Starting a Day Care Facility

Open a Day Care Center in your Community using Census Bureau Data

Find Your Customers

Our data can help you learn more about your potential customers and if there is consumer demand for your type of business. Here are some factors to consider when opening a day care.

Age

Your target customers include parents (and their kids). Knowing the age breakdown of a certain area can help you determine if there is a demand for a day care business. If there is a high percentage of children, there is likely a demand for a child care facility.


Using demographic data, you will be able to tell how much of the population in a certain area is under the age of five.

Average household size

Families are the foundation of day care centers. To identify potential customers of your business, you may want to search for an area that has at least an average household size of three.

Median household income

Day care is a considerable expense for families, so you will want to find customers that can afford your services. Use median household income to determine if the annual income of a certain area is high enough to afford day care services.


Find out more about your customers.

Choose a Location

Finding the perfect location is essential for a successful business. Some factors to consider when looking for a place to start your day care include:


TIP: Other factors to consider when choosing a location include your city’s child care licensing procedures as well as city zoning laws.

Write a Business Plan

Once you have established who your target market is and where you will locate your business, you are ready to write a business plan for your day care center. Your plan will help you outline financial and organizational goals for your business.


Want to start writing a business plan? Check out our guide.

Apply for a Loan

Banks and other lenders will want to know about your day care’s market, as well as its competitors. Using Census Business Builder reports, you can create an interactive, data-driven report that can help demonstrate the strength of your industry.


Looking for help in applying data to your loan application? Check out this Small Business Administration checklist for more information about applying for a loan.