How to start a babysitting business ?

Daycare has an allotted spot in most family budgets, especially where both parents work out of the home. This makes starting a babysitting business a great venture because there is obvious demand for babysitting services. Whether you will facilitate tending to children for a few hours or you will take only those who would like to come for the entire day to fit into a routine is a decision you will have to take as an entrepreneur, but you can rest assured that if you present yourself as a trustworthy and responsible care-provider you will surely have a clientele of parents waiting at your door

The following tips will walk you through the process of setting up a professional babysitting service.

1. Decide if you will work on your own. Starting a babysitting service on your own means that you must limit the number of children you admit. It is probably not a good idea to commit yourself to taking care of more than three children if you are alone as you run the risk of accidents and other mishaps. It also becomes difficult to attend to the individual needs of more than three children at the same time. If however you decide to take on additional help you may add another three or four children for each person you have on staff.

2. Decide if you will do house visits. Most part-time babysitters are flexible on where the baby-sitting will take place. You can either go to the child's home or have the child come to you. If you are going into their home you will most likely be freelancing around several families on short notice. If you babysit out of your own home you can take on as many children as you can manage.

3. Be age specific. It is better to have an age stipulation before you open for business. If you are having children come to you this will make it easier to design meal plans and activities as all your children will be on the same schedule. If you are going to the child's home you will be specialized in children of that age group and so you will be able to come up with fun activities to keep them occupied while their parents are away.

4. Get your house in order. If you are going to run your babysitting business out of home you should ensure that you childproof your house. You should also set up a special room in the house that will be dedicated to their activities and have it set up with play mats, drawing stations and so on. Your decorations and activity stations will of course be age specific. Set a budget for buying books, toys and other materials for the children to use and do not exceed it. You can also ask that the parents send their child with their favorite toy or book from home as well.

6. Get it in writing. It is best to draw up an official agreement that you have all parents sign before accepting to take in their child. Include all clauses such as your late pick-up fee or late payment fee so there is no confusion when these situations arise. If you are babysitting for someone on short notice you should try to get payment upfront.

7. Create a file for each child. You should have a file for each child which will document their specifics, such as emergency contact numbers, allergies and even likes and dislikes. You can also keep a copy of the time schedule for each child in their folder. This can help you to track which child is likely to stay late and on what days.

Starting a baby-sitting service is a fun and exciting business, but it also takes a lot of out of you as well. Children are demanding by nature but you should always remember that their safety should always be your main priority, fun and entertainment are only incidental.

Lastly, it can be difficult to turn a job down because of the parent's history of non-payment because you may have developed a relationship with the child, but if you want to run a successful business you must find a way to eliminate these instances from the start.

Starting a baby-sitting service is not for everyone but if you enjoy being around children and you are good at managing several things at once it could be for you.