Day Care Business for Work At Home Moms Part 3

[continued from Part 2]

Another important difference between looking after other people’s children as a nanny or teacher or daycare worker, and going into business for yourself, is that it takes time to build up a list of children who will attend your daycare. There are many home daycare centers to choose from in every town. Once parents find a good center they normally stay there long term.

Finding new clients can be difficult, especially if you don’t take care of infants or babies. However, there is often a reason why day care facilities refuse to take children under six months, usually to do with safety issues, and whether or not the child has had its vaccinations.

So you might find a niche specializing in small babies for those women who really need to go back to work but can’t find a daycare facillity willing to take a child under 6 months. It can be more demanding work in some senses, but then so can chasing around toddlers, and multiple kids in the terrible Twos stage.

Getting clients can be easier when you are licensed, but to begin with you need to rely on networking with parenting groups, people at your church, people in your community and friends in order to build your business.

Now that we have got the negative aspects out of the way, it’s time to consider the benefits of owning your own daycare business.

Continued in Day Care Business for Work At Home Moms Part 4.

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Day Care Business for Work At Home Moms Part 2

[continued from Part 1]

There are a few important distinctions between working for someone else taking care of children, and running your own in-home facility.

The first is money. At home childcare businesses can be profitable, but it normally takes six to eighteen months for Wahms to see any substantial income coming in. This may not be a problem for you, and if you are committed to building the quality and size of your business, the start of your profitability can be on the low end of that scale.

Also, if you are getting to look after your own children, you may decide that even if you are  not that profitable, you are saving money on your own child care by being at home full time, plus saving on things like commuting to work, gas, work clothes and lunches, and so on.

It can take several months to a year to turn a daycare into a profitable daycare business for many reasons. First of all, each state has its own licensed childcare requirements. Getting licensed to have a home daycare means attending classes, passing certification and having your home inspected.

While you are going through this process, you can look into doing some unlicensed childcare for a few children to start building your business. Babysitting for a couple of hours each day can help bring extra income in, and give you a feel for the scale of the project you are setting yourself by looking after more than just your own child or children at home.

Each state has its own rules for unlicensed childcare. You should take the steps, however, to get licensed because it will increase your employability, in the eyes of parents and make it easier to get funding for your daycare facility.

It can also take a while to become a profitable daycare facility because of the start up costs involved. While you do have some baby and child items from your own children, there are many things that you’ll need to buy in order to make your home functional as a safe and stimulating daycare facility.

You’ll want to buy tables and chairs, art supplies, music CDs, games and other activities that the children can use while they are in your home. You will also need to cater to children of various ages up to pre-school. You can write off most of these on your taxes, but you need to keep receipts and excellent records.

Day Care Business for Work At Home Moms Part 3 deals with other important differences between working for other people, and setting up your own daycare busines.

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Making the Decision to Work at Home Part 2

[Continued from Part 1]

 

The qualities of a successful WAHM

 

There are also several qualities that make a Wahm successful. Before you start working at home, evaluate whether you have these qualities, or can develop them with time and effort.

Working at home normally fits into two different categories. You can either work as an independent contractor for a company, or you can work for yourself. Either way, you are going to be in charge of your own schedule.

Therefore, you will need to be extremely organized, self-motivated, and will have to work well without having a supervisory presence in your working life.

Even those who choose to work for a company are responsible for scheduling their own time and meeting deadlines without a lot of input from supervisors.

Another important skill to have as a Wahm is time management. When you work out of the home, you’re going to be confronted with two sets of challenges each day. You’ll be faced with the work you need to get done, but you’ll also be in the midst of your household, where there are always going to be things that need to be done.

If you focus too much on your work, your household chores will get out of control, and vice versa. Having good time management skills and being able to set clear priorities will help you tackle the diverse challenges of being a Wahm.

Making the decision to become a Wahm requires a lot of thought and consideration. If you are thinking about working from home because you are having a baby, or because you are tired of sending your children to daycare, take some time to write down the pros and cons of becoming a Wahm.

Above all, talk things over with your family to ensure that you are making the right decision for the family unit. You will be doing two full-time jobs from the same space, your own home, and will need support from your partner, friends, and family. Just because your time might be more flexible, it does not mean it is ‘free’.

There are plenty of resources online for moms who are looking to find out more about the realities of working at home.

Once you’ve considered your position and done the necessary research, you’ll be better equipped to make the right decision for you and your family.

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