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Part 1 Organizing a Quality Child Care Program
There are several important advantages to owning your own program. They
include
• Independence and personal satisfaction. Owning your own center gives you the
freedom to create the very best center you can. As long as you conform to all
licensing and regulatory requirements, you can bring your own ideas to the
operation of the program. The decisions made about the program are your
ideas. You can take pride in the success of the program. There is usually a
deep sense of satisfaction in seeing families and children benefit from your
program.
• Profit. As the owner of a program, you will receive any income left over after
expenses have been paid. The time and effort you put into making the center
successful will come back to you in the form of increased profit.
• Job security. As an entrepreneur, you are not subject to the whims or business
practices of others above you. You cannot be fired, transferred, or forced to
retire. As long as your center is financially healthy with a strong enrollment,
you will have a job.
• Status. Business ownership is valued highly in the United States. As a program
owner, you would have a social status above many others in the workforce.
There are also several important reasons why you may choose not to become an
entrepreneur. Among the reasons are
• Low or unpredictable income. Child care is an expensive business to operate.
Tuition must be kept low enough to attract families. Salaries must be high
enough to attract employees. Supplies and equipment must be adequate to
support a quality program. If the center has low enrollment for a period of
time, the profit may be minimal.
• Loss of investment. As an entrepreneur, you will have to invest your own time
and money to start the center. If the center is not successful, you may lose all
of the money and effort you have put into it. Along with those losses, you
would also have lost your job.
• Hard work. Most business owners work long hours and do whatever is neces-
sary to get the business started. Successful child care centers usually offer
care for more than eight hours a day. Your staff will only work part of that
time. As the owner, you may find yourself finishing up menial tasks, required
reports, and even equipment repair. Hiring others to do these jobs would
require additional cash outlay.
You will need to consider all these factors in deciding whether or not owning your
own center is really for you.