Congratulations on choosing a business venture that is in demand and with future growth predicted well into the next century! Patricia Gallagher, author of Start Your Own Child Care Business and So You Want to Open a Profitable Day Care Center (see "Resources") says, "If your background includes baby-sitting, teaching, nursing, mothering, or any position that has included working with children, you are probably highly qualified to start a child care business; but of course, the most important credential is a love of children." Here are some sources to help you get the information you need:

• Begin by looking into the licensing, zoning, and insurance regulations in your community and state. Regulations vary from state-to-state, and from town-to-town. Visit both the offices of your local authorities' and state congresspersons' for the codes you are required to meet. They will also inform you about personnel background checks and procedures.
• Talk to child care center directors, owners of in-home child care businesses (in non-competing areas), parents of children who attend day care; and/or work or volunteer in a child care setting yourself to get first-hand experience and an idea of the programs, schedules, etc., that such a business involves.
• Prepare a business plan to help you organize and prepare your business start-up, plus, assist you in obtaining funding should you need it. You may need to do some remodeling to conform to safety, health, and security codes.
• Consulting with a lawyer familiar with child care laws and liability is very important to fully understand your legal options and ramifications.
  
  

Child care has been a profitable business for a number of years but there are still market "niches" that have yet to be tapped like the following:

• Drop-in child care services for stay-at-home parents, part-time workers, parents who are students, are traveling, going through crises, or some other temporary situation creating a child care need. Staying open longer hours on Fridays or Saturdays can give working parents a few hours for leisure activities.
• Special needs, pre-school children who are not enrolled in special programs or for parents who need respite care.
• Children with minor illnesses or in need of temporary medical care for whom other child care services are not capable of handling.
• After-school care is in great demand as many children are alone in the afternoons with a potential risk of getting into trouble. It is not uncommon for such programs to make from $65,000 to $125,000 a year!

Caring and interacting with children can be one of the most rewarding (but exhausting!) experiences in one's life. Gallagher says, "Opening an in-home child care or a child care center takes months of careful planning and organizing, but one that brings many intangible benefits."

Resources:

"Tips About Organizing Child Care Programs," booklet by Patricia Gallagher. Send $2 + a self- addressed, business-size envelope with 2 first-class stamps to her at 301 Holly Hill Rd., Richboro, PA 18954.

Start Your Own At-Home Child Care Business by Patricia Gallagher, (800) MOSBYNU.

The National Child Care Information Center, 243 Church St., NW, Vienna , VA 22180; free information packet.