Many people nurture a dream that they would like to open a daycare center. Some of these individuals may work in a day care center and believe they could do a better job with the added benefit of becoming self employed. There are many who are stay at home parents and wish to supplement their income. And lots of people are just straight tired of nine to five working for a boss who doesn’t care about them. So they dream. However, most of these people never succeed in doing so due to the funding that is required. However, there is hope and this article will introduce you to ideas on how to obtain the financing required to start a day care business.
An effective and thorough business plan is the first and most important step in starting your day care business. Your business plan exposes the building blocks of your child care business. It will outline the steps you need to take to get your business started and what you will do to ensure it’s continued success. Essentially, your plan will be a professional presentation of your research and diligence which is vital when you approach any financial institution for loans. Moreover it is a fantastic insight into what is involved in starting and operating your day care business for you.
The second method involved in order to obtain financing when you want to open a daycare at home is to structure your business appropriately. Detailing all costs involved in getting your day care open is vital so that there are no surprises, from research phase to supplies to actually opening the doors. Many people also include the expected continual expenses that are associated with operating a daycare in the home on a consistent basis. These are the unavoidable and necessary running costs and will include utility bills, equipment, food costs and wages (because even it is only you, you still need to pay yourself).
Every lender will want to see you put your money where your mouth is so you will need to be prepared to invest a certain percentage of your own funds in your day care business. This will make lenders more likely to provide you with the money that you are requesting for your new child care business. Remember, from the financial institutions point of view you are a huge risk, many new businesses fail every year so if you believe enough, and have committed to saving towards opening your day care then they will be more likely to entertain your application. Essentially if you are willing to make the commitment of investing your own money in your day care business then a lender is going to be more willing to provide you with the funds you request.
Finally, another option to consider when seeking financing for your day care business is to offer some form of collateral. This is a huge and risky step and requires a lot of consideration and professional advice. You will need to be positive that you want to start your child care business and confident in your ability to operate it before you consider handing anything over as collateral. This is critical as many of these items are extremely valuable such as property and vehicles. However, lenders will tend to be more comfortable providing finance when collateral is in place. Do your research, be sure and be certain before making any critical decisions.
Want to know about childcare? Fiona Lohrenz, day care operator for a decade, provides you with lots of information on her website. Plus, check out her ‘Start a ChildCare Business’ DVD Guide: StartChildCare.com You can find her at: ChildCareOnly.com
- Fiona Lohrenz
Highlights 
January 20th, 2008 