extended beyond 9.

Spa parties: Any kind of "pamper me" party is popular with girls 10 and up. Hair, makeup, manicures or pedicures, facials and any other pampering activity are good entertainment ideas.

Holiday parties: Christmas parties are the most common, but any holidays are possible. You'll need to target a geographic area with high levels of disposable income.

Bar or bat mitzvah parties: These can be a good bet in areas with a significant Jewish population. "About 40 percent of my business is bar and bat mitzvahs," says event planner Beth Shubert, owner of Glen Rock, New Jersey-based Evention Inc.

quinceñera (age 15) parties: In areas with relatively higher Hispanic populations, this is a good niche possibility. Overall, as the U.S. Hispanic population increases to a projected 25 percent, this niche will get even better!

Sweet 16 parties: So far, this type of party is prevalent only in the trendiest, wealthiest areas. But that could change.

High school-related parties: Prom, homecoming, winter formal, senior breakfast and graduation can provide a niche market in areas of the country with large schools. Currently, California seems to be the main market for professionally planned school parties, but the market may expand.

If you decide to try a niche, keep in mind that what's trendy or popular in one area of the country may not be in another. How do you find out this information? One way is by interviewing professionals in related fields. Photographers, florists and caterers know what types of events are popular in their areas. They may even have suggestions for site personnel (such as hotel managers, for example) you should talk to.

In addition, interview prospective clients in affluent households. Doctors' offices and law offices are good places to start. Also, joining local business organizations can put you in contact with businesspeople with high levels of disposable income. If you say you're conducting market research and then keep your questions to a minimum-four at most-people will usually cooperate.

Kids' Gift and Bath Products Creating a product to fill a need that you have in your own life is one good way to find a niche. When Nicole Donnelly, for example, wanted her baby to go diaperless for a while to clear up a rash, she needed a way to keep the baby's legs warm and her knees padded for crawling. "I cut up a pair of my socks and made little baby leg warmers," she says. The idea was an instant hit and she sold 100 pairs in two weeks. She launched her company, BabyLegs, in Seattle in 2005.

The following are some possible niche ideas for children's gift and bath products:

Craft kits: scrapbooking, knitting, sewing, woodworking, jewelry

Accessories: handbags, totes, backpacks, hats, scarves, gloves, hair décor

Storage containers: hat, jewelry, trinket or treasure boxes

Jewelry: dress-up, casual, "best friends" sets, backpack décor

New baby/sibling items: blankets, T-shirts, photo albums

Bedroom or locker accessories: photo frames, memory books, wastebaskets, desk accessories

Personalized items: Just about anything above could fit into this category!

Ethnic/world culture items: dolls and other toys from around the world, ethnic dolls, world games

Organic bath products: shampoo, lotion, body scrub, bubble bath

There's no substitute for getting out there, doing the legwork and finding out what's available. Check out any trade shows or consumer gift shows you can find. While the main trade shows for the gift industry are in major cities like New York, Atlanta and Dallas, many cities across the United States host consumer shows.

Kids' Educational Toys and Games Whether you're selling ready-made toys and games or those you produce yourself, it's a good idea to remember that educational toys and games already make up a well-defined niche. However, if you're starting up with low costs and you have an expansive reach (such as by using direct mail or the internet to get the word out), you could specialize in one or more of the following ways:

Age group: baby, preschool, primary, tween, teen

Skill type: motor skills, alphabet, reading, hand-eye coordination, cognitive skills

Activity type: toy, game, puzzle, enrichment, sports, dress-up

Play medium: paper, game board, manipulatives, keyboard Kids' Plus-Size Clothing Although the children's casual plus-size clothing market may be well enough served, it seems clear that plus-size clothing for teens and young adults is a good niche opportunity. When LeRona Johnson launched her teen and young adult plus-size clothing store, MerriBella Fashions, in 2006 in Chicago, she knew how hard it was to find fashionable clothing to please her own teenage daughter. For her 15-year-old, the Lane Bryant retail store wasn't an option. The styles and fabric types were different from what her friends wore. And she had another objection. "She doesn't want to shop where her mom shops," says Johnson.

Department stores are problematic, too. Those that carry junior plus sizes are few and far between, and selection is limited.

In her store, Johnson stocks the types of styles her daughter wants to wear. Customer response to MerriBella's trendy, youthful style selections has been enthusiastic. "It makes me feel good to hear customers say they've been looking for a place like this," says Johnson. One of her customers lives in Iowa. "She comes up here once a month and shops with us because she says she can't find these types of things for her daughter."

What's the secret? Doing something different, according to Johnson. "You really have to have that niche," she says. "You have to pretty much be doing something no one else is doing, or the competition, the bigger stores, will kill you every time.".

If you plan to sew custom clothing, your avenues for eventual specialization might be wide open. According to veteran pattern maker Sarah Doyle, who spent several years collecting measurements of plus-size children, current standard industry plus sizes are often not "plus" enough. Although clients are unlikely to pay custom prices for some basic kids' clothing items like T-shirts and shorts, there are other items Doyle says they will pay more for. These include the following:

Formalwear: bridesmaid and prom dresses, suits

Casualwear: fashionable tops, skirts and pants

Underwear: slips, sport bras

Outerwear: coats, jackets, snow pants, sweatshirts

Nightwear: pajamas, nightgowns, robe Kids' Cooking Classes This type of service is novel enough that making parents aware of it, and getting them to pay for it, should be a greater priority than looking for a narrower niche market. A further challenge is that most children are in school much of the day.

You can be creative in structuring your classes, however. For example, what about offering a cooking class that focuses on foods inspired by popular kids' book characters like Harry Potter or American Girls? Talk to parents of prospective students (starting with your friends and acquaintances) and see what kinds of classes interest them.

Kids' Party Planning Event planners typically find themselves performing a whole range of tasks, particularly when they first start out. For many planners, this variety in their working life is part of the job's appeal. From phone negotiations and computer data inputting to shopping around for that perfect site and brainstorming the ideal party theme, planners wear many hats-sometimes even an emergency rescue one!

Yvette Jackson and Tiffany Brown own Wow! Special Events in Huntington Beach, California; the company specializes in high school events such as proms. Jackson recounts the time a deejay forgot to bring the coronation song for the crowning of the prom king and queen. "One of our coordinators ran home, downloaded it from the internet, burned a CD and ran it over to the venue," she says.

If your company provides one or more vendor services, such as décor, floral treatments or entertainment, your day will include even more variety, since you'll add painting, construction, flower arranging and talent scouting to the list of possibilities. Whatever you do, your day will be filled with people, so make sure you enjoy working with others! Solid time management skills and the ability to multitask are also important. All in all, planning parties involves a delicate balance of the practical and the creative.

Kids' Gift and Bath Products Eleanor Keare, president and co-owner of Santa Monica, California-based Circle of Friends, a children's bath products company started in 1995, says her day is split between the present and the future. She spends a significant amount of time approving orders, maintaining accounts, dealing with customer service issues, checking inventory and supplies, and making sure that production is moving forward. To develop new business, she oversees accounts, looks into acquisitions and works on developing new products.

Kids' Educational Toys and Games If you sell ready-made toys and games, your day-to-day activities will be similar to those of other owners of inventory-based retail businesses. If you develop your own toys and games and then sell them, your primary activities will depend on what stage of development your toys and games are in and how you decide to develop and sell them. In general, however, you'll add research, design, testing, manufacturing and packaging to the general activities common to most businesses.

Andrea Barthello and her husband, Bill Ritchie, started ThinkFun, originally named Binary Arts, in 1985 in the basement of their house. They started out making brain-teaser puzzles based on binary-code concepts of the kind used in computers. "We evolved into calling them mind-challenging games when we came up with Rush Hour, a multilevel game," says Barthello.

Once they finished their design and development, they found their time sharply divided. "We were trying to sell [our games] during the day and making them at night," says Barthello. They looked for local target markets, phoned business owners and provided product samples to prospective specialty store customers.

These days, ThinkFun occupies a large two-story building. The company's award-winning games are sold in most educational toy stores and also in huge retailers like Barnes & Noble and Target. While Ritchie and other company executives head up operations and product development, Barthello handles corporate development and sales and marketing. You, too, can expect to be involved in a variety of different activities, many of them concurrently.

Kids' Plus-Size Clothing If you're starting a retail business, then your day will probably be similar to that of any retail store owner. You'll approve orders, sell to customers, supervise employees, check inventory levels, deal with customer service issues and do a host of other tasks as well, depending on your sales venue.

MerriBella Fashions owner LeRona Johnson spends a significant portion of her time on research. She looks for wholesale clothing online at www.fashiongo.net and www.lashowroom.com . She checks out the competition in local malls. She also keeps a close eye on her customer database. "I want to know who my customers are, who's shopping with us on a regular basis, and how much they're spending," she says. She sends customers coupons and information on new clothing lines. She also stays current on building plans in the area, especially since she's planning an expansion within the next two years.

Johnson also feels it's important for her to spend time on the sales floor. "No one should know your business more than you," she says, "and [you should] know what your customers are asking for."

If you're creating custom-made plus-size clothes, then you have a service business rather than an inventory-based one. Most of your day will be spent at your sewing machine, with additional time allowance for consultations, fittings and paperwork. "Sometimes I go fabric shopping with a client," says Mary Stevens, a Cincinnati-based entrepreneur who started creating custom garments in 2004 under the shingle Majestic Sewing and Apparel.

A designer's day includes reading current fashion magazines, newspapers, and other media that reflect current trends and tastes. You might attend fashion shows or meet with customers and contractors. You are constantly on the look-out for new ideas, whether you do that by sketching new designs or scanning the net.

Kids' Cooking Classes Just imagine it: You tool through the farmers' market in the morning, picking out the freshest produce and the most tempting cheeses. You stop at the coffee shop, where you sip your favorite brew while researching French history on your laptop. At the bakery you buy two baguettes. Then it's onward to pick up four aprons donated by a local gourmet shop.

Back at the office, you collect the recipes you'll need and put the finishing touches on your lesson plan: Dinner in Paris. Then you open mail, collecting several deposit checks. After school, the kids arrive. They make a perfect tarte a l'oignon (onion tart) appetizer, followed by an equally wonderful boeuf bourguignon, salad and crepes. You send them off and leave the remaining cleanup to your assistant while you answer messages and book four more 6-year-old girls into your Eloise in the Kitchen summer camp.

You'll probably do at least some of these things, although you'll also undertake many other less glamorous tasks, like testing recipes, mopping up assorted spills and figuring out a last-minute substitute for that burned tray of hors d'oeuvres.

Start-Up Costs for.

Kids' Party Planning Your startup costs will vary tremendously, depending on where you locate, what your insurance costs will be and what kind of equipment you decide to buy. Let's look at two hypothetical party-planning businesses. The low-end business is homebased with no employees. The sole proprietor already has a computer, online access, a printer/copier/fax machine, a cell phone, a digital camera and office furniture. She used her startup money to buy liability insurance, event-planning software and business cards. She also paid for licenses, taxes and website design, for which she employed a computer science major. She needs $3,520 to launch her business.

The higher-end business is a LLC. It occupies 800 square feet of office space in a large city. Its owner has a full-time planner and a part-time bookkeeper. She upgraded her computer equipment, bought office furniture, and added a phone line and a professionally designed website. She also bought high-priced liability insurance because of her location in the greater Los Angeles area, which has experienced terrorist activity. She invested in business cards, stationery and an ad in the Yellow Pages. Her startup total is $29,183. Both owners derive their income from pretax net profit. Annually, these businesses will gross $70,000 and $200,000, respectively, after the first year or two.

So how much can you expect to bring home in the first year from a kids' party-planning business? Keep in mind that it will probably take you two to three years to make a healthy profit. Why? Because your most effective advertising will be word-of-mouth, and that takes time.

Industry expert Laurie Saunders estimates that a new kids' party planner with a business similar to the lower-end one in our example might be able to make a first-year salary of about $20,000.

Kids' Gift and Bath Products Startup costs for this kind of business will depend on what you sell and how you sell and store it, as well as where you locate and how much equipment you buy.

Nicole Donnelly's initial sales of baby leg warmers to friends and acquaintances required only enough money to buy socks to alter, but once she decided to launch her business and get an overseas manufacturer, her costs went up. She needed a minimum order of 500 pairs of leg warmers, at $3 per pair, making her initial product investment $1,500. Her other costs were few, since she started homebased.

Let's again look at preopening costs for two hypothetical gift and bath businesses. The first is a homebased business with no employees. The sole proprietor designs her own product and sells it at fairs, shows and other events, as well as online. She already has a computer, online access, a printer/copier/fax machine, a cell phone, a digital camera and office furniture. She used her startup money to pay for production supplies, product liability insurance, booth construction and site rental, some travel expenses (mostly local) and business cards. She also paid for licenses, taxes and a website that a college student designed. In addition, she applied for a provisional patent for her product. At minimum, she needs $4,180.

The more expensive business is an online corporation, operated from a 1,000-square-foot warehouse. Its owner has a full-time fulfillment employee and a part-time bookkeeper. She upgraded her computer equipment and bought some low-cost office furniture and warehouse equipment. She has a multiline phone system and a retail store on Yahoo! She also invested in business cards. Her startup cost is closer to $26,763.

Both owners derive their income from pretax net profit. Annually, these businesses will gross $90,000 and $250,000, respectively, after the first year or two.

How much can you expect to make in the first year from a kids' gift and bath products business? That depends in large part on how much selling you do. It also depends on how much of your revenue goes back into building your business. It took Nicole Donnelly only a year and a half to make a profit because her Seattle company was growing quickly. But in some cases, it takes longer to make a profit.

Alternatively, if you sell popular products at a booth in a region where you can do shows most of the year, you could make $40,000 the first year.

Kids' Educational Toys and Games Startup costs are hard to quantify in this type of business. The ranges are huge, depending on what you sell and how you sell it. For example, a homebased business selling only a few different games or toys might cost anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 to launch, or even more, depending on how much inventory and equipment you buy and whether you have a website.

When Andrea Barthello and her husband, Bill Ritchie, started ThinkFun in 1985, they worked from home. "We literally made stuff in our basement," says Barthello. They needed no office equipment. They did buy wood, wire and some woodworking equipment for assembling prototypes of their brain-teaser puzzles. "We probably spent a couple thousand dollars," Barthello says. They also spent about $3,000 on the services of an expert woodworker and additional funds on other general startup expenses. But theirs was still a small initial startup.

For a sole proprietor who designs her own toys, manufactures them overseas and sells them to retailers, her startup funds-spent on inventory, provision patent and trademark protection, licenses and taxes, product liability insurance and packaging supplies-the startup costs could be $7,400, assuming a friend designs her website and she already owns office equipment.

For a 600-square-foot retail toy and game store, let's assume the business partners have one part-time employee. They used their startup money to rent their store space, equip their store and buy inventory. They also have utilities, insurance, advertising and promotion costs. Since they use their home to run the business, they did not need office equipment, and they have no website yet, although they expect to add one later. Their total startup cost is $44,330.

Both owners derive their income from pretax net profit. Annually, these businesses will gross $60,000 and $200,000, respectively, after the first year or two.

What can you expect to make the first year? Again, income ranges are equally broad in the toy and game industry. Earnings depend on how much you sell, how you sell it, and how much you put back into the business. Barthello estimates that in their first year of business, they sold $50,000 worth of product.

Kids' Plus-Size Clothing According to MerriBella Fashions owner LeRona Johnson, the typical startup figure for a small brick-and-mortar retail clothing store is more than double what her own startup costs were. "Most people I know spent close to $50,000 starting up," she says. Johnson, however, spent $20,000. What made the difference for her? Four years of careful planning and resulting stellar deals on inventory, equipment and furniture, all of which are major expenses. By keeping her eye out for store closings and furniture cast-offs, she shaved thousands of dollars off her startup costs.

She also prioritized and made sure she got the most bang for her buck. "The most important thing was to make sure we had great inventory. I knew that was the key to everything." Accordingly, she spent half her startup money, or $10,000, on the best fashions she could find. But even though her inventory costs were proportionately high, she still spent thousands less than average. Starting well ahead of her opening, she scoured the inventory of Chicago-area stores that were closing. "I got a lot of stock at very low prices," she says.

The financial investment required to start a homebased custom clothing business is "very minimal," according to industry expert Sarah Doyle. If you locate in commercial space, however, your costs will naturally be higher. Depending on how much equipment and supplies you already own, plan on spending $900 to $12,000 for startup.

How much money can you make selling plus-size clothing? Johnson expects MerriBella Fashions to break even after two years. Currently, most of her revenue gets pumped back into the business. However, within the next year and a half, she expects to achieve gross revenues of $240,000 per year and an annual net income for herself of $50,000. Once she expands, as she plans to do within two years, those figures will go higher. "You have to start small," she explains.

Income from a custom clothing business will depend not only on what you sew, but also on how fast you sew. Doyle estimates that a business owner with considerable sewing experience (who therefore sews fairly rapidly) could make approximately $30,000 the first year. Since, as a general rule, profits are higher on formalwear, you could make even more than that. And if you expand your business and hire help, you could increase your earnings still more.

Kids' Cooking Classes In this industry as well, startup costs and income ranges vary tremendously. The amount of your overhead is the biggest factor. Others include how many students you teach and how much you charge each student per hour.

Let's list preopening costs for two hypothetical kids' cooking businesses. The first is homebased with no employees. The sole proprietor already has a fully equipped home kitchen. She also has a computer, online access, a printer/copier/fax machine, a cell phone, a digital camera and office furniture. She needs no state culinary licensing and has no website yet. She used her startup money to buy liability insurance, kids' kitchen tools and aprons, pantry supplies and a small amount of advertising. She also paid for general licenses and taxes. Her business cost just $3,080 to start up.

The higher-end business is an LLC. It occupies 900 square feet of retail space in what used to be a small restaurant. Its owner has a full-time teacher and a part-time helper. Although major appliances and plumbing and gas hookups already existed, she bought one new (noncommercial) oven range, kitchen tools and supplies, three kitchen work tables and 12 chairs. She also paid for a phone line, utilities and a professionally designed website. Since she uses her home office, she needed no office equipment, except for a filing cabinet. She did have to pay for liability insurance, state-required culinary licensing and general licenses and taxes. She invested in a brochure and some advertising. Her startup cost is closer to $20,820.

Both owners derive their income from pretax net profit. The homebased business averages three students per class, because four is the largest number that will comfortably fit in her kitchen. The commercially located business averages six students per class. Annually, these businesses will gross $60,000 and $240,000, respectively, after the first year or two.

So how much can you expect to make in the first year from a business offering kids' cooking classes? "Don't expect to make money right away," cautions industry expert Julia Jordan. Keep in mind that it will probably take you two to three years to make a healthy profit. Why? Again, as with most service-related businesses, your most effective advertising will be word-of-mouth, and that takes time.

Associations

• American Apparel and Footwear Association
• American Culinary Federation
• American Home Sewing Association
• American Sewing Guild
• American Specialty Toy Retailing Association
• Association of Game and Puzzle Collectors
• Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association
• Craft & Hobby Association
• Craft Retailers Association for Tomorrow
• Game Manufacturers Association
• International Association of Culinary Professionals
• International Council of Toy Industries
• International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association
• International Special Events Society
• Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association
• National Association of Independent Artists
• National Craft Association
• National Retail Federation
• National Specialty Gift Association
• Toy Industry Association
• Women In Toys

Publications

• Apparel News
• Playthings Magazine
• Special Events Magazine

Trade Shows

• Accessories the Show
• ASAP Global Sourcing Show
• Boston Gift Show
• Chicago International Toy and Game Fair
• Dallas Men's and Boys' Apparel Market
• MAGIC Marketplace Fashion industry
• National Stationery Show
• New York International Gift Fair
• New York International Toy Fair
• San Francisco International Gift Fair

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Everything You Need To Know

Home Daycare Business Plan

Sure, starting a home daycare seems simple enough – it’s just babysitting, right wrong.

Running an in-home daycare is running a business and you need to treat it as such. As a sole proprietorship business, you are liable for the well-being of every single person that sets foot on your property.

As with any new business, you need to have a detailed outline on how it’s going to run. This is known as a business plan. You’ll use it to figure out how you’re going to run your business and more importantly, make money. 

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the  Getting Started Page , go do that now.  You will need to start gathering information about specific licensing requirements for opening a family child care business in your area. Plus, you will want to get started on some of the paperwork for your business license, police records, and first aid. 

GRAB A COFFEE

Because we are going to cover a ton of information, jump to a section, business summary.

Who Are You? | What do you plan on doing? | What is going to make you stand out?

FINANCIAL PLAN

Rates | Start-Up Costs | Record Keeping | Payment Policies | Taxes

OPERATIONS PLAN

Designate Your Home Daycare Area | Develop a Parent Handbook | Schedules | Quality Control Checks | Interviewing Parents

MARKETING PLAN

Your own website | Flyers with tear off tabs | Word of mouth | Social Media | Newspaper Ads | Online Daycare Advertising Sites | Craigslist, Kijiji | Put a sign on your yard 

Let’s get started!

Home daycare business summary.

Start by briefly summarizing the following: who you are, what are you planning to do? What will set you apart from other child care businesses? You will use this summary over and over again during the planning process.

So NO CHEATING! Don’t skip this step.   

Who are you?

Simply state who you are and why you are qualified to open a home daycare. Don’t worry if you think you aren’t qualified. You don’t need a background in early childhood education to run an in home child care business. Chances are you are more qualified than you think, so take a deep breath and just go for it. The following are a few examples:

I am Liz, a stay at home mom of 2.

I am Sally, a preschool teacher taking a break from teaching to stay at home with my kids.

What do you plan on doing?

List the types of services you plan on providing. Think about who your ideal client would be and what services they would need. 

Ask yourself the following questions to identify your ideal client :

What ages of children do you most want to have in your home daycare?

Would you rather have sets of siblings?

Do you only want to take on full time children or do you prefer only part time children?

Take some time to really brainstorm your perfect home daycare situation and then write a summary.

For example:

My ideal clients would be a non-shift worker whose contracted hours are 8-5.  The children would be between ages 1-4.  

My ideal clients are teachers, who do not need care in the summer. The children would be between the ages of 1-4. 

Also think about the services you don’t want to offer. If drop- in care doesn’t work for your family, don’t offer it. You will have moments when you are tempted to change your services for parents, but adjusting services based on individual cases will only hurt your business. Make sure you are very clear on what you want to offer and what you don’t.  

Here are some examples:   

• Provide child care services for children between the ages of 1-5
• Provide Fulltime, part-time, drop in services
• Provide Before and after school child care 
• Provide 24 hour care for shift workers

What is going to make you stand out?

Try to find something that will set your home daycare apart from other comparable businesses in your area. Now don’t go all politician here and make some wild and crazy promises that you won’t be able to keep. It can be as simple as a weekly craft or newsletter. Specializations could include: 

• Do you speak another language?
• Do you have a special talent?  (Music, Art)
• Will you provide transportation?
• Will you cater to shift-workers who work odd hours?
• Will provide tons of outdoor time?
• Will you be an allergy friendly house?
• Will you serve only organic food?

We will go over more market research in the following section, but start asking around in local Facebook groups and social media groups for ideas. What are local parents looking for in home daycares?  You might be surprised by their answers. It can be as simple as wanting a home daycare to be open until 6 pm. Or something different like a home daycare that provides pet sitting. 

Now, put it all together in a brief summary. It doesn’t have to be perfect. At this point you can cut out what you don’t want to include or add anything extra you think will make your business stand out.  

Here are a few examples 

I am Liz, a stay at home mom of 2.  Liz’s home daycare is located in the Willowbrook area and provides care for children 1-6 years old.  We spend our days, exploring local parks and making crafts.   

I plan on opening a home daycare in the Berryhill area, with transportation services to Berryhill elementary and Markhill elementary.

Home Daycare Financial Plan 

In this section, we’re going to work out how much money you need to charge your clients in order to turn a profit. Let’s face it, having positive cash flow is kind of the point and if this venture isn’t going to provide you with the extra cash flow you want, what’s the point? And although there aren’t a ton of start-up costs for opening a home daycare, there are operating costs that can cut into your profits. Here we will create a budget for expenses, and touch on tax planning.    

Sure, we would all love to charge the highest rate possible. Who doesn’t want to make a fortune at their home business? but that’s not always feasible. In order to attract clients, you will have to charge rates that are competitive with other child care services in your area. Remember, that being a child care provider is a lot of work. You will be working long hours, with few breaks So, don’t undercharge yourself, either.

So how do you determine what to charge?

Start by conducting some market research about your competitors. 

You don’t need to break out the excel sheet but you should gather details about your other child care providers in your area. Start by calling different home daycares and child care centers to find out their rates and what they offer. After a few, you will start to see a general average rate for your area. 

Then ask yourself, does any daycare stand out more than the others? If so, what makes them unique? Are they charging a premium?  

Now, go back and revisit your business summary. Did you identify something that will make your home daycare stand out?  Did any of the home daycares you called offer something comparable? What were they charging? You may need to expand your research beyond your local area to find a comparable home daycare.  

Types of rates

Your rates should reflect how you plan on running your home daycare. If you haven’t thought about this yet, it’s a good time to start. Ask yourself if you would prefer to have your number of kids on a monthly basis or have a few full-time and a few part-time kids.  

Monthly Rate

Charging a monthly rate is fairly straightforward. This is a set rate for the whole month regardless of how many days are in the month. This rate should be a set amount and not fluctuate.  

Part-time rate 

You can do a few things with part-time rates. Charging a set rate for a certain number of days per week is one option. Another option is charging for a certain number of days per month.

2 days a week is x amount

3 days a week is x amount

Or 10 days per month is x amount

You’re only allowed to have so many kids in your care, so if you plan on taking on part-time kids make sure that it works in a way for you to be able to fill the other days. 

Sally comes three times a week only on Monday/Wednesday/Friday. You can then offer care to another child on only Tuesday/Thursdays. Although this system is more difficult to make work it is possible.   

Margo comes 10 days out of the month. Her parents let you know a month in advance what those 10 days are. With plenty of notice, you can fill those extra spots.   

Frankly if you want to have a steady income, only take on full-time kids. Or only take on 1-2 part-time kids in addition to 1-2 full-time kids.  

If you plan on having a drop-in service, make this your highest per-day rate. Drop-in’s can be a lot of work.  Often these kids are not used to daycares. 

Don’t expect to be at full capacity right away. Budget for 75% to 85%. 

Figure out your break-even point. Is there a minimum amount that you “need” to make it worthwhile for you to run a home daycare. For some, this will be $2,000 or other it will be $500.  

Say you need to make $2000 per month and through your research, the average price for childcare in your area is $750.  

You would need to take on at least 3 full-time kids to make your $2000. 

Desired income + monthly expenses / Your rate = How many kids you need to take on.   

***Important this calculation does not take in consideration that you still need to pay taxes on this and in Canada, you need to pay into the Canadian Pension Plan twice.  (See more on  Using Your Home for Daycare ) If this is a concern for you, adjust these amounts accordingly.  

Now if you are just running a home daycare to make some extra cash, this might not be such a concern to you, but remember your time is still valuable.     

Remember, if you are able to add more value to your services you should be charging more. Also, keep in mind, you should increase your rates every year to keep up with increases in the cost of living.    

Start-Up Costs

Although there are not a ton of start-up costs to running a home daycare, there are a few that will have to come out of your pocket before you can take on your first client. Here is a list of possible startup costs for opening your home daycare:  

• Business license
• Licencing fees (If required)
• First Aid Courses
• Police Checks
• Additional Home Insurance
• Additional Auto Insurance
• Operational Supplies  (Check out The Ultimate List of Home Daycare Supplies)
• Marketing/Advertising costs

Record Keeping  

Record keeping is so important when running a small business. Don’t fall behind on this.  Set aside time each day to record your attendance and some time at the end of the month to update your expenses and income reports. Get a binder or file folder to hold all your important documents.

You should record your attendance daily.  Keep a record of who attended each day, when they were dropped off and picked up. Depending on the type of services you offer the number of hours you work could vary daily or stay the same. Regardless you will need to know this for tax purposes.  

Record every time someone pays you. Use an Excel sheet, an online accounting program or a notebook.  

Let’s face it no one becomes a millionaire running a home daycare. You want to save as much as possible of what you do make.  And one way of doing that is paying less in taxes. Make sure you save your receipts and record all your expenses. The more you can deduct the less tax you will have to pay at the end of the year.    

Here is a list of typical operational expenses for home daycares:

• Supplies for activities
• Curriculum materials 
• Fees (e.g. licensing)
• Maintenance
• Office supplies
• Professional services (e.g.lawyer or accounting)
• Accounting Software
• Supplies (cleaning, kitchen and teaching)
• Telephone and Internet
• Utilities        

Payment Policies

How are you going to make sure you get paid .

You can require payment either monthly, bimonthly or weekly .  Also include how far in advance you want to receive payment. The first of each month is commonly used. However, you can choose to require payment two weeks in advance of services. You can match your payment schedule with the parents’ salary payment and get paid the same day they do.  

Decide how you are going to handle drop-in payments?  Will you require payment in advance? 

Are you planning on charging late fees?  If so, when do you plan on requiring payment.

For example:  

Payment for late fees are required within 24 hours from the occurrence or subject to termination of care

Payment for late fees will be added to next months payment.  

Inform parents what forms of payment you accept, most common are cash and Email Money Transfer (EMT).

You should state that fees are nonrefundable and services are subject to termination if not paid on time.

Develop a system for yourself to ensure you’re on top of getting paid and nothing gets missed. You don’t want to be working for free.  

For example you can make a policy that part-time parents need to have their required hours submitted by the 1st of every month. You can send a reminder email the week before to ensure you have enough time to fill any empty spaces.

You can you also use an application like Waveapp to create recurring invoices, send payment reminders and generate payment statements.  This program is free. 

What if a parent doesn’t pay?  

You need to decide before opening what your policies will be on non-payment. Unexpected bills and extenuating circumstances do come up for parents. However you have to remember you’re running a business here and you deserve to be paid. Simply put: don’t provide services without for free.   

The last thing you want is a big tax bill at the end of the year. Decide on how you plan on address paying your taxes. The easiest way is to put a little away each month in a savings account. You can always set up an automatic transfer, so you don’t forget.

Get a file folder to keep all your receipts in one place.   

Decide whether you are going to do your own taxes or have an accountant file your taxes for you.  If you go the accountant route, look for an accountant who is knowledgeable about home daycares. 

*Keep in mind the legal structure of most home daycares is that of the sole proprietorship. On the tax front, the business’s income and expenses are included in the tax return of the owner. Since the business is not legally separate from its owner, it is not required to file separate tax returns.

  Home Daycare Operations Plan

Your operation plan defines the nitty gritty details how exactly you are going to run your business.  While there are regulations that home daycare have to follow, you have a lot of freedom in how you run your home daycare. You get to choose your hours, days off, policies and even which children you take in.  

Designate your home daycare area

If you have not by now, figure out all the areas of your house you will be using for your home daycare. You should include a dedicated area play area, sleeping area, eating area and bathroom. Calculate the square footage and keep it handy for your taxes.  

Now start addressing your supplies needs for each area.  

You might already have everything you need but check out  The Ultimate List of Home Daycare Supplies . This post goes into detail on everything you possibly can think of to run a home daycare.

Develop a Parent Handbook – Policies and Procedures

If you want your home daycare to run smoothly from day one, you need to figure out your policies and procedures. While this sounds like a daunting task, it will be incredibly helpful when it comes to communicating your expectations with parents.       

A Parent Handbook is an easy way to share your policies and procedures. It’s an informational guide for parents outlining everything you expect from them. What they should expect from you, payment information, behavior policies and emergency information. A handbook sets you up for success by getting everyone on the same page, but it’s up to the parents to read it.

Hours of Operation

What hours do you want to work? 

What days do you want to be open?

Keep in mind the average person works 9-5 Monday through Friday and must commute to and from work. Yet there still is a market for part-time, overnight or even care on weekends.

It’s tempting to change your hours in order to sign a new client. But over time your work- life balance will suffer and you will end up burning yourself out.

Contracted Hours / Days

  You should insist on each child having contracted hours. Contracted hours are the time/days the parents will be dropping off and picking up their child. For example: If you have a part time child that comes on 3 days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9am to 5pm, you can schedule other part time children around those days to fill your Tuesday and Thursday time slots. If the clients need to change their contracted three days to a different three days, in your contract, specify that you can refuse such changes due to a conflict and have the right to end the contract.  

Contracted hours allow you to schedule activities. You will know approximately when each child will be coming, and you can plan around drop offs and pickups.

While late drop off and picks happen, you want to make sure that the parents know you are serious about open communication. Be sure to ask them, if they are going to late that they call or text you to let you know. You will soon find out that maintaining a schedule and following a routine is important.

Holidays   

What holidays do you want to observe?

It’s widespread practice for clients to pay regular fee for civic holidays. For example, your monthly rate is $800, so you would not give a discount because you’re closed for a holiday.

You can choose to either charge parents for your vacation days or not. But, you must make this completely clear to clients before they sign your contract.  

Be sure to state that if the parent decides to take a holiday or day off and pull their child out of your care for that day, they still pay your full monthly fee. They will not receive a refund or credit.  This is important because often you put out your own money for food beforehand. You don’t want to be losing money because a parent took a Friday off. Your time is valuable and there is a cost to holding a spot for them.        

Some providers also include a few paid personal days in their contract. This is 2-3 days that they would elect to take of during the year the parents would pay for. For example, you want to take next Friday off for a funeral. You would inform your parents that you will be taking a personal day. This would be one of your paid days off. This saves you the hassle of issuing refunds or credits for having to take a day off.

Pickup and Drop off Policies

Nothing is worse that a parent drop off a child early and you’re still in your bathrobe. Or you need to drop your kid off dance class and a parent hasn’t pick up their kid yet.

Most parents are good about picking up their children on time. Unless an emergency arises, you shouldn’t have a problem. But it’s always a good idea to have something written in your handbook about early/late drop offs. This is primarily so that you are not being taken advantage of. The chances that you are going to have to charge a late fee is slim, but it is a good idea to put a monetary value on being late such a $5 fee for every ½ hour the child is in your care past their contracted hours. Most large daycare centers have similar policies and strictly enforce them.  

Once a child is in your care, you are responsible for who you release that child to. You need to have it written in your handbook and contract, who is allowed/ not allowed to pick up a child. It is best to get this in writing, so in the case of a mix up you can prove you have done your due diligence. Specify that you will be asking for photo ID before releasing a child to anyone you have not met in person. 

Restraining Orders   

In the event of a court ordered restraining one parent from a child, you need to have a legal copy of the restraining order and a written note from the custodial parent. Without these items on file you can’t prevent the non-custodial parent from picking up the child. You don’t want to be in the middle of a messy divorce. 

Provider’s Sick Day Policy 

If you need to close on a given day because of illness, you need to decide if you will provide a refund for the day.  Most home daycares do not charge customers for their own sick days. Or have a number of sick days outlined in their contract.  

Illness Policy

You wouldn’t invite someone over to your house that had been up vomiting all night, so don’t do it with your home daycare. Parents will test you on your illness policy, but you need to stand firm. You may have to remind parents that bringing a sick child into a dayhome spreads the illness to not only the other children in your care, but also yourself, potentially rendering you unable to care for their child.  

Specify the symptoms you consider a child to be too sick to attend. Make a list of symptoms, then specify when a child is safe to return. Generally, a child should be well enough to take part in normal everyday activities.

What are you going to do when sickness develops during the day?

Outline what you expect parents to do. For example, will you call them and expect them to come pick up their child immediately? 

Ask parents to let you know as soon as possible if their child won’t be attending due to illness or for any other reason. This will allow activities to carry on as scheduled and help you know how many children you need to prepare meals for.

Medicine Policy and Procedure

Get parents to provide written consent before you administer any type of medicine. Parents should label all medicine with the child’s name, dose and dosage times before you administer anything. You should specify that you won’t administer any medicine not complying with the policy. 

Example of medicine policy:

Prior to administering any type of medicine to your child(ren), I require written consent by a parent. All medicine must be properly stored in a container labeled with the child’s name, dosage and times to be administered.  Medicine supplied in unmarked, unlabeled containers and/or without written consent will not be administered.   

Medical Emergencies

Minor bumps and scratches are inevitable. You should specify how will you handle minor injuries. Will you administer first aid, then let the parent know at the end of the day what happened? Or will you call the parents right away?

What are you going to do in case of an emergency injury or illness? Specify who is responsible for the cost of any emergency medical treatment/ transportation. 

Emergency Plan and Evacuation Plan

Provide parents with your emergency plan.  Where you are going to be and how to contact you.  What evacuation sites you are going to be at incase of fire, earthquake, flooding etc.

Behavior policy

  Give a brief summary of how you are going to handle children’s behavior. For example, do you plan on using the “time-out” method?  If a behavioral issue continues without resolve, how do you plan on handling such situations? Think about at what point would you want to end a contract over a behavioral issue.  It’s unfair to the other children in your home daycare if you spend your whole time dealing with one child.

Clothing Policy

Clothing can become a big issue if you don’t specify what you expect. Make sure parents know that you want children to be dress in comfy clothing that can get dirty. You don’t want to be responsible for any stained or ruined clothing. Older children should be able to operate their clothing themselves, without your help. Insist on at least one spare change of clothes regardless of the child’s age. You want to keep children happy and comfortable. Younger children should have at least two changes of clothing (including socks).  

Kindly remind parents that if outdoor apparel is not supplied, then everyone has to stay inside.   Often this can happen in winter time because of a lack of snow pants, hats or mitts. You can suggest that parents leave an extra set at your house to prevent this from happening.  

Meals and Snacks

Provide parents with a schedule of meals and snacks. Inform them if they drop off after a scheduled meal time, you expect the child to have eaten. You don’t have time to supply meals on demand.

Are you going to allow a child to bring food from home? Often parents will sneak snacks into a kid’s backpack,  in case their kid gets hungry. But this can cause conflict between kids and issues for you if another child that has allergies.  For special occasions like birthdays, you can decide on a case to case basis if you are going to allow special treats from home.   

What are your procedures for storing breast milk? Put in place a procedure for yourself, so that you never run out of breast milk or formula.  An example of this would be that you require to have at least half a can of formula on hand at all times. Are you going to be responsible for sanitizing the bottles? or do you expect parents to supply sanitized bottles every day. 

Food Allergies

You need to decide if you will allow children with food allergies to attend your home daycare.  

Can you guarantee your home daycare is safe from allergies? 

Are you comfortable administering an EpiPen? 

Decide which food allergies you will allow.  An allergy to mangos is a lot easier to deal with than a peanut allergy.  Also specify any allergies where parents need to supply the food. Such as in the case of a gluten allergy, you can ask the parents to supply bread, dry pasta or crackers.  Specially foods can be expensive, and you don’t want to blow your whole food budget on one child. 

Potty Training Policies

At one point in your home daycare career, you are going to have to assist with potty training. The key word here is “assist” with potty training.  Communicate with parents that it’s not your job to potty train their child. If they have a method that has been working for them, then you’ll try to continue with that method.  However, their child must wear clothing at all times and you’re unable to follow a strict timed potty schedule. (ex. taking a child to the potty every ½ hour). Children need to be able to pull down and up their pants themselves. Suggest “User friendly” clothing, such as shorts and pants with elastic waist.  Kindly mention if you run out of dry clothing, that you will be calling and expecting them to drop off more. 

Termination Policy

Decide on how much notice you need from a parent before they can terminate their contract. Two weeks’ notice is common, but some home daycares require a month notice.

Outline reasons to parents why you would to end a contract.

Here are some suggestions,

• Failure to provide payment for services
• Routinely late picking up their child
• Failure to complete the required forms
• Lack of parental cooperation
• Failure of child to adjust to the home daycare after a reasonable amount of time
• Physical or verbal abuse of any person or property
• Lack of compliance with handbook policies and procedures
• Serious illness of a child

Other policies and procedures you may want to consider including:

Indoor activities  

What activities are you planning to engage in, circle time, reading, singing.  Give parents a brief summary of daily activities you plan on doing.  

Outdoor activities

How much outdoor time are you planning on having?  Include what your weather limits are. How hot or cold do you consider to be unsafe to play outside?

Napping / Quiet time procedures

Give parents a brief outline of how you are going to handle napping/quiet time.  Do you require all kids to nap? If not, what do you expect from children during quiet time.  Remember this is probably the only time you will get a break during the day. 

Are parents responsible for bringing their own Pack and Play or are you providing beds?

Immunizations Policy

Consider if you need all children to be immunized/or not to attend your home daycare. This is a personal preference. 

Transportation  

Many home daycares provide before and after care for school aged children.  This sometimes includes transportation to and from school in their own vehicles.  Also, some home daycares offer field trips to local attractions such as a library, park or zoo. If this is something you want to provide consider the following:

Do you have a vehicle that could adequately fit all the children?

Do parents need to provide car seats?

What schools are you willing to provide transportation to?

Who is going to pay for admission to attractions?

House rules

Providing a set of house rules is a wonderful way to express your expectations of a child’s behavior.  For example: you expect no jumping/climbing on couches.  

Toys from home

Are you going to allow toys from home? Often these items cause fights among the other children.  An exception to this should be a comfort toy/blanket for napping. 

Two-week trial period

You can choose to implement a two-week trial period for both parties. This allows adequate time for a child to adjust to your home daycare.  At the end of the two weeks, either party can terminate the contract for whatever reason they see fit. Trial periods allows you to see how a child fits into your home daycare dynamic. 

While you can run a home daycare without a schedule, you will save yourself a ton of grief if you have at least a guideline of activities.  You can also include this in your parent handbook to give parents an idea of your daily activities.   

Kids thrive on routines and while you don’t have to have a strict routine, a schedule can help children navigate their day and ease the transition from one activity to the next.  For example, they will get to know that after lunch they go for nap.

Start by setting a time for breakfast, lunch, and snack time s.  Then think about naptime and activities. 

Quality control checks (Cleaning)

Kids are sticky, messy and germy but in a good way. Don’t forget, this is not only your place of work, but also your home and the last thing you want is to be sick all the time. If you take a sick day, you most likely are not getting paid so you should be motivated not to take too many. While you don’t have too much control over what kind of germs enter your home, you can control the spread of it.  

Put in place a cleaning routine. Just like any public washroom, keep a cleaning checklist.  There will be things that you have to do everyday. And other things you will only have to do once a week. Make your checklist as detailed or not as you feel like. 

Items to include:

Bathroom,  Floors,  Bedding &  Toys

Interviewing Parents

The interview process can be a bit scary when you first start out.  But remember you’re also interviewing them too.  

Never commit to taking on a child full time until you have met them.      

For any new prospective client, suggest a “meet and greet.” What is a meet and greet?

A meet and greet is an opportunity for prospective parents to come into your home and check out the space.  It gives parents time to ask you any questions and voice any concerns they may have. A meet and greet also gives you a chance to observe a child’s behaviour and ask them any questions you may have. Such as is your child a bitter? Has the child ever been in a home daycare before.  If so, why did you leave the last home daycare.   

Don’t be afraid to say “no” to a parent if you don’t think their child would be a good fit. You’re better off to be honest and up front. One child can completely change the dynamic of your home daycare and cause you and the other children in your care undue stress.  If you are unsure, then suggest a two week trial period before committing to a contract. Revisit the section of your business summary where you outlined who your ideal client would be. Be picky.  

Now, it’s time to get your first client.  

Home Daycare Marketing Plan

When starting a home daycare business, you don’t just sit there waiting for families to knock on your door. You need to get your name out there.   

If you’re just getting started, marketing your services may not be your strongest skill. Thankfully, there are many ways you can easily advertise your home daycare business.

Here are some ideas for home daycare advertising to give potential customers a better sense of your services.

Your own website

This is perhaps the most inexpensive way of reaching out to parents. A website should introduce your daycare by highlighting the basic information like name, size, location, and the age range you accept. Secondly, you should come up with a business name and logo that stands out from other family daycare services. Obviously, the website should sum up the services you offer.  And you can even outline your policies and procedures. Also list some features like meal/snack options, size of your space, outdoor play setup, fencing, and more. Besides that, you should include short endorsements from past customers so that parents can know their children will be under constant supervision.   

Flyers with tear-off tabs

This is the easiest home daycare marketing strategy. You should make colorful flyers (red, yellow or blue) that show the contact number, email, and services offered. Needless to say, they should be child-friendly – include some pictures of smiling happy children or clip art. It’s worth mentioning that you should not list the price on the flyers. This is because you want the parents to choose a family daycare based on the services, not price.  Flyers work best when they are posted in locations most likely to reach your target market. Where do parents frequent that they may see your ad? The best place to distribute them is in community centers, coffee shops, and libraries.

Word of mouth

Tell everyone about your new venture. You can notify your neighbors, family, co-workers, and friends. And if you already have clients, ask them to recommend a friend.

Social media

The strategy you use on your social media marketing should reach families looking for daycare centers. You should make Facebook page for special announcements, reminders and examples of fun activities. Most parents will appreciate a platform where they can see and share photos of their kids activities. But keep in mind not all parents what to have their kids faces on social media.  Make sure you have a photo release form signed before posting any child’s face.

Other social media platforms you can use include Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Newspaper Ads

You should include information like your approximate location, opening and closing hours, and anything else that makes your business special. For best results, you may want to place your ads on smaller local papers rather than a big display ad. Of course, it pays huge dividends if you place an ad in the childcare section. It’s important that you inquire on the details allowed, but don’t forget to include the brand name and contact information.

Online daycare advertising sites

Online advertising sites make it easy for parents to search for services in a specific area. They give information on who you are and the services you offer.  Most advertising sites charge a fee to post. If you choose to use one of these sites, always emphasize on any information that makes your business stand out from the competition. And include photographs to showcase your home daycare to prospective clients.

Craigslist, Kijiji

This type of site is commonly referred to as the “hunter’s dream” – you’ll find everything you want here. Even better, you can list your childcare websites. There is a separate section for baby-sitters and daycare providers.

Put a sign on your yard

This will help potential clients know who you are and what you have to offer. All the parents living close to you will be aware of your daycare and will probably mention the same to other parents. These signs can be customized to suit your needs. Be sure to include your business name and contact information.

The above advertising methods will give you an opportunity to toot your own horn. As you embark on the journey, highlight everything that makes your business different from the competition. For best results, do some research to understand the services your competitors are offering. Be creative with your marketing strategies, and you’ll have a full house in no time.

American Airlines backtracks on filing that blamed 9-year-old for being filmed in bathroom

"We do not believe this child is at fault," the airline said Wednesday.

One day after lawyers for American Airlines argued a 9-year-old child acted negligently when she was recorded by a hidden camera in an airplane lavatory , the airline is backpedaling that defense.

FBI agents knocked on the 9-year-old's family home almost a year after the alleged incident in January 2023 to inform her parents that videos of the child were found on a phone belonging to a former flight attendant who is currently in custody.

The airline on Wednesday said in a statement about the filing, "Our outside legal counsel retained with our insurance company made an error in this filing. The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning. We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously. Our core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team."

The court filing was submitted on behalf of American Airlines on Tuesday in response to a civil lawsuit filed by the 9-year-old's parents in Texas District Court against the airline and the flight attendant, Estes Carter Thompson III, who allegedly recorded the child.

The filing, which generally denies the allegations and raises several affirmative defenses, including contributory negligence, states, "Defendant would show that any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe, were proximately caused by Plaintiff's own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by Plaintiff's use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device."

The lawsuit was filed by Mary Doe's parents, alleging that Thompson secretly filmed their 9-year-old daughter in the airplane's lavatory on a flight to Los Angeles in January 2023.

Thompson is currently in federal custody after being charged with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor. He was arrested after a 14-year-old passenger on another flight discovered Thompson's hidden phone in the plane lavatory. Police said Thompson allegedly possessed recordings of four additional minor female passengers who used bathrooms aboard the same aircraft. One of those recordings was allegedly of Mary Doe. Thompson has pleaded not guilty.

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Reacting to the airline's filing Tuesday, Jane Doe, mother of Mary Doe, said, "Instead of taking responsibility for this awful event, American Airlines is actually blaming our daughter for being filmed.

MORE: Pilot who allegedly tried to shut off engines hadn't slept in 40 hours: Authorities

"How in good conscience could they even make such a suggestion? It both shocks and angers us. American Airlines has no shame," the mother added.

Responding to American Airlines backtracking on their court filing, Paul Llewellyn, a lawyer representing the family of the 9-year-old girl, said Wednesday, "American Airlines has clearly faced intense media and public backlash over their blaming of a 9 year old for being filmed. To claim that they filed the "wrong" [answer] is simply not credible. But the bell cannot be unwrung. They should never have taken such a position in the first place."

Llewellyn said the airline did not reach out to the family after the recording was discovered.

Representatives for American Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the attorney's claim that the airline did not reach out to the family.

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Don't call them DINKs. Many childfree adults are ALICEs.

• DINKs are known for having disposable income, but some childfree adults are also struggling.
• In fact, many childfree adults are ALICEs — asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed.
• Without dependents, many low-income workers have a harder time accessing tax credits and government assistance.

America's DINKs — dual-income couples with no children — are known for having disposable income and spending their paychecks on major investments, luxury vacations , and early retirement .

These households have previously told Business Insider that they can spend extra money on their lifestyle because they don't have any child-related costs. By definition, DINKs aren't necessarily rich , but they do have a reputation for living a life of freedom and excess cash.

A growing number of child - free adults , however, are falling through the cracks of the US economy. Many low-income childfree adults fall into the ALICE category — people who are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. Twenty-nine percent of US households make too much to qualify for government assistance but not enough to comfortably afford daily life . And ALICEs who aren't parents face unique challenges: it is especially difficult to qualify for financial help or tax credits without young children, even if you need the help.

According to a report published in April by the Brookings Institution, the US doesn't have a strong financial safety net to support childfree ALICEs. This is partly because having financially dependent children is a prerequisite of some government assistance programs .

Poor, non-elderly adults who are not raising children and don't qualify for disability benefits made up nearly 106 million people in 2017, according to a Census analysis . What's more, they have a higher risk of experiencing homelessness and long-term poverty, per the Brookings report.

Low-income adults without children face barriers to government assistance

Low-income, childfree adults have a higher likelihood of falling into poverty, and often stay in poverty long-term because they can't access assistance, wrote Robert Greenstein, the author of the Brookings report.

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"The safety net for these non-elderly childless adults is so limited, those non-elderly adults who are poor tend to be poorer than others living in poverty," wrote Greenstein, who is also a visiting fellow of economic studies for the Brookings Institution, which is affiliated with The Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative.

The report found that half of the Americans living in "deep poverty" — those with incomes that are at or below 50% of the poverty line, which is $7,290 annually for one person — are childfree adults not receiving disability benefits.

Greenstein wrote that this population is at a disadvantage when applying for government support, especially as it comes to tax credits and housing assistance, even if their household income is low.

For example, they don't qualify for the child tax credit , which allows families with dependents to receive thousands of dollars in tax breaks each year. The Earned Income Tax Credit — which offers refundable tax credits for low- and moderate-income workers — is also very limited for childfree employees, who receive fewer than 4% of the EITC's overall benefits, according to the Brookings report.

Greenstein also wrote that over 7 million low-income adults who are between the ages of 18 to 61 and don't live with minors pay more than 50% of their income on rent — making them severely rent-burdened. The majority of these adults don't receive any state or federal rental assistance.

Additionally, parents can more easily access SNAP food benefits than childfree adults because they are exempt from having to work a required amount of hours each week to receive assistance.

Many Social Security and Medicare programs also primarily offer assistance to older adults, excluding adults under 62.

Although strengthening the US financial safety net for this population is complex, Greenstein offered a few solutions. He suggested expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to benefit more adults without children, along with removing the extra qualifications childfree adults must meet to access SNAP benefits.

An expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act would also allow more adults to get the healthcare they need — even if they don't qualify for disability benefits or Social Security, Greenstein said.

Are you making an income above the poverty line but still struggling to afford daily life? Have you faced challenges qualifying for government assistance because you don't have children? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected] .

Watch: Supreme Court strikes down Biden's student-debt relief plan

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Specialist police divers to assist in search for missing Geraldton man Brenton Shar after clothing found

Specialist police divers have travelled to Geraldton to assist in the search for missing 37-year-old man Brenton Shar.

Mr Shar was last seen at his home address in Rangeway in the early hours of May 2 but was officially reported missing by family on May 10.

While a search effort has been ongoing since that time, police say a pair of shorts believed to belong to Mr Shar were found in the groyne area of Midalia Beach in Beresford by his partner, Kasey Burns. 

Detective Sergeant Gareth Lewis said the black Champion shorts, while generic, matched the pair worn by Mr Shar as he left hospital for an injured finger on May 1.

He said the last known CCTV sighting of Mr Shar was in Geraldton on the same day.

He said there was "no evidence of criminality" in Mr Shar's case at this stage. 

During a press conference, Ms Burns said Mr Shar usually kept in contact with her, by phone calls and texts, every day.

"Brenton, if you're watching, can you please contact Mum, Dad or me?" Ms Burns said. 

"We all miss you and love you and want you to come home."

Ms Burns said Mr Shar had six children between the ages of one and 14, who were all worried for him. 

Detective Sergeant Lewis said police had been concerned for Mr Shar's welfare since he was reported missing, and had now decided to search the water "as a line of enquiry".

"We're not a 100 per cent sure he's been in the water, but it seemed prudent to just check the water area to see if there's anything to find," he said.

"They [water police] are going to start with the shorts area, and then expand the search depending on the way the currents have been.

"We decided to do a further public announcement to get further information, and ask people to contact Crimestoppers."

Mr Shar's shorts, which were found wet and sandy, have been sent to Perth for analysis.

Mr Shar is described as about 179 centimetres tall, of medium build with brown eyes and short brown hair. 

Anyone with information relating to the search or Mr Shar's disappearance should contact police on 131 444.

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I Sent My Daughter to Daycare Instead of a Nanny and I Couldn't Be Happier

Everyone warned me it would be difficult, but sending my baby to daycare was one of the best parenting decisions I've made.

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When I was pregnant, I frequently met other pregnant people who could rattle off their philosophies on sleep training and secure attachment, and deliver TED Talk-worthy presentations on the merits of this crib versus that crib or this stroller versus that stroller. I wondered, "How did all these people seemingly already know how to raise children? How did they decide on a nanny vs. babysitter vs. daycare?"

I felt as if my recurring nightmare had come true, the one where I show up for a final exam only to realize I've missed an entire semester's worth of classes. Personally, I had no strong convictions about baby sleeping arrangements, no grand vision for our nursery—and no idea, I thought, about how to be a mother. When I was asked about my future parenting plans, my nonchalant shrug belied the panic I felt in the pit of my stomach.

But, when talk inevitably turned to child care, I was surprised to hear myself express a clear, confident opinion: "My daughter will go to daycare, definitely."

Of course she would. I knew I would keep working—I'd spent over a decade building my career, and I cared about my job, not to mention that it wasn't a financial option for me not to return to work. Daycare was a financial necessity too—it costs a fortune, yes, but a nanny costs two fortunes. Still, finances aside, I loved the idea of my kid spending her days hanging out with other kids and being cared for by a team of child care professionals, all in a setting designed for little ones to play and explore.

Why I Loved Our Daycare

I was sold on our daycare the moment my husband and I walked through the doors. In the bright, cozy playroom, a couple of babies were tucked into the lap of a teacher reading to them, a trio of toddlers was building a block tower, and the owner was playing the ukulele and singing, "She'll be coming around the mountain" to a cluster of kids dancing and rolling around the rug.

The space smelled like cinnamon oatmeal, which the group had eaten for breakfast. By the time we made it to the grassy backyard filled with playground equipment and a small garden, I was ready to hang up my coat on my own designated hook and enroll myself at the daycare. I was thrilled for my daughter—still nestled in my belly at the time—to learn and grow in this sweet environment.

I loved the idea of my kid spending her days hanging out with other kids and being cared for by a team of child care professionals, all in a setting designed for little ones to play and explore.

My maternity leave spanned a gorgeous summer. When autumn arrived and it was time to go back to work, I felt anxious about a dozen things: the commute, the breast-pumping, the challenging assignments I'd need to complete on very little sleep. But among my anxieties was not the fact of sending my daughter to daycare. I'd enjoyed several beautiful months as a full-time mother, but I didn't wish to keep at it permanently, and I didn't feel guilty about it.

When people inquired about my childcare plans, some told me they could never leave their kids like that—with strangers in a strange place. Others lamented the high cost of living, assuming that I'd be staying at home if I could. And many who'd sent their own kids to daycare responded with sympathy: A friend told me her child's first day there was the worst day of her life; she assured me it would get easier. A co-worker related that he felt so distraught after dropping off his daughter, he ended up picking her up 10 minutes later, never to return.

Most of these people meant well, and I respected their opinions and experiences. But I simply didn't share their fears, their worries, or their regrets. I believed to my core that it would be good for my daughter to have lots of caring, competent adults in her life. It takes a village, right?

As far as I was concerned, the more love and attention she received, the better. When I expressed these feelings to my therapist, she kept prompting me to dig deeper, to get in touch with the sadness or ambivalence I might feel about handing off my baby to other caretakers. I probed and probed my heart and mind, but I felt fine about it—really, truly.

The First Day of Daycare

When it came time to drop off my 4-month-old for day one of daycare, it was strange to watch her handling a rattle that wasn't ours and to see her being held by a woman whose name I'd just learned. I felt a twinge acknowledging the transition—the start of this new chapter, the end of the last one.

But as I waved goodbye, I felt confident my daughter was in fantastic hands—hands that had spent way more time than my own changing diapers and feeding bottles and singing lullabies to countless little ones. When I returned that evening, my daughter greeted me with a wide smile, and I felt a surge of happiness—this would become her place, her community.

Where We Are Today

One year later, my daughter has grown to love her teachers as much as they love her, and she has a slew of friends she eats and plays and naps with every day. When I drop her off and the aromas of bacon and eggs waft through the kitchen, she runs to grab her chair, says hello to her buddies, and gleefully waves me goodbye. She comes home each evening saying new words and demonstrating new skills (and sometimes wearing new clothes).

Most of motherhood still feels like trial and error to me. And I still find myself in conversations with parents who seem to have it all figured out, as they hold forth on screen time or discipline or school districts. But more and more I've realized that different things are important to different parents, and what's right for them isn't necessarily right for us, and vice versa. I feel strongly about this one big thing: Daycare is fantastic for our family. The rest we're figuring out as we go along.

Of course, there are days I would prefer to stay home and be with my daughter all day. And sometimes the weekday math strikes me as ridiculous: the two or three hours I have with my daughter versus the eight hours I spend in front of a computer screen in my office. But one consolation is that I've gotten to know other daycare parents who share my confidence in our childcare choice.

At pick-up the other day, a fellow mom turned to me and said, "Isn't this place amazing? Our kids are so happy here." She said it conspiratorially like we'd discovered some buried treasure. And really, I believe we have.

Lindsey J. Palmer is the author of many novels, including " Reservations for Six ," which came out in May 2022. A former magazine editor and high school English teacher, she's now a senior editor for the ed tech company BrainPOP. Find Lindsey at lindseyjpalmer.com .

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Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Jarrett Renshaw and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Ross Colvin, Daniel Wallis, Jonathan Oatis and Christopher Cushing

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Chinese military drills in the straits of Taiwan in 2023 practiced manoeuvres key to an invasion of the island, although an actual attack was not imminent or inevitable, a senior US general in the region said on Thursday.