Opening a daycare in your home has so many benefits to it. The list goes on and on. One of the greatest benefits that excite so many ladies is the fact that you can make money and stay home and raise your children. This is why I started my family daycare 9 years ago, what a better idea than to raise my twin daughters and make money at the same time.

It was a wonderful decision for our family and it allowed us a lifestyle that many people only dreamed about. I worked at my daycare alone for approximately 4 years and when my daughters became of school age I believed it was time to hire an employee. This way I would have the ability to transport my daughters to and from school. I also really enjoyed the time that was spent by myself. I learned that I had missed out on so many years of education and I became interested again in reading. Something I advocate for everyone especially after all schooling is completed.

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

(c)CG Groth Inc. 2007