A daycare center is a wonderful business that you can venture into. It is very lucrative, a highly in demand service and creates a money making opportunity for someone who is looking for extra income. You already have a market for your services right in your own neighborhood. Think of all those working parents who need someone to look over their children while they are away at work. There might even be a parent who needs someone to keep watch over their kids for just a few hours while they attend to some pressing matters. A daycare center, aside from being profitable offers a valuable service to your society. It also creates jobs for the unemployed and provides opportunities to earn money from your own home.

If you have a passion and the patience to take care of little children then this business might work for you. You can set up a daycare center right in your own home. It will replicate a homey and welcoming atmosphere for your patrons and their kids. A well planned daycare center would mean having a childproof home, providing the snacks and activities suited for little children and offering professional day care services will definitely attract a lot of regular customers.

But just like any other business, you have to learn the ropes on how to set up your own daycare center. One of the problems you may encounter is capital to set up your business. You have to be licensed in order to run a legitimate daycare center. Taking seminars on how to run professional daycare services, registering your business and even buying the supplies you need for the center all entails money.

Lacking the capital to jumpstart your daycare business should not be your stumbling block from pursuing your dream. There are ways to generate money to build your daycare center. You can apply for a daycare grant and this will help a lot in getting things started.

Daycare grants are monetary or financial assistance given to qualified daycare providers by institutions, organizations or even a generous individual who share the same purpose. Unlike loans, you don't need to pay back these grants. However, these grants are only given for the specific purpose of helping you with your daycare operations. Whether to help you start the business or to help you maintain your operations, these grants are very useful.

You have to start by looking for the grants yourself. Surfing the internet is a quick way to find your resources for these grants. You can call the local licensing office, the local child care organizations or even the NACRRA (National Child Care Resource and Referrals). These offices have a listing of grant giving bodies or individuals who may be willing to award you the grant.

Alternatively, you can apply for daycare government grants. You can search for these grants with the US Government Children and Family Agency. Grants are also offered to minorities if you call the Minority Business Development Agency. Small Business Association also has a listing of grants that can help you with the start up costs of your daycare center.

There are also several philanthropic foundations and organizations that offer grants for this type of business. You can call the Foundation Center and they can give you a referral among the 600 foundations who are affiliated with them. Other resources for daycare grants are: Head Start, CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program), CCDF (Child Care and Development Fund), Foundation for Early Learning, and DaycareGrants.org and OwnADaycare.com.