How to Start an Adult Day Care Business
Baby boomers account for more than half of the health clinical visits in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It's called the aging of America--and it can mean big profits to businesses catering to the growing population of seniors. By starting an adult daycare, you'll be filling a need that is steadily on the rise. Adding a touch of individualism to your center will help you turn silver into gold for both you and your seniors.
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Instructions
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The Need for Adult Daycare Centers is Rising
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A non-profit adult daycare can receive public funds. Consider opening a nonprofit adult daycare center. According to Nancy J. Cox of the Robert Johnson Foundation, the ongoing national study the National Adult Service Association started tracking in the 1980's examines the number of adult day service programs. As recently as 2009, 80 percent of adult daycare centers are nonprofit, 10 percent are for profit and the other 10 percent only use public funds.
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Contact your business licensing bureau. Apply for licensing and nonprofit status. Contact your local business licensing bureau to determine what you'll need to become a legal nonprofit in your area. By becoming nonprofit, you'll have access to grants, donations and private contributions.
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Write a detailed business plan. Compose a comprehensive business plan. You will need a comprehensive plan to be able to justify your funding needs. Business plan software programs help you write a detailed plan to help determine your costs and analyze exactly what you need to be successful.
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Individualize your adult daycare. Come up with a theme. Some adult centers bring in dogs for their seniors to cuddle. Others offer active exercise programs to keep their seniors mobile. Active Day adult center in Myrtle Beach, S.C., says bringing in dogs weekly makes their residents happy. "It gives (the clients) something to look forward to," says Lesley Bess, a registered nurse and director of the center. Think of ways to add a touch of individualism to create a loyal niche market for your adult daycare.
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Fill out applications for funding. Apply for funding. There is a wide variety of available funding, including private donations, state funding and government grants. Start online with Federal Grants Wire for information on federal grants. To get started in your area, contact your county department of social services, your local agency on aging, or your local veterans administration.
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Tips & Warnings
Save yourself the potential headache of reverting from profit to nonprofit. "Many individuals see a need in their community and they want to open an adult day center and they want to be for-profit,'' says Cox. ''In about a year, they convert to nonprofit. They've not been able to make a go of it financially." That is a lesson learned early on by Rena McNeil, a registered nurse who opened a commercial adult day center in Cahokia, Ill., in 2004. She joined with a nonprofit community center in East St. Louis recently to open a center after finding it difficult on her own.
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