Dispelling The Myths About Home Daycare
By Cyndi Beauchemin
Each day, millions of
women search for a home-based business that not
only
meets their needs, but that of their family. Many of these women
overlook
home daycare as an option because of the myths regarding this
challenging, yet rewarding, home-based business.
Myth #1
Home daycare is babysitting.
For those who deem offering
childcare as merely babysitting, think again.
Childcare is a business that requires the owner/operator to:
set rules
and polices; organize each day; create a business plan; use written
contracts, authorizations and agreements; offer activities, a
nurturing
environment, meals and meet the basic needs of the children in
their
care.
Myth #2
Operating a home daycare takes time away from the provider's
children.
Parents across the United
States seek out part-time care, mother's day
out availability, drop-in care, etc. The provider needs to choose
a
schedule and the services s/he wishes to offer and maintain those
hours.
Running a home daycare
offers the owner not only the ability to focus on
his/her own children full-time, but also offers an invaluable
service to
other working parents.
Myth #3
There are no skills required for operating a home daycare.
At a minimum, a home daycare
owner/operator must posses: a love for
children, patience and the ability to run a business.
In addition to these skills,
each state has requirements that must be
met before licensing and/or registration is granted.
For a majority of the
states, these invaluable skills include:
First Aid
,
CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), safe food-handling practices
and
child
abuse prevention, which not only enhance the providers' ability
to
provide
quality childcare, but also gives guidance and knowledge in rearing
their
own children.
Myth #4
Home daycare takes too much time.
Many believe that operating
a home daycare requires the business to be in
operation 24/7. A successful home daycare provider will set specific
hours of operation to allow time for her family.
Home daycare can be a
huge time commitment, but by using the proper
tools for organization, time management and setting specific
hours of
operation, the time involved is not much different from any other
home-based business.
Myth #5
Home daycare income wouldn't replace the existing salary.
Many women feel "stuck" in
their current position for financial reasons,
when they would prefer to be at home with their children.
Use the following scale
as a guide when calculating how much you are
really contributing to your family's income by working outside
of the
home.
Deduct from your gross
monthly income: daycare expenses, dry cleaning,
gas, meals, business clothing, other work-related expenses and
taxes. The
amount left over equals your actual net monthly income.
In most instances, the
net income can easily be replaced with the income
generated from a home daycare business.
Only you can determine
if the net income shown is keeping you from where
you want to be -- at home.
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