I'm no stranger to child day care. In 1997, 2003 and 2006, I opened and managed my parent's daycare. I managed the day cares until 2013, but they were my parent's business. Not mine. After being out of the business for about 6 years, I decided that I was ready to start a daycare of my own. This is my journey to getting a building, funding, equipment, staff, and all of the DSS requirements that go along with having a fully licensed daycare facility in South Carolina. October, 2019 The Building: To be completely honest, we had no money to put down on a building. My husband is not one to let a little thing like money stop him from achieving his goal. We approached a local church that has nice sized Sunday School classrooms and asked them if they were interested in allowing us to rent the classrooms during the week when the classrooms are vacant. After submitting my proposal to the board and several months of committee meetings they agreed! So now we have a beautiful building that will hold about 100 students. The classrooms are small and there are not hand-washing sinks in all of the rooms, but we are willing and able to do whatever renovations may be necessary to get our building licensed. November, 2019 Advertising: My husband is nothing if not proactive. He placed a sign in front of the church to gauge interest in day care in our area. The response was unbelievable! The sign was only up 3 weeks and we had 31 students signed up to enroll as soon as possible. After 3 weeks and the overwhelming response, we removed the sign, but kept the data base with our first 31 students. Needless to say, that was the push I needed to solidify my decision to start my first day care of my very own. November 2019 - January 2020 Director's Orientation: Huge waste of time, but required to open a licensed daycare in SC. First, they only offer the class one day a month. When I called to schedule my class in November, they were having the class the same day, so I had to wait a full month. When I arrived at the class in December, they told me that they had accidentally enrolled me in family licensing instead of facility licensing, and that I would have to wait another month. To say I was frustrated is an understatement! Anyway, when I finally got tot the class in January, they gave us a packet with licensing instructions, read it to us and sent us on our way. The whole class lasted a couple of hours and there were about 8 of us in attendance hoping to open our new day cares. However, I could not move forward with any steps until the class was completed. Funding: When my husband and I began this journey, my parents were going to share ownership with us and provide the funding that we needed to get our daycare open and self-sustainable. Well, I should not have counted my chickens before they hatched, as it were. My funding fell through when my parents had unexpected expenses, so my dreams appeared to be shattered. That disappointment lasted about a week. Once I picked my pouting lip up off the floor, I began exploring options to get funding. I created a business plan with profit projections, profit margins, detailed budgets and a generous offer to a potential investor with a 10% interest rate and a balloon payment in 36 months. I bound my proposal in an attractive binder and began to pray, swallow my pride, and beg. I am not ashamed to say that I received funding from the first person I asked, I call her an angel investor, and I thank God for her. January 2020 The Architect and Fire Marshall: Luckily, the pastor at the church had the architectural plans and I thought that was enough to send to the fire marshal to get my building approved. Not so. Why should it be easy? Turns out, the fire marshal requires stamped "wet seal" drawings from the architect. Of course, that cost me my first $1000 of many. Meanwhile, the Fire Marshall takes 4-6 weeks to approve all drawings. More waiting! February, 2020 Playground Equipment: When I say that playground equipment is expensive, it is a huge understatement. A local church had a nice, but not elaborate playground with a beautiful poured rubber surface. It cost $100,000 for a 30x30 area. Well. That is not okay. I insist on having a nice playground for my students, but also because it will attract lots of attention on the busy road where my daycare will be. I need to be creative about getting the best playground I can for the least amount of money that I can. I looked to China. Online, of course! I found huge, gorgeous playground equipment that would cost upwards of $15,000 - $20,000 if purchased in the US. for only $2,000 - $3,000! What's the catch, you ask? The equipment will take months to arrive, but I also had to pay about $3500 for the shipping container. Additionally, my husband checked in with his furniture buddy that buys all of his merchandise from China, and he hooked us up with a broker that handles insurance, bonds, taxes, and all of the other logistics that needed to be handled by a professional. All of that costs another $1000, but will ensure my investment will be protected. Once the equipment arrives, we will have more challenges regarding getting the playground installed as well as fencing, borders, and mulch. Even still, it will still end up costing about $15,000 for a fairly elaborate playground that would otherwise cost more that my entire budget! February, 2020 Classroom Supplies and Equipment: Okay, so call me a cheap-skate, but I do not have an huge budget and I need to make sure that I have enough operating expenses to pay my teachers and bills until the center is breaking even or better yet, profitable! Frankly, I'm terrified to spend the money that was loaned to me. I began shopping a Lakeshore Learning online. The prices were obscene at $500 for simple shelves and $1100+ for changing tables. Not to mention the table toys, blocks, role play materials, books, etc that needed to be purchased. I found a daycare that was closing and was able to buy some equipment from there. Too bad for me, though, she had already sold a bunch when I arrived. Once again, I prayed and God told me to check with a local woodworking guy to do the work. I found a guy that build my furniture for a fraction of the cost that Lakeshore quoted. Meanwhile, my husband talked to a guy that owns day cares and he said to check with Wish online for classroom materials. Jackpot! I also found IKEA to be a treasure trove of items that I could use. Now, if the Fire Marshal would just hurry up!