Tl;dr- I want to open a home daycare in San Diego (HCOL) but it is VERY expensive to do. Is it worth it?

After much research of how much the rent would cost for a decent and qualified house/condo etc. in a decent area, plus the cost of hiring workers, even at minimum wage, plus the initial costs of buying all the necessary furniture, supplies, toys, etc…it’s veryyyy expensive. Between rent and paying other workers alone, I would need to make around at LEAST $12,250 a month. And since this would be my only source of income and you can have up to 8 children (depending on ages) that would mean each family would need to pay about $1500. Possibly, and most likely, more, because the rent that I factored in is the cheapest that I found. That’s if I could even get 8 kids. Would it even be worth it to try to pursue this? Thoughts/tips/advice?

  • upthebrand@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’ve found a version of this model that works stupidly well is to offer a daycare PLUS a gimmick to go along with it. A former client was making a killing at a gymnastics park and then added in a daycare program to the park. The same is true for a lot of martial arts studios, summer camps, and art studios.

    If you can add an attractive value add to the daycare model you can not only charge more but you’ll scale faster, being able to hire more people.

    Just a thought. Regular daycare programs are stupidly competitive and your minimum earnings is quite high. Once you get started, get the insurance and find the gimmick, the business builds itself and you can hire as you grow.

  • CharlesRandy@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’ve had one! I loved it and will be opening back up next year. I didn’t hire anyone and had 6 kids total. It wasn’t our only source of income. The worst part was getting my license. Once you have all your ducks in a row and are open it’s not too difficult. Next time I open I will hire someone and have more kids (max 12 in my state). AND have aftercare programs! Like someone else said, you make money off of having something else going on too. It also helps cost wise if you have your own children and aren’t having to pay for your childcare. I closed down once I had my first and didn’t feel prepared as a first time mom and to have it open, it was too short notice for me to hire someone I trusted to keep it going.

    My advice: really have your paperwork put together as in policies and regulations, don’t leave it up for discussion and explain what you want from parents. Have hard boundaries for you and your family. Customers are not your friends, this is a business. Be careful about what favors you to for people, they will always push for more. Example of what I’m taking about- I took someone’s kid early to help them out 40 minutes before opening… Then I’m being asked multiple times a week to do it because 'I’m home anyway" NOPE not next time. You learn as you go!