Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 16: Transportation

Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 16: Transportation

Transportation could be a vital part of your child care business. In this day and time, it will be very difficult to get and keep children enrolled without it. I operated my child care business without transportation for many years until it became painfully obvious that we needed to add this service in order to compete.  Most everyone was providing it so its seemed like a disservice not to provide it.

If you choose to offer transportation you will need to lease or purchase vans or buses, get additional liability/collision insurance and hire drivers. You will also need to decide if you will charge the extra cost of transportation to the parents or will the cost be included in the tuition.

Transportation can seem like an additional business venture in and of its self.  So make sure you understand what you are getting yourself into when deciding to provide this service. More...

For more information of Starting a Child Care Business. Contact Networx LLC.

Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 15: Hiring Staff

Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 15: Hiring Staff

You will need to hire qualified staff to work with the children that you will be enrolling in your center. This is one of the most important steps in starting and running a successful child care business. The staff that you hire represent you and your business. You may want to contact the unemployment office, area colleges and
universities and place ads in the local newspaper and online. Look for individuals who have the state required education and experience for the position that you are hiring them for. Make sure that you make a copy of the original training certificates. I have had people to alter someone else’s certificate and pass them off as their own. Also, make sure that you get a copy of their high school diploma, if it is required for the position. Always complete a background check on all individuals you wish to hire, even if it is not required by your state licensing office. You should know who will be caring for the children in you center. Because it take a while to get back the results of a criminal background check, I would recommend checking the county court records before calling them in for an interview. Most states now have the County Court records on the internet, so check with your county court house.

Before you start the hiring process you should put together an extensive employee handbook. I have included a sample copy of my employee handbook in my book "A Practical Guide to Starting and Operating a Child Care Business" for your convenience. It took me years to get it to where it is now. Over the years I had to add much, take away some and alter extensively. The most important thing that I can tell you about your employee policies is to enforce them!! What good are policies, procedures, rules and regulations if you do not enforce them? The policies and procedures ensure that everyone is treated fairly across the board. More...


For more information about starting a child care business, visit Networx LLC.

Start a Child Care Business - Chapter 14 Curriculum

Start a Child Care Business - Chapter 14 Curriculum

The curriculum that you choose for your children will depend on the goals or mission of your center and your goals and philosophy about learning. Some feel that children learn best through play, some take a more structured approach to learning. Whatever curriculum you use, you must be sure that you address the cognitive, language, social, emotional, creative, physical and aesthetic skills.

You should decide if you will allow each teacher to decide on the curriculum for their classroom or if you want a center wide curriculum that teacher will follow. In both instances you should have each teacher write out a lesson plan each week which will map out, for your review, what he/she will be covering each day. Make supplies and resources available to your teachers so that they have choices. If you have internet access, allow teachers to do research for their lesson plans on the computer. It is also a good idea to have staff meetings at least once a month so that you can talk about what is and is not working in the classroom, among other things that are of concern in the center. More...


For more information on Starting a Child Care Business, contact Networx LLC.

Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 13 Insurance

Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 13 Insurance

Liability insurance may not be required in a home child care centers but certainly it will be required for larger group centers. Believe me, you want to make sure that you have this in place before your doors open. We

live in a litigious society and some people are just looking for some reason to sue. When you are working with young children, you open yourself up to a greater liability than most any business around. Accidents do happen and you want to be covered if something does. Be aware of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) and other childhood illness that may increase your liability. I was very fortunate that no serious incident ever happened at my facilities, but it was always a great peace of mind knowing that this insurance was in place.

You will also need to have workman’s comp insurance, if you plan to hirer employees. Workman's compensation (or workman's comp) insurance is a form of state-regulated, no-fault liability insurance, which covers employee medical expenses, lost wages, rehabilitation services, and death resulting from work-related injury or illness. More...


For more information about Starting a Child Care Business, contact Networx LLC.

Starting A Child Care Business - Chapter 12 Location, Location, Location

Starting A Child Care Business - Chapter 12 

Location, Location, Location

Many people start child care businesses in their homes. In some states, you can become certified in your home to care for about 6 children or become licensed to care for 8 or 9 children. You will want to check the state licensing rules for your state. Starting in your home is a good way to slowly get to know the business

and to make sure that this is something that you really want to do. Because in home child care business is limited by the number of children you may have, which limits your income potential, many people eventually expand to what is called group child care.

In group child care is limited by space. The more space you have, the more children you can have. In some states you must also have a certain number of bathrooms for a certain number of children as well. Location is very important. You should start by finding a solid sturdy building in a business district. The best locations are on main streets where you can be seen by as many people as possible. It is always helpful to have fun and inviting colors and decorations that depict children having fun and learning, more..

For more information on Starting a Child Care Business visit Networx LLC.

Does Your Organization Value Diversity?

Does Your Organization Value Diversity?

What’s so great and beautiful about our country, the great melting pot of the world, is that we have all kinds of people in all shapes, colors and sizes. Not only physical characteristics but we are all people with many different backgrounds, perspectives and abilities.

As our work places are becoming more diverse, it will be extremely important that leaders understand how to work with all people effectively.  It’s not easy to get a diverse group of people to work together in harmony toward a mission, goal and objective of an organization; however, the benefits of doing so are economic growth, greater range of consumers, larger pool of qualified workers and more creativity within the organization.

It takes experience and training to understand how to lead a diverse employee pool effectively.   Working with a diverse population starts with inclusion. Also, employers and managers must be able to use various styles of leadership.

So does your organization value diversity? It’s pretty easy to tell.  During my graduate studies I completed a research study to find out if a particular organization truly valued diversity. What I found was that, although all of the written materials and website stated that they valued diversity, the fact of the matter was that it did not.  The intentions of the CEO were good, but there was no on-going training, no diversity depicted in the printed literature and so on…

If you really want an organization that values diversity, the first step should be a dialogue among the top level executives of the organization.  Then on-going training must be implemented from the top to the bottom of the organization.  All marketing materials and media should be evaluated to make sure that all types of people are represented.

Interested in having your staff trained in Workplace Diversity?  Enroll in the 6 hour online course at: Networx Business Solutions.

Tina Oliver, M.Ed.

Training Specialist

Networx LLC

DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL IN LEADERSHIP????

DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL IN LEADERSHIP????

There are various styles of leadership that are used by business owners, church leaders and political leaders. Most will admit that when you are leading a diverse group of people, in order to be effective, several leadership styles must be incorporated into a leader's repertoire.  One style may work beautifully for one group of people while with another group it could be counterproductive.

It is important, in my opinion, to incorporate at least four styles of leadership and be able to vacillate between them, when appropriate.  Here are the four styles that I feel are necessary:

Authoritative style is when a leader maintains close control over the followers and has strict rules that must be followed.  There is no sharing in decision making and the explanation for why things are done is simply "because that's what I wanted to do". 

Democratic leaders share the decision making with those who are trusted followers.  This leader gets that he is not the smartest, most talented, or most experienced person in the room and is secure enough to relinquish some of his power.

Transformative leaders are able to inspire change and are also able to redirect the thinking of his followers. 

Authentic leaders put the goals and mission of the organization even above their own self interest. They lead with their heart.  This leader constantly reflects on his own strengths and weaknesses and is very transparent.  That is what attracts people to him.

It is not easy incorporating all of these types of leadership styles into your repertoire.  It takes time and experience.

I remember being a young leader in my own child care business.  At the age of 25, I was not secure enough to allow others to participate in the vision of my business. I felt that if I conceded or took the advice of my employees, I was giving up my power.  I found that my one leadership style was limiting my ability to be successful.  I was putting a ceiling on my potential and the potential of my business.  This thinking was also limiting my reach to only a certain type of follower. It took years of working with people of all ages, and socioeconomic backgrounds to learn that, ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL IN LEADERSHIP, if you are interested in running a successful organization.

Purchase the continuing education course: Leadership in Early Childhood Education.

Contact Networx LLC about consulting and training for early childhood educators and leaders.

Tina Oliver, M.Ed.

Training and Development Specialist

Networx LLC

Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 11 Financing

Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 11 Financing

Starting a child care business can have a start up cost ranging anywhere from under $1000 to over $100,000 depending on where and what type of facility you wish to start. If you choose to start your child care business at home, the cost is minimal. If you will start with a large facility serving 10 or more children or are  buying into a franchise, you will probably need financial assistance (unless you have a trust fund).

If you need to visit your local bank for a loan, you will need a business plan. The bank will not even talk to you without some sort of business plan in hand.

My recommendation is that you start small (what you can finance on your own), learn the business and then grow your business gradually over time. In some cases, your business will create enough revenue to finance itself.

If you decide that you will need to finance your project, develop a relationship with a bank now! Talk to people and find out which banks in your area are more likely to loan you money for a new business venture. More...

To purchase the book: A Practical Guide to Starting and Operating a Child Care Business, visit Networx LLC.

Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 10 Zoning

Starting a Child Care Business - Chapter 10 Zoning

Most states will require that you get permission from the city or state to use a building for child care. Make
sure to contact your City’s Neighborhood Development Department. There is usually a lot of paperwork
involved and you will be visited by several building inspectors to make sure your building is suitable for children. Items they will be looking for is your plan of operation, photos, floor plan of your building, ownership of building, lease agreement, survey, etc… Sometimes getting your zoning takes the longest in the steps to getting up and running so make sure that you are informed about what is needed and submit all needed information the first time around. Missing items will delay the approval process. More...

To purchase the book: A Practical Guide to Starting and Operating a Child Care Business, visit Networx LLC.