If you have been putting off starting a day care center now is the time to think seriously about it. Day care centers are out in a very big way and some savvy stay at home moms and dads are cashing in big time. Just look at the large number of women with pre-schoolers who have taken up work away from home.

1. START A DAY CARE BUSINESS THAT'S PROFITABLE FROM THE START.

Start small and build on your successes. Whatever you do, do it well so that you can start building your reputation in the community. Parents are very choosy about who takes care of their children. If they can see that you're professional and credible and trustworthy, they will be competing for the limited places at your day care center. They'll even recommend your center to their friends, family and associates. Word gets around so you might even start to see children from nearby communities being brought to your day care center. Make your day care center stand out by offering a high quality service.

2. START A DAY CARE CENTER BY ASSESSING THE NEED FOR DAY CARE SERVICES IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

One of best ways to do this is to talk to parents with young children and find out what type of services they need. You can arrange interviews, discussion groups, mail or telephone surveys or you can collect data from churches, hospitals and child care interest groups in your local community. This will give you enough information to assess the level of demand and provide enough stats to help you decide on what type of child care to provide.

3. START A DAY CARE CENTER BY REGISTERING AND GETTING LICENSED WITH THE RELEVANT REGULATORY AGENCIES.

Many states in the US require day care centers to meet certain minimum requirements and to be registered or licensed in order to operate. In some states, day care providers must also meet state licensing regulations for health and safety. You'll need to find out from your local agency what the state regulations and requirements are. Contact details for each state are available from the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (Telephone: 1-800-598-KIDS). Being licensed and registered gives your business a professional image. Some parents will not take their children to unlicensed day care centers.

4. START A DAY CARE BY GETTING YOUR BUSINESS PLAN RIGHT

Do your research, collect the information and write your business plan. The business plan is a very important document. You need to decide on how your day care business is going to operate, where you'll get start-up finance, who will run and manage the business, whether you'll hire staff and where your business will be located. You can read a step by step guide on how to start a profitable day care center from the daycare start-up guide.

Copyright © 2007 Greg Miles. Click here to get a complete business package to help you easily and quickly start your own profitable day care business: http://www.businesstartupsguide.com/daycare or visit The Business Start-up Guide online.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Miles