Category: Work at Home

Day Care Business for Work At Home Moms Part 4

[continued from Part 3]

 

The benefits of an at-home daycare business

 

Despite the long start up time, many Work At Home Moms find that owning their own in-home childcare center is a great solution to their work at home problem. There are many benefits to taking care of other people’s children.

Your children will never be without playmates to entertain them. You’ll have access to many fun and exciting programs made especially for daycare business owners, including discounts on supplies, and of course, many of your expenses can be written off on your taxes if you set up your company correctly.

Remember to keeep receipts for everything you buy and note if it was personal, or for your at home business.   You may even be eligible for federal subsidies for food and diapers for the children you take care of.

 

Research your topic

To find out if owning a home daycare is right for you, research the subject. Visit other home daycares and ask how those Wahms are enjoying their business. Find out what your state and local regulations are regarding licensed and unlicensed daycare.

Do a trial run with multiple children by volunteering to look after your friends’ children for an hour or two at a time, say on a Saturday morning so they can go shopping unhindered but not leave you alone with them all day.

Work out what hours your facility is going to be open. My sister in law drops off her son at 7 every morning and picks him up at 6 every night.  That is a pretty long workday for some people.

You need to work out your fees so that they are competitive with other daycare facilities in the area, and also need to decide what to do if one of the parents is running late. It is important to keep the client happy, but you also need to balance your work and family time as well so that everyone is pleased with the arrangement.

Also keep in mind that you will basically be stuck at home if you take on this job. What are your contingency plans if you run out of milk, or in the event of an unexpected emergency?

Working at home affects the entire family, especially your own children having to interact with other children, and share your time with them.  What will your support system be?

Once you’ve done your homework, and are able to answer all these key questions and discuss them with your husband, friends and family, you’ll know if childcare as a work at home opportunity is right for you.

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Belkin USB 7 Port Hub

If you own a computer which is more than two years old, you may find that the

PC only has four USB ports. The Belkin USB 7 port hub is a wonderful device that

gives you additional ports without having to overload your PC with numerous

cables.

For example, two years ago Windows XP was replaced with the Windows Vista

operating system.  Depending upon the type of PC you purchased, it may have up

to six ports. This is standard in older computers. However, let’s assume you

wanted to add a camera, scanner, upload pictures with a digital camera

(which requires a USB port), or other peripherals – and you’ve run out of USB

ports.  Having a Belkin port hub is ideal since it is compact and is attached to

one port on the back of your PC.  All peripherals are then connected to each

port on the hub.

Newer computers have ports on the front of the PC as well as the ones in back.

Rather than 7 different cables running from the back and front of the PC to your

power surge outlet, the Belkin gives you the flexibility to use it as the sole

hub for all peripherals including your printer, mouse, keyboard, external hard

drive, or iPod.  Plug the Belkin cable into one of the PC ports and connect each

USB cable into the hub.

The features of the Belkin USB 7 Port Hub include:

* Adds connections for up to 7 USB devices to your computer

* Features 2 top-load USB ports for quick access

* Includes an internal weight and stay-put pads to keep Hub anchored to

the desk

* Requires no external power supply (for most devices)

* Prevents damage to your computer and devices with over-current protection

* Model: F5U307-WHT

* Hardware Platform: PC

* Connectivity Technology: Wired

* Data Link Protocol: Hi-Speed USB

* Network Data Transfer Rate: 480 Megabits Per Second

* Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty

The benefit of having a Belkin USB 7 port hub is that it not only organizes the

cables attached, but is easy to use and can be placed on top of your computer

desk or on a shelf within the desk itself.  There is no need to move the PC to

find port space, but with the Belkin having two top load ports, offers quicker

access.

In addition, the Belkin has a light for every port.  When you turn on the PC,

all of the ports that are being used light up.  However, if one of the lights

does not go on or goes out while you are online, you can quickly determine

which peripheral is not working.

The Belkin USP 7 port hub is a must have for PC users who not only have a

number of external peripherals that require connection via USB port, but keeps

the number of cables used down to a minimum.

Belkin Wireless Cable/DSL Router

Although desktop computers are still popular, wireless laptops have become the

norm due to the fact that you can use them anywhere in your home.  With the

Belkin Wireless Cable/DSL Router, this technology offers you the freedom to work

in any room in your home or apartment.

For home businesses, the Belkin router is ideal because there are no cables and

wires that inhibit movement from one room to another.  Even in a small

apartment, the Belkin allows you to network between your desktop and laptop in

an easy and affordable way by offering up to 400 feet of coverage.

You can transfer files from one computer to another and

print information in one room while the printer is located in another.  In fact, with the summer

weather approaching you can utilize your patio and enjoy the outdoors while

attending to whatever work needs to be done.

The Belkin router includes the following features:

* Offers backward-compatibility with all 802.11b devices

* Sets up easily with Belkin Easy Install Wizard

* Ensures data and network security with wireless 64- and 128-bit WEP

encryption

* Uses NAT and SPI firewall to protect network from outside intrusions by

hackers

* Device Type: Wireless Router

* Form Factor: Desktop

* Wireless Network Standards: IEEE 802.11g

* Wireless Network Standards: IEEE 802.11b

* Wireless Data Transfer Rates: 54 Mbps

* Security Protocols: 128-bit WEP

* Security Protocols: 64-bit WEP

* Networking Standards: IEEE 802.3 Ethernet 10Base-T

* Networking Standards: IEEE 802.3u Ethernet

100Base-TX

* Routing / Firewall Protoccols: DHCP

* Routing / Firewall Protoccols: Network Address Translation (NAT)

* Firewall Features: MAC Address Filtering

The Belkin router is compact and easy to install.  In fact some users have

commented that they set up the router in a closet and still maintained strong

signals from it.  It is compatible with Windows Vista as well as other operating

systems, and most users were amazed at not only how easy the software was to

install, but afterward had an instant connection.  Moreover, the fact that the

Belkin works with a cable modem and DSL line is a plus!

While there are many individuals who are tied to desktop computers, many have

purchased a laptop with the Belkin wireless router to afford them the

opportunity to work from any room in their home.  More importantly, however, the

ability to network has become more popular today than ever before.

Home businesses find networking a necessity, and the Belkin provides an alternative

to desktop computing.

If you have a desktop PC at home and have purchased a laptop that you would

like to use as part of a network, check out the Belkin Wireless router.

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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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