How to own your own childcare centre

I think it depends greatly on the fact of whether you merely want to own a childcare centre and have others work for you or whether you want to be the Director/Owner of the centre, however either way I think you should work your way up to an Adv Diploma level so at least you understand the ins and outs of childcare and childcare centre management.

Owning a childcare centre is not easy, would you build or buy an existing childcare? There are a lot of factors and things to do perhaps you need to do some research on it.

There are also companies/organisations that help you set up/manage centres as well as places that buy and sell existing centres.

The following may help you

http://www.guardianchildcare.net.au/childcare-companies-news-views/childcare-business/

http://www.startupsmart.com.au/how-to-start-a/childcare-business/201103302152.html

Like yourself my ambition is to own my own place one day too and at this point I do not have enough funds to do it myself without investors and I would like to finish my Bachelors and get some management experience before taking that step.

If you were to do it I would also advise you to start small, like anything there is a risk....and like I said before do your research well.

Good Luck

Hi fefe76,

Thank you for the information. It's quite useful.

I'm a new member. I'm looking at starting a new centre in Queensland. I'm looking for information on where the possible start-up could be based. I understand that there are certain locations where the waiting list is very long. Would you be able to provide such information which would be vital for me?!

Thanks

Albe

I have no idea about this. I would start by searching childcare centres for sale in Qld and see. All I know is that in good locations waiting lists for childcare centres is high e.g. I live and work in the Western Suburbs of Brisbane (around Indooroopilly) and have worked at 2 centres where the waiting lists were 1-2yrs! but then they were Montessoris and not mainstream childcare centres.

You could always start up a Family Day Care business from home which is a far cheaper and easier option than buying and managing a child care centre

As I mentioned I too one day would like to own my own centre too but A LOT of research is needed before you go down this path. A childcare centre at the end of the day if you are an owner is a business and businesses that are not run properly fail...even childcare centres...the fact that many are bought and sold are a good indication of how risky this market is. I am not saying every centre sold is because it is failing but people do buy centres and then are unable to cope with the stress and management and then sell.

I could strongly urge anyone wanting to own their own centre to get the qualifications from Cert III up and do all the jobs from Assistant up so you are aware of what each job entails. I would not try and own a centre with anything less than an Advance Diploma qualification. Firstly because even if you have a Director at least you know what her job is and can do it should she leave or is away etc + you yourself can fill in during emergencies anywhere in your centre. I have worked with people who just sit in their office tapping away at the computer and never come and work in the rooms, I have also worked with Directors who always fill in when needed and are more than happy to be hands on...personally I respect them more and they are the ones who have more empathy and understand how hard the jobs we do in the rooms are and what the problems we face are.

Also to start a centre you need decent amounts of money, so you have to either be ready for a big loan or get investors on board. Again it depends, do you want to be answerable to a number of people about substantial amounts of money? You can get a 'silent' partner, again silent partners rarely remain silent! lol

I am not discouraging anyone from wanting to own their own centre but think long and hard and get all the facts and figures. Don't just jump into something like this because 'everyone needs childcare and how can it fail?'

FDC is a good idea and will give you an idea of running your own business, for myself this is not an option due to small house, wanting to keep home and work totally separate etc but it is definitely worth considering if you want to be your own boss

A great way to 'wet your feet' in FDC

(Maybe I'm biased lol)

Really Lindy??!!!

Lol

Think u may be. Just a tad though

I think Child Care Franchise is better option for you. Various Child Care Franchise owners offer opportunities for it to start your own career & business in the field.

It depends on you how you want to own a childcare franchise. Though it is a very good business and a lot of money can be earned also. There are many legal formalities you have to face to own a franchise.