Becoming a Childminder..

[Kaykiara123]

Can someone please help?!
I'm thinking of becoming a Childminder!
My heart is set on it, as I have lots of experience within childcare but I no longer want to work in a private nursery!

But I'm worried about fincial problems?
I have a LG myself & a house, car (usual stuff) to pay for?
Can anyone help with this before I make a really big decision!
TIA.

Yes, what would you like to know

Ask away, happy to help :)

Are you worried about making enough to live on?

Yes, I'm generally worrying about the finically position I will be in!!
Thank you for responding so quickly!!
I just want to know what happens if for example I only have 1 child in my care..
The amount isn't going to cover my bills etc! I've been doing lots of research but everywhere says different. X

No your right, especially with your child taking one of your places I would say you need to be confident you could become 'full' pretty quickly. Can u do research as to whether there is the business for a childminder in your area? Do u have a big enough house for the extra stuff you may need . Do you have any pets? Big enough car ? Sorry to bombard u just things to think about' x

Are you the sole earner in your household? I was a childminder but it was our second Income and we could manage the fluctuations in earnings ok.
I think you'd need to top up your earnings through tax credits but I really don't know to be honest.
If you don't get much response here you could try in chat as it's the same for anyone who's self employed.

I think if you register as self-employed with hmrc you can get working tax credits to top up your income until you're fully set up & earning properly.

I've been a cm since I had my first dc 11 years ago. I now have three dc all at school and have minded throughout. It's only recently (now that all three are at school and I have all my places available) I have started to make a good wage from it. Where we are, the general hourly rate is quite low and I need three children to be able to make more than minimum wage by the time I've taken my expenses off. In our family budget this doesn't matter as we have never had to pay out for childcare, so for us, it balances out (if we were paying 3 lots of after school club/holiday fees, we would be far more out of pocket than me not earning minimum wage).
It is our second income though and the benefits of me being at home outweigh the cons of earning less.
As my dad always tells me though, at least I'm working to make myself rich, rather than working to make someone else rich.
I much prefer being my own boss as a childminder rather than when I worked in a nursery, it suits me far better.

Would you be able to do it, if it wasn't a second income though?

I also do it as a second income and don't think I would like to have it as my only income. It can be quite stressful when children leave and you only have a 4 week notice period to fill the space. Most parents start looking for childcare several months before they return to work. So although I might sign a contract for a new child quickly they may not actually start until a few months later, leaving me with a big hole in my income.

I do know one single mum who childminds and also one husband and wife team who do it together, but their children are older and not taking EYFS spaces so they are able to make more money.

I find Christmas the worst. It's such an expensive time of year and I don't charge for my own holidays so never earn much in December. Also, most people don't return to work from maternity leave just before Christmas, they all delay until the new year. So if a child leaves in Nov/Dec it's hard to fill the space before January.

I've had both good and bad times. Last year I was full for the entire year and not a single child left, but this year I have already had 3 leave.

I wasn't sure how much of a demand their was for childminders in my area, but I knew there was a MASSIVE demand for babysitters and nannying jobs. I did a few interviews, sourced a few potential families whilst I was still employed and then left work once I was sure I could earn enough from babysitting and nannying jobs. Then I slowly reduced the amount of families until I filled all my childminding spaces. That worked pretty well for me, but I understand it may be more difficult for you with your daughter X

I'm very divided
As much as I love the idea of progressing my own income and making my self money and not for other people. I think I'd be silly to leave a job paying the bills every month for a maybe each month!

I have been the main earner in my house as a childminder and love the freedom & flexibility it has given me BUT I am in a high rate area (£6-6.50ph) with good demand which obviously makes a massive difference. I now only work 3-3.5 days a week & last year earned £24k which isn't bad for PT work with no childcare or travel costs.
I love it and would hate to go back to being an employee again

How many children do you have if you don't mind me asking?
I'm just worried about keeping a space open constantly for my LG for school picks up and drop off and only have a small car!
Does anyone have anyone working for them? As I heard I have to wait a year to do this?

When I started my youngest was 2 plus I didn't feel confident having so many children initially so didn't earn much more working FT than I do now working PT, but my own DC are a few years older (& don't count in my numbers) so I now have 3 EYFS all day (with minimum 8 hour days) then 2 or 3 school children (again minimum hours) plus my 2. I have a couple of term time only families which works well so I can get out & about more in the holidays when I have 2 eyfs, 1 school age & my 2 (plus always have requests from a couple of ad hoc older ones if I want to earn more but then restricted to staying home).

Whilst I wouldn't rush out and buy a new car now unless you need it for school run, if this is something you're going to do as a career & aren't in a town, then a bigger car is a big plus IMO.