Should You Start A Day Care In An Economic Downturn? 

We're blue in the face hearing about our recessionary times, heard about the continuing economic downturn and are already tired of listening to the doom and gloom emanating from the experts. Should you start a day care business in spite of all this you ponder? Honestly, this could be a great time to start your new child care business. Tough times for many can be a golden egg for some. Certain ventures will flourish in the toughest of financial times – because they research, identify a niche market and service the need of that market. 

People will always require some form of childcare because people will always need to work to make ends meet despite all talk of downsizing and tough times. They may look to change aspects of their child care arrangements due to changes in income and job rationalization. Sadly, one of the first areas to get hit by cost cutting measures is the area of child care – and a recession is sure to see many people re-evaluating their cost of living. More affordable options will benefit due to the exodus from bigger, expensive day care centers. 

How can you make your day care one of these affordable, more recession friendly options…how can you service this niche market? Opening a big, state of the art day care center is essentially a money pit however; starting a home day care can be done with your savings. Equipment can be obtained from your kids old stuff, charity shops, recycling sites and persistent calling around to everyone you know who has kids and will be offloading toys and equipment, save on your taxes by offsetting your daily expenses, no more gas bills due to no more work commute and minimize wage costs by staffing it yourself with a friend or family member as an assistant. Your fees can therefore remain very affordable if you pass on these savings to your clients. 

Thorough, market research is vital.

Your goal is to make your day care supply a service for which demand is high and provision is scarce in your local community. A structured, quality educational curriculum in a home day care will make you stand out from the competition. A quality learning environment in a home day care is not something ex large day care center clients have been conditioned to expect. You will most likely gain them as clients because you have pleasantly surprised them, you have an edge and you are addressing their needs. 

Is there a lot of industry and factory work or hospitals where people are required to work shift work? There’s a need you could fill. Is there a need for a daycare/language school for foreign nationals settling here? Overnight care can be a very lucrative area and in much demand. Could that be your golden egg? If you are located close to local schools your niche could be before and afterschool care – this can be a very challenging area for parents. 

Downturn or not, there is always a demand for certain types of child care. The undersupplied niches are out there waiting to be discovered, the gaps waiting to be filled and it is up to you to find them. Clever research and due diligence are the keys to getting it right from the outset. Start your day care the clever, recession proof way. 

 In between minding her own child and running her daycare business Fiona Lohrenz manages to maintain her childcare website. She has also produced a 'Start a Daycare Business' DVD guide: http://www.startchildcare.com  How To Start A Daycare.