Is It Too Expensive To Start A Daycare In Your Home?
By Christine Groth
Opening a in your home has so many benefits to it; the list goes on and on. One of the greatest benefits that excites so many ladies is the fact that you can make money and stay home and raise your children.

This was initially why I started my daycare.

I was a new mom of twins and I had an absolute desire to stay home and care for my daughters. So it all worked out perfectly, I made money, took care of my family and had a really great time teaching and caring for other people’s children.

Many of you have asked me advice on if starting a is expensive. This could be farther from the truth. To be honest with you most of the items I use in my I had already owned. Just think about it for a minute, many of you are already mom’s and

Personal/Public Services Small Business Ideas : Costume Making and Rental
Whether it's singing in a choir at church, acting in a school play or performing in a band, we all have had to wear a costume at least once in our lifetime. If you live in the US, you would understand how some people will go to extreme lengths to get THE perfect costume especially around Halloween. The problem of course is that "THE" perfect costume often requires creative and intricate sewing skills - more than what the average person may have. That's where you come in. If you're someone artistic and creative with the ability to sew, then you have the basic skills to start a Costume Making and Rental business. Lots of stay-at-home Moms and Grandmas are actually part-time Costume Makers - making costumes for their kids (and friends). If they were to take the effort to go into it a little bit more seriously and maybe invest a little money, they could turn their skills into a full blown Costume Making and Rental business! Costume Making and Rental doesn't have to be a seasonal thing. If you make a name for yourself, you could be up to your eyeballs in costumes all year round. The trick is in working smart, but more about that later. Other than the skills I mentioned earlier, you DO need to have a sewing machine for starters, a good eye for detail and lots of patience. Before you go scaring yourself silly thinking about how you're not a business woman and how you can't compete with fashion stores, tailors etc, don't. Starting out is easy. You DON'T need lots of fancy gadgets and gizmos and hi-tech skills to make costumes. More often than not, you will receive requests for simple costumes for school plays and recitals. If someone comes to you with a job that you can't handle, you can always turn them down politely, but ALWAYS keep their request in mind and LEARN how to create what they wanted so you'll be ready the next time someone comes around asking for a pink frilly fairy costume with glow-in-the-dark wings that can flutter! Your first step in marketing yourself is to let people know that you can make costumes. Make friends with parents who have small children. Get in touch with kindergartens and schools in your neighbourhood. Make contact with event organizing companies. Let them know that you're handy with a sewing machine and that if they ever need a Honey Bee costume for their daughter or a Pink Dinosaur costume for their son or a choir uniform, to give you a call. As your business expands, you will notice that there are seasonal demands for specific types of costumes. If you want to tap into the Costume Rental business, you will need to create and have these popular costumes in stock and if possible, in different sizes. If you add one costume design - including accessories - every month, in one year, you will have twelve designs in stock. You'll need to keep in touch with the Costume Rental industry - making sure you expand carefully, and in tandem with market demands. Get quotes on your costume materials and figure out how much material you will need to produce the quantity of costumes you need. Check out your competitors and see what they have to offer. Mark your calendar for seasonal trends, making sure you have designs ready well before popular holidays. Starting our small in the Costume Making and Rental business is easy and doesn't cost much, but like all potentially lucrative businesses, as you expand you will need to consider lots of issues - insurance liability, staffing needs, opening a store and adding equipment. Tackle these issues one at a time. Having a website definitely helps build your market presence. It also gives you an opportunity to sell more than just your Costume Making and Rental business. This is a really good niche for creative folk who love making people happy and making money at the same time!

have toy’s laying around the house.

And if you don’t you can purchase toys at rummage sales, and Goodwill for cheap. Books and toys can be borrowed from the library and parents who attend your can be asked if they have any items they would like to donate. Over the years I’ve gone to businesses in my area asking them if they had any donations, I’ve gotten items such as envelopes, huge roles of paper, colored sheets of sticker paper, books of wallpaper samples, the list goes on. All these items can be used for craft projects with children.

It always helps to be creative, one other thing I did that received rave reviews is I bought a large circular wooden table at Goodwill for $15.00. It was a beautiful table but too tall for small children. My solution was to chop off the legs.

It’s very important to keep in mind that many items around your home can be turned into items that would be great for daycare. Another example would be bones from Thanksgiving Turkey Dinners. Keep the large sized leg bones to show children and teach about bones in humans and animals.

Starting a in your home is one of the cheapest businesses you can start. It only takes a short time to get things up and running. It’s not uncommon to start a in one week’s time.

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Christine Groth is an author, mentor, and speaker. She has written the book, "The Guide to Instant Profits" To receive her free newsletter go to www.instantdaycareprofits.com