Setting up advice

[lazylockdowner]

Im currently a one to one (special needs) in a primary school and also work a few hours a week as a play worker but I'm thinking ahead as in a year my job will be done as child moves up to secondary so considering becoming a childminder

I have children of my own (youngest 6) and teenagers I haven't got the biggest house standard 3 bed, small kitchen, large lounge diner, downstairs WC and a small enclosed back garden with trampoline, playhouse etc.

I'm quite keen to mostly do breakfast/after school care though would take a younger child or two on a part time based

My questions are what sort of set up cost would it involve? (I'm already DBS, safeguarding, first aid)

What would I have to do to my house? I'm quite minimal so all toys etc would be stored away in cupboard when not in use etc

My garden has a raised patio (live in flood zone so houses built higher would this be a issue ?

The thing that sticks out for me from your post is that you only plan to have one little one during the day. The way most childminders make their money is by having several children at the same time. Around me, childcare is about £4.25-£4.50, from that you need to take off expenses, dat to day things, like food, snacks, groups, activities, resources, petrol etc, plus business costs, like registration fees, insurance, training, first aid courses. I probably write off at least a quarter of my income on expenses, so it depends how much you need to make whether you can make a successful business out of it.

After school children, I generally charge more for, but I find you have to get the balanced right. If you have one who has so much energy they want to race around the park for 2 hours after school and another who is permanently exhausted when you collect it’s hard to balance that.

I think lots of childminders are re-evaluating how much ‘stuff’ they actually need. I’ve put away about two thirds of my toys and I’m not missing them at all. I’m thinking of having a massive clear out over the summer, you might be surprised by how few toys we are getting by with really.
Trampolines can be a bit of a grey area (this came up recently on one of the fb groups). Apparently Some insurance companies don’t insure for their use.
In terms of set up costs, I have no idea. You might be better off getting in touch with your local authority and seeing what they suggest as lots of them run courses for new minders so could point you in the right direction.

Size of house doesn’t matter, as long as you meet the space requirements in the EYFS and can meet everyone’s needs. It’s more how you use the space that’s important. Even now, we are spending very little time in the house, we go for a walk, play on the field, and are mainly in the garden.