Why business skills are crucial for family day care educators

Family Day Care Leadership

We all know that family day care educators know how to look after children, right? Most are passionate about children, and their work comes naturally for them. However, what may not come naturally is managing a business. 

What business skills do family day care educators need?

Just like all other businesses, family day care educators need their own philosophies, a sound business plan, and must develop a marketing strategy to keep families coming in the door.
To build the skills and knowledge to do each of these things effectively, you need to take control of your own education. Your self-education plan should build on your strengths to reach your potential, and manage your weaknesses so they don’t hold you back.
Let’s take a look at the skills family day care educators need to remain viable.

  • Planning – Proper planning helps you determine what your priorities are, establish what’s working and what isn’t, and maps out how you will manage obstacles you may come across on your journey. Your business plan should remain a live document that you tweak and update so it can evolve as your business does. (Everyone who receives my weekly newsletter can access my free business plan template. Get your template here.)

  • Financial Management – Financial management skills are essential even in the planning stages of your business. You need to think about cash flow, costings, tax, and even paying wages. Once your business is up and running, you’ll need to manage all of your financials to remain profitable.

  • Communication – Good communication skills are important when you are running any business, however, they are essential when you are caring for people’s children. You need to be able to build relationships with families so you can have calm, honest and professional discussions, and you need to know how to communicate your policies and procedures so everyone is on the same page at all times.

  • Marketing – Marketing is necessary to get people interested in your business. To make sure you are attracting the right people to your business, you need to do market research to understand what your ideal customer’s needs are, and how you can help them. You also need to build a personal brand that will help you stand out from your competitors. For more tips on branding, read this blog post.

Don’t forget, business skills are transferable. This means they are skills that will enhance whatever job or career you choose. I have developed a course that teaches educators the skills they need to be successful business owners. Check out The Business of a Family Day Care Educator course here.You can also check out my free videos on YouTube and make them part of your professional development strategy too.

Running a business, any business, takes consideration, planning and time to make sure you are getting all the benefits you deserve, including financial, longevity, and reputation. 

Your business is YOUR business, and there are plenty of opportunities to reach your fullest potential and have great success if you develop the right business skills.


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