Childcare provision is "unsustainable", said the National Audit Office earlier this month. Although 626,000 new childcare places have opened since 1986, 301,000 have closed, and one of the main reasons is a lack of business planning (News, 3-9 March).
Veronica Day, director of membership services at the National Childminding Association (NCMA) of England and Wales, admits that many childminders start out in business with a naive attitude.
"People running a small business from home need to be on a business footing from the beginning," she says. "Later, when they have become friendly, it's more difficult.
"They think they can do it for somebody they know up the road, from school or a friend and everything is going to be hunky-dory. But if you are going to start up a business you have to look at whether it's going to be worth your while, what you have to charge, and what costs you're incurring."
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