How to Find a Free Sample Budget for a Daycare Center

There are a lot of sources for sample daycare budgets around, but few are free. If you are in need of a free sample daycare budget, where can one be found?

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Phone book
• Library card [optional]
• Internet access
• Paper
• Pen or pencil
• Time

1. Pull out your phone book and call licensed daycare centers. Talk to the director and ask her if she would be willing to give you a sample copy of their budget. If she is not willing or able, ask about other sources for obtaining a free sample daycare budget.

2. Go to your local library. Look for the most current publications available regarding daycare centers, financing day care centers, and sample budgets for businesses. A few examples would be Entrepreneur magazine, Early Childhood Today, and Childhood Education.

3. Use the Internet to run searches using various keywords and keyword combinations regarding daycare centers, daycare facilities, daycare budgets, daycare financing, sample budgets, business financing and any other combinations you can think up. Because new information is continually being posted on the internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, a search run today may produce different results than a search run next week. See Resources below for a few of the credible information sources available on the web.

4. While online, check out reliable business information sites such as the Small Business Administration for any resources available for free sample budgets for daycares. Other resources to check would be the big daycare financing/grant sites such as Head Start, CCDF, TANF and Social Services Block Grant.

Tips & Warnings

• Review multiple sample budgets in order to get the best overall numbers and expense items.
• The Small Business Administration offers many free classes including some related to budgeting and finance.
• Check with state and local agencies that assist in the startup of a daycare. If they do not have sample daycare budgets, they may have resources available to you that have them.
• Look for the most current sample daycare budget you can find to ensure accuracy and reliability.
• If starting your own daycare center, be sure to consider other items not listed in your sample budgets, but that your particular facility may encounter such as special licenses, special equipment, startup costs and extra advertising.

Resources

• Small Business Administartion (SBA) Free Classes and Resources
• Administration for Children and Families FREE Sample Daycare Construction and Development Budgets
• Create Your Own Daycare Budget
• Starting Your Own Daycare: Financial Basics