Debbi
10-02-2004, 11:02 AM
Hello freelance moms!
Recently, a friend approached me about her son staying at our house before and after school. He's too old for daycare but still a bit too young to stay at home alone. I thought it was a wonderful idea because my son would have a close friend to do homework with, and I wanted to help out the family.
Then I got to thinking ... this is a potential business waiting to happen.
Currently, I work from my home office designing websites, doing customer support and bookkeeping, however, if I was a mom looking for a way to begin a business, and I loved kids (as I do) I would seriously look into the market in my area for this type of care.
I found that a local in-home daycare center charges $250/month per child just for before/after care. Personally, I would not want to open a full time daycare arrangement in my home, however, it is easy to open my house to a few extra kids before and after school. It's relatively easy work, as I make a snack for him and he does his homework with my son (homework is required to be done when they come home from school, and since it's the two of them, they happily sit down at the dining room table and do homework while I bring them a snack - no arguing, no messing around. It's lovely!)
Admittedly, I do not know what laws would regulate this type of care, and you would need to research it for your particular area. However, an ambitious mother, it would seem, could easily watch 4-6 children before/after school. Charging $200/child/month would make around $1200/month. The possibilities for growth are there, too, because it would be easy to hire someone, possibly a high school girl/boy, to come over in the afternoons to help out, if need be.
I thought this was a wonderful business idea waiting to happen - and maybe there are people doing it now. Personally, my business is thriving and having 1 child over in the afternoons is enough for me, but I thought it had the potential to be a solid business idea and I wanted to share it with my fellow Freelance Moms.
Please, let me know if anyone is doing this, or plans to in the future. I am interested.
Debbi
Recently, a friend approached me about her son staying at our house before and after school. He's too old for daycare but still a bit too young to stay at home alone. I thought it was a wonderful idea because my son would have a close friend to do homework with, and I wanted to help out the family.
Then I got to thinking ... this is a potential business waiting to happen.
Currently, I work from my home office designing websites, doing customer support and bookkeeping, however, if I was a mom looking for a way to begin a business, and I loved kids (as I do) I would seriously look into the market in my area for this type of care.
I found that a local in-home daycare center charges $250/month per child just for before/after care. Personally, I would not want to open a full time daycare arrangement in my home, however, it is easy to open my house to a few extra kids before and after school. It's relatively easy work, as I make a snack for him and he does his homework with my son (homework is required to be done when they come home from school, and since it's the two of them, they happily sit down at the dining room table and do homework while I bring them a snack - no arguing, no messing around. It's lovely!)
Admittedly, I do not know what laws would regulate this type of care, and you would need to research it for your particular area. However, an ambitious mother, it would seem, could easily watch 4-6 children before/after school. Charging $200/child/month would make around $1200/month. The possibilities for growth are there, too, because it would be easy to hire someone, possibly a high school girl/boy, to come over in the afternoons to help out, if need be.
I thought this was a wonderful business idea waiting to happen - and maybe there are people doing it now. Personally, my business is thriving and having 1 child over in the afternoons is enough for me, but I thought it had the potential to be a solid business idea and I wanted to share it with my fellow Freelance Moms.
Please, let me know if anyone is doing this, or plans to in the future. I am interested.
Debbi