Day Care - Those of you with kids

[sgreger1]

Is it just me, or did I pick the wrong profession.

Day care in Santa Cruz seems to cost at the very minimum 800$ per month, with many places charging $1,600+ per child.

This rate seems ot be pretty consistent from Los Angeles up to San Francisco.

Is anyone else wishing they didn't goto school and instead just owned a day-care center?

The montessori day care center here takes something like 35 kids, all charging between $1600 and $2,000 a month. They own a relitavely small piece of land and a building on it with some furniture, toys, books etc.

Extremely low overhead, but 1,600x35=56,000 a month x12 = $672,000 a year. They've got about 5 teachers/babysitters on their payroll. So even assuming they are making 60k a year (which teachers/babysitters in CA don't make), that is only 300k in overhead.

If I pay them 40k a year, than all 5 babysitters only cost 200k.

That leaves a clean $472k a year profit. After paying for the property, youve gotta be making somewhere between 300-400k a year.



Am I missing something, or should I start gathering money together to invest in opening a daycare center and get montessori certified? It's like being paid what a PHD w/ 10 years experience makes, but doing virtually no work other than minor admin stuff.


Maybe this could help us fund our global corporate crime syndicate we discussed last week?

[chadizzy1]

Daycare in Arkansas is $25 a day or $100, and that's a learning center where they teach them things too, that also includes breakfast, lunch, and snack included in the price.

That's for a good one, the one I have my daughter in.

[sgreger1]

Daycare in Arkansas is $25 a day or $100, and that's a learning center where they teach them things too, that also includes breakfast, lunch, and snack included in the price.

That's for a good one, the one I have my daughter in.

Okay, okay, chad..**** you CHAD.

This scheme would only work in CA, but seriously I think i'm going to move to a good neighborhood and open a day care center, then get montessori certified so I can justify charging and extra $1,000 per month.

If I can make 300+ k annually with nothing but a high school diploma I will deem my life a success.

[chadizzy1]

Still, I think they're ****in' ya on that price. That seems a bit steep. But if that's an average price, I'd invest in a in-home babysitter, or a nanny - I bet it'd be alot cheaper.

Your scheme....I'm in.

[sgreger1]

Still, I think they're ****in' ya on that price. That seems a bit steep. But if that's an average price, I'd invest in a in-home babysitter, or a nanny - I bet it'd be alot cheaper.

Your scheme....I'm in.

It would require very little investment capitol compared to other franchises etc if you think about it. My wife is getting a job that makes 60k and that's all profit since my job covers bills/ spending money, so I could probably accomplish this within 2 years.

I know we're getting shafted, but it's what everyone charges. 800$ a month is for a lady to watch your kid from 9-3. Usually a grungy pot smoking lady too. We thought about a nanny but they are even more expensive here, since it is a service in addition to babysitting.

[Premium Parrots]

We have a preschool and day care on the property that my wife has. She does pretty good $ wise. Shes been doing it for over 20 years. Not too many headaches to deal with. But my wife don't take no crap from the parents and she still has a waiting list. Some gals even consult her to make sure she will have an opening BEFORE they get pregnant. Its crazy.

In this part of the country the average commercial day care is about $150 a day. My wife has a private school and she charges $200 and up. That includes 2 snacks and lunch. Shes open from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm five days a week. She has 2 gals that help her part time. The cost of living anywhere iin calipornia is alot more so I can see why its more expensive than other parts of the country.

We live next to a church and across the field from us is the Long Grove Montessori School. They are supposed to be well known around the country. The church and Montessori school and the village of Long Grove send us alot of kids.

With a commercial day care there is alot of crap that DCFS and your local building dept require you to have or do that is just too dam much trouble. Its also a ton of responsibility having 20 or more full time kids. Keep it small and private and charge like hell.

its a job like anything else. the more research you do the more you will see where all the $ goes. If you set it up right you can do ok. The school pays all of our bills. The parrots is more of a hobby for me. I have to do something or my wife will get pissed.

When we move my wife has a job lined up to watch 1 kid for $150 a day in Georgia. cash. no overhead. thats enough. No more School for us. no mass quanities of germs floatin around either.

[jtwh20]

around 500 to 1200 per mo here depending on where you send them

[Karanya]

Not a clue what daycare costs down here. Never even considered it, nor a babysitter for that matter.

I would imagine it's not too high, though, since the town I currently live in is one of the poorest in the country... fully 65% of households are below the federal poverty level.

--K

[CM]

Lol you're paying like alot. Around 100$ in 1-2months when I was a kid. =P

[Ulsterman]

In london we're paying £980 a month $1,600 for one child.
After our next one's born the total will be £1,750 for two $2,900. No state help whatsoever apart from child benefit which every parent gets.

That's exactly what it costs to send a child to a top public school in England.

[Redbeard]

My roommates' daughter's daycare charges $110/week. She's 3 years old, and from what he tells me, I think it's supposed to drop down to 90 or 95 when she turns 4.

[sgreger1]

We have a preschool and day care on the property that my wife has. She does pretty good $ wise. Shes been doing it for over 20 years. Not too many headaches to deal with. But my wife don't take no crap from the parents and she still has a waiting list. Some gals even consult her to make sure she will have an opening BEFORE they get pregnant. Its crazy.

In this part of the country the average commercial day care is about $150 a day. My wife has a private school and she charges $200 and up. That includes 2 snacks and lunch. Shes open from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm five days a week. She has 2 gals that help her part time. The cost of living anywhere iin calipornia is alot more so I can see why its more expensive than other parts of the country.

We live next to a church and across the field from us is the Long Grove Montessori School. They are supposed to be well known around the country. The church and Montessori school and the village of Long Grove send us alot of kids.

With a commercial day care there is alot of crap that DCFS and your local building dept require you to have or do that is just too dam much trouble. Its also a ton of responsibility having 20 or more full time kids. Keep it small and private and charge like hell.

its a job like anything else. the more research you do the more you will see where all the $ goes. If you set it up right you can do ok. The school pays all of our bills. The parrots is more of a hobby for me. I have to do something or my wife will get pissed.

When we move my wife has a job lined up to watch 1 kid for $150 a day in Georgia. cash. no overhead. thats enough. No more School for us. no mass quanities of germs floatin around either.

Wow that's intiresting PP. Me and my wife have been considering this for some time as our plans were to own a small business that I manage while she continues her career in chemistry. How many kids do you guys watch? I only make 40k right now and that's about the ceiling for pay in my job field. I don't plan on gettin a PHD or anything so I figure if I could pull a decent income that would make at least 40k or more and be able to be self employed. I am currently trying to figure out what the startup costs would be.

If you don't mind telling, how much does your wife pay her employee's? That's what i'm wondering is what overhead is for the employees. We will have 60k cash to start out but I qualify for very low interest business loans from the VA. It seems like it would be plausable but I havn't finished all my research.

And I dknow what you mean about the parrots, my wife has way more education and a brighter future ahead and I have to fel like I am at least contributing SOMETHING! lol

[Premium Parrots]

OK lets stick with day care alone. There are 3 levels of day care that you can provide in Illinois. All require some kind of degree to operate. With continueing education for yourself and any employees.

Home day care where you can have up to 8 kids, no employees required, but there are strict age limits, like max 2 infants at a time under 6 months. Not much hassel with your local government, No major changes to your building. Good $ with a minimum of hassel. Make sure you neighbors don't mind. Minimal insurance required. You make the most $ per child after overhead. You can charge more too. And you can get perks like paid vacation and holidays from your parents if you are good enough. You will have total control over the parents as they will be at your mercy if you come highly recommended.

Group home day care. Max about 15 kids, need at least 1 full time employee, able to have more infants, alot more hassel with the local government and neighbors. Probably will require some changes to the building. Only alittle better $. Not really worth the hassel when you figure the overhead and the problems the government and neighbors that can develope. Insurance required.

Regular day care center. unlimited amount of kids but you need 1 full time employee per so many kids. [each state is different, aprox 1 employee per 8 kids]. Alot of hoops to jump thru for DCFS and the local government, need comercial property, alot of stupid young parents to deal with, major overhead indeed. Don't forget about insurance.

If you want to sit back and simply own a business, then a regular day care center would be the way to go. However, you won't get rich as you will only get a minimum $ per kid. So now you have to have quanity instead of quality. then you have to deal with the masses and can't really pick your clients. There are alot of idiots out there. It willl look like its alot of $ but the overhead and hoops you have to jump thru will kill you.

Long Grove is kind of an exclusive community. There are no home day care of any kind allowed in this village. We started ours before they decided to prohibit them so we are grandfathered in and they can't stop us. lol. The village contacted us a few years ago and tried to shut us down because of this and the fact that we didn't have a business license. When we started this I went to the village and talked to my buddy [the village president] and asked him if I need a license and whatever else they required. He said it wasn't necessary and to just make sure your neighbors don't mind. My only neighbor was the Lieutenant Governer of Il. [At one time he had an issue with the village and they learned fast not to fool with him.] That one neighbor supported us in this regard. Anyway, the village has an all new administration now so I went into the village and simply, but loudly, told them to go ahead and try and shut us down. I said that at the next board meeting I will have half the community there as well as the church, montessory school owners, the grades schools board members and the Lieutenant Governer of Illinois [my neighbor] all there with us. They never contacted me again.

Owning a day care is ok but only if you have it set up properly. The better the facilities, reputation and schooling you have the more $ you can make. No matter what, its either alot of work if you have any kind of home day care or alot of stress if you have a center. I'll take the home day care anyday.

We are closeing the day care and moving to Ga before too long. If you want to relocate and buy this property and day care let me know. Its all set up, with clients, great buildings etc.

If I had to do this all over again I would do it exactly like I did. However, finding a great location, neighbors, clients, employees, local government, etc is kinda hard to do. Find a big $ community and go from there.

[sgreger1]

Thank you so much for shining some light on what the operation would entail. I currently do not have a degree, and when I goto school this next semester I was planning on getting one in the field of Business: Entrepreneur which the local college system has a program for.

Is there a specific education requirement to run one of these places? (Other than learning how to spell ) I had a commercial day care in mind because as a male, it seems it would be better for business to hire a female(s) who is/are licensed and then have them do the day care themselves. I was shooting more in the direction of a small business but I am aware of all the red tape one must cut through to have a bunch of kids at your place on a regular basis(insurance, permits, building requirements, DCSF etc).


Do you think it could still be profitable to run a "Regular Day Care Center"? Keep in mind I only make 40k a year so anything above that will be a success for me quite frankly.

I know "bills" cost different amounts depending on the state and i'm not familiar with Illinois's cost of living schedule, but if you don't mind my asking (and feel free to PM me), how profitable is your wife's operation?
In CA one must make at least 120k to be able to comfortably own a small house, and my wife will only be making 60 for the foreseable future.

It seems as though having a small day care would be most logical and then building it into a commercial day care over time, but if the profit margins are similar, it may just be best to keep it small like you recommended.

[tom502]

All you need is a good sized closet and a strong lock.