THE BUSINESS OF FAMILY CHILD CARE

Caregivers or business owners?
Professional child care providers are actually both. Caring for and educating young children is rewarding work that is so important. Understanding how to provide quality care and while balancing it out with sound business practices is essential to creating a successful program. Here are some key things to consider as a professional child care provider:

• Do you have a business plan?
  A business plan is like a roadmap to success. It helps you better understand the market, figure out how much you need to make in order to be profitable and determine the best ways to promote your business.
• How do you market your business?
• How do you create a contract? What do you need to put in your contract? What is the difference between a contract and a policy?
• What are some good interviewing strategies to help you find families that will be a good fit for your program?
• What records do you need to keep and what are some good record keeping strategies?
• What kind of insurance do you need? Where can you get it?
• How do you handle legal issues?

HANDS ON CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL BINDER

Be a part of this great marketing tool, CLICK HERE here for more information.

Center Information Form

Family Child Care Home Form

Want to learn more?
Contact us here at Sierra Nevada Children’s Services. As your local child care resource and referral agency, we have several family child care business books and videos available in our Resource Library. Each calendar quarter we also provide an introductory class for those just getting started in the business. In addition, we present an annual Family Child Care Tax Workshop, as well as other occasional business-related classes. Finally, we can also help put you in contact with other organizations that offer free business help.

Below are other helpful resources:
Building Child Care: A California Statewide Collaborative
Resources for Child Caring – Caring
Resources for Child Caring – Getting Started
Sierra College Small Business Development
Sierra Economic Development Corporation (SEDCorp)
Child Care Law Center