I am trying to open a day care. Help!?
Answer:
For the licenses and requirements in your state, the Administration for Children and Families provide a state by state listing of contacts for licensing and regulations governing child care businesses:
http://www.nccic.org/statedata/dirs/rego.
In Texas, the agency to contact for daycare licensing and regulations is
Department of Family and Protective Services
Child Care Licensing
P.O. Box 149030
701 W. 51st Street
Austin, TX 78714-9030
Phone: 512-438-4800
Hotline: 800-862-5252
Fax: 512-438-3848
Web site: http://www.dfps.state.tx.us
This is their page on child care licensing http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/child_care/a.
I suggest you continue working on your business plan. Even if you will not be applying for a bank loan, a business plan helps you to think through your business - what it needs, who it will benefit, how much it will cost, and what is its potential. Here are free business plans on childcare business that you may want to look into:
http://www.sba.gov/library/pubs/mp-30.do.
http://www.misbtdc.org/documents/bpworkb.
http://www.misbtdc.org/documents/cdcplan.
http://sbdcnet.utsa.edu/sbic/bplans.htm.
You may want to read the free article "How To Start Your Own Day Care Center" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol40/daycar. It covers various aspects of starting and running a daycare center including the demand for daycare centers, how to start this business, shoestring strategies, how to operate a daycare center, tips on caring for the children, income potential, how to manage your daycare, marketing your business and other additional income potential. There are so many things to learn about the business that the first step is to read everything you can find.
Other articles you may want to read:
Starting a Child Day Care Business http://www.libsci.sc.edu/bob/class/clis7.
Childcare.net http://childcare.net/indexnew.shtml.
Starting a child-care services business http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,46.
HOW TO START A QUALITY CHILD CARE BUSINESS http://www.sba.gov/library/pubs/mp-29.pd.
For in-depth information, I suggest checking out the following books:
- Start and Run a Profitable Home Day Care
- The Daycare Provider's Workbook
- Start Your Own At-Home Child Care Business
- So You Want to Open a Profitable Child Care Center :
Everything You Need to Know to Plan, Organize and Implement a Successful Program
It is also important that you learn the tax rules affecting daycare centers, especially if you are going to open one from your home. Here is the IRS page on child care centers: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/indu.
it is probably the texas department of health that controls daycares. they will provide licensing info and the requirements to be certified. then you will need to obtain insurance to protect yourself from liability claims. it is not cheap and for good reason.
You may contact local Authorities for help.
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