Family Child Care Business Systems

Transcription

1 Family Child Care Business Systems Family child care providers do not just care for, and educate children. They are also small business owners. They are Entrepreneurs. To be successful, a family child care provider must pay as much attention to her business as she does to the children in her program. Opening a family child care business is the easy part. Maintaining it is much more difficult. To ensure that you are able to stay in business, keep your business running smoothly, and bring in new families - all while caring for the children in your program - you need to have business systems in place. Business systems are components, processes and policies that lead to the attainment of your business plans or goals, and support the operations of your business. Some business systems you need to have in place for your family child care program are: Financial Programmatic Marketing Personnel (If you have, or plan on hiring, an assistant) Other areas to develop and have plans for are: Curriculum Professional Development Some of you may have these systems in place, or maybe you have one or two in place, but need to work on others. Many of you will need to develop all of these systems. To assist you in getting started, I have developed a short self-assessment to help you go through each of these areas of your business and see what you might need to work on. (See below) I've also put together several resources to help you in setting up your business systems. The Business Section of The Family Child Care Academy - Nakali Consulting, Inc - Nakali Notes - A blog about family child care - Nakali Designs - Marketing and social media strategies for early care and education Nakali Consulting, Inc 2012 Family Child Care Business Systems Self- Assessment 1

2 Family Child Care Business Systems Self- Assessment Financial System Yes No Budgeting 1. Am I tracking all business income including; subsidies, private pay, food program reimbursements and funding from programs like C-wages? 2. Am I tracking all business expenses, including; food, toys and materials, facilities, supplies, marketing, all payroll costs, insurance, taxes, marketing and professional development? 3. Am I tracking all personal income including; spouse income, 2nd job, SSI, rental income and retirement benefits? 4. Am I tracking all personal expenses? (see budgeting exercise) 5. Have I done the 1-2 week spending exercise? 6. Have I set up a budget, either on paper or on the computer, that can easily be consistently maintained? 7. Have I included savings and retirement in my budget? Rates 1. Have I determined how much income I need to bring in to cover all my expenses? 2. Am I able to articulate to parents the value of the services I am providing? 3. Have I set my rates at a level that will enable me to cover expenses and to maintain or grow my business? 4. Do I have policies in place regarding when payment is due and what options of payment I accept? 5. Do I have policies in place regarding late payments? 6. Do I raise my rates periodically? 7. Do I have a process for raising rates? 8. If parents are not able to pay my rates, are there programs or resources that will help parents with paying for child care, or that will enable me to offer a scholarship? 9. If I decide to offer a scholarship, have I first done an analysis of my own financial situation to ensure that I can afford to do so? 10. When offering scholarships, do I create an addendum to the parent's contract stating the scholarship amount, dates the scholarship will be offered, and what documentation parents are required to provide? Nakali Consulting, Inc 2012 Family Child Care Business Systems Self- Assessment 2

3 Record Keeping Yes No 1. In addition to income and expenses, am I keeping receipts, invoices and financial statements? 2. Am I tracking all the time I spend working in my home, both when the children are there and when they are not; including time spent cleaning and cooking for the child care, curriculum planning, record keeping, parent calls and interviews...? 3. Am I tracking all meals and snacks served to the children (ALL, meals and snacks, not just those reimbursed by the food program)? Taxes 1. Have I taken a family child care tax workshop recently? 2. If I don't do my own taxes, do I use a tax preparer that is familiar with and/or specializes in family child care taxes? 3. Is my record keeping system complete and maintained? 4. Have I budgeted for yearly or quarterly tax payments? Risk Management and Planning for the Future 1. Am I setting aside savings for emergencies, special events or large purchases, and retirement? 2. Do I have an IRA or SEP that I contribute to on a regular basis? 3. Have I set it up so that savings and retirement contributions are automatic? 4. Do I have business liability insurance? 5. Do I have homeowners or rental insurance? 6. Do I have health insurance? Life insurance? What piece of my Financial System do I need to make changes or improvements to? Nakali Consulting, Inc 2012 Family Child Care Business Systems Self- Assessment 3

4 Program and Business Planning System Yes No 1. Have I written out my philosophy and mission statement? 2. Am I using technology to my advantage? If not, can I attend a training on using technology? 3. Do I have a written business plan? 4. Do I have a parent handbook and contract - written based on my own program policies and procedures, not generic or just copied from another provider? Do I go over it with every new parent - not just send it home with them? Am I following my own policies and procedures?? 5. Am I familiar and compliant with Licensing requirements and updates? 6. Are the children's files complete and regularly updated? 7. Do I conduct routine health and safety inspections / drills? 8. Am I meeting quality standards? If not, do I have a quality improvement plan in place? 9. Do I regularly review my environment, curriculum and materials to make sure they are meeting the needs of each individual child? 10. Am I partnering with parents to understand their child, including them in developing goals, and in creating an individual learning plan for their child? 11. Am I conducting observations and child assessments to better know the children in my care? 12. Is my program accessible and inclusive of all children? 13. Do I participate in various program assessments such as the FCCERS, CLASS or BAS? 14. Do I have a process in place for customer feedback and / or input? 15. Am I a member of my family child care association or network? What piece of my Program and Business Planning System do I need to make changes or improvements to? Nakali Consulting, Inc 2012 Family Child Care Business Systems Self- Assessment 4

5 Marketing Yes No 1. With technology, marketing strategies have changed! Have I taken a family child care marketing workshop recently? 2. Have I done a market analysis and identified my target market? 3. Do I know who my competition is, what services they are providing and at what cost to parents? 4. Have I made a list of all the features and benefits of my program? 5. Have I developed marketing messages tailored to specific segments of my target market? 6. Have I created marketing strategies and materials that will efficiently and effectively reach my target market? 7. Am I putting my license number on all of my marketing materials? 8. Do I have a logo? 9. Do I have a website? 10. Am I listed in on-line provider directories? 11. Am I utilizing free on-line marketing resources such as craigslist? 12. Am I utilizing the power of Facebook and Twitter? 13. When marketing on-line, am I using the same common sense and alertness I would normally use to protect myself from fraud? 14. Do I have written permission to use pictures of child care children? 15. Am I asking parents for testimonials and letters of recommendation? What piece of my Marketing System do I need to make changes or improvements to? Nakali Consulting, Inc 2012 Family Child Care Business Systems Self- Assessment 5

6 Personnel 1. Am I fully checking references, education and background clearances, and providing opportunities to see prospective assistants with the children before hiring? 2. Am I familiar and in compliance with, licensing requirements regarding employees? 3. Am I familiar and in compliance with, labor and wage regulations and requirements? 4. Am I paying payroll taxes, using a payroll service and have worker's compensation? 5. Am I up to date with all payroll and reporting paperwork? 6. Do I have a salary scale based on education level and job responsibility? 7. Do I have an employee policies and procedures handbook? 8. Do I have a system in place for employee review, feedback and follow-up? What piece of my Personnel System do I need to make changes or improvements to? Nakali Consulting, Inc 2012 Family Child Care Business Systems Self- Assessment 6