The most rewarding part about being a daycare owner is spending time with the little ones (by the way, we know it’s confusing sometimes, but we prefer the term child care). It’s eye-opening, satisfying, and for the most part, you end up benefiting more from your time with the kids than they do. It’s a lot of fun. But how much does a daycare owner make?

For most child care owners, spending time and playing with the kids is a reward enough. But, you have to remember that you have overhead to cover and bills to pay. That’s why, as rewarding as it is to spend time with children, the financial aspect also has to make sense as well.

Running a child care program is not your typical job. There are many moving parts and different approaches and services that can affect your bottom line. The only way to make sense of the numbers and figures is to look at the various factors and how they affect income. Ideally, the more the services you offer, the more the value you add to the parents and children and the more you stand to make.

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The Type of Child Care

There are different types of child care providers for children. Each state regulates child care programs a bit differently, and things like the number of infants you have, the location of your program (specifically if it’s in a home, commercial space, or outdoors), and how many hours a day you plan to care for children will determine what type of license you need to have. While each state defines programs a bit differently, here’s a common overview of types:

• Small family child care: This is a program run out of your home and can care for up to six or eight children, depending on their ages.
• Large family child care: A large family child care is similarly run out of a private residence and can typically care for up to twelve or fourteen children. The requirements for qualifying for a large license vary depending on your location, but often take into account specific aspects of your home and/or your professional qualifications as a child care provider.
• Small child care centers: Provide care for fifteen to forty children in a commercial space.
• Large child care centers: House more than forty children in a commercial space.

There’s slightly more complicated math than just adding up potential enrollments when thinking about the earning potential for different types of child care programs. Things like rent, hiring teachers, and paying for insurance can impact your earning potential.

The Quality of Infrastructure

Parents are extremely concerned about the infrastructure in place, particularly the safety features. Most parents won’t think twice about investing a few more dollars to place their child in a safe, well designed, and child-friendly environment.

For child care, everything from the equipment you use for food preparation to the naptime areas need to be well thought out, designed, and child-friendly. Having the right infrastructure and safety mechanisms in place will improve your profit margins and attract more parents to drop off their children.

What Services Do You Offer?

Most people don’t realize that child care is more than just a place for the kids to come and stay while their parents are away at work.

There are tons of activities that you can provide to keep the kids engaged and even increase convenience for the parents:

Do You Have a Curriculum?

It’s crucial to incorporate play and learning in the child care center. It’s not only important to the development of the children, but parents want to know that their children aren’t sitting around and watching TV all day. Having a curriculum and developing activities that foster learning, socialization, and exploration can significantly enhance your income while impacting the children’s lives and minds.

Is There Transportation Available?

Offering transportation takes a massive load off the parent’s shoulders and adds a few more dollars in your pocket. Think about it. It doesn’t make sense for a parent to drop off their child at the child care and head to work only to come back and pick them up an hour later to drop them at school. Offering transportation can be convenient for both the child and parent, but it also takes additional logistical planning on your part. Will you have another teacher available to stay onsite with children who don’t need transportation? Do you have elementary schools nearby where this type of additional service makes sense? Being able to offer before and after care for school-aged children can be a great boost for your business.

Type of Child Care Service

There are full child care services, part-time child care services, drop-in services, temporary preschool services, non-traditional hours services, parent’s night out child care, and on-demand care. It would be best if you offered multiple types of services. But you don’t have to offer all of them.

Do You Cater to Children With Special Needs?

Child care programs that care for children with special needs are becoming increasingly important. They are still limited since the staff needs to be trained and certified to take proper care of the children, and you might need additional infrastructure. Nonetheless, it’s an opportunity to build a support system for children with special needs and get them in a conducive environment that helps build their social and cognitive skills.

Before offering care for children with special needs, make sure your program is structured adequately so you can ensure all children’s needs are met. Think through the financial aspects – does your tuition cover needing to bring in additional staff? Will you need any special equipment, and if so, will you provide it or will the parents?

Extra-curricular Activities & Sports Programs

Some child care center owners incorporate extra-curricular activities and sports programs that are age-appropriate to the children. This provides a great avenue to identify and nurture talent from a young age, ensuring children have guidance and mentorship as early as possible. Needless to say, the addition of such facilities dictates better rates from the parents and better pay for the child care center owners.

Do You Offer Food & Snacks?

As a child care owner, you not only want to provide a healthy, safe, and fun place for the child to spend time and grow. You also want to have an establishment that is convenient for parents. While some parents might want to pack a fruit or drink for their child, offering healthy, tasty meals and snacks to the kids is the way to go.

It makes it easy for parents to prepare their kids for drop-off in the morning and is an additional revenue stream for your business.

So, How Much Does a Daycare Owner Make? The Bottom Line

A child care business is gratifying, financially, and emotionally. The exact amount you can make depends on your passion, the available resources, the range of services you intend to offer, and the quality of services. To make the most, you need to keep a low turnover ratio, which means you always have to be on your A-game and ensure the little ones always have a blast every time they are at your child care center.