For KAREN -- Dream Business Plan

For those of you who missed it, I offered to write micro business plans (how to get started) free for anyone who wanted an idea of how to start their "dream business."

I'll do another one in a few days (got two papers to write), but here's the very first one. Enjoy!
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Karen wrote: An idea that has always appealled to me is to have a babysitting service (day camp for the older kids) in Hawaii. Ideally, I would relocate to the islands (I am in Canada so immigration would be an issue) and start up a day camp for the kids. This would give parents a safe, secure location for the kids while the parents had time to themselves.
Several of the expensive hotel chains in Hawaii have a service somewhat like this. My twist would be that we would have day camps, so we would not be confined to the hotel grounds. Additionally, this service would extend to the families who are not staying in the expensive hotels.

So let's see what can be done to make that dream come true, eh? As was mentioned before, there's a demand for babysitting services in the Islands (particularly with the number of military people stationed on Oahu) -- the downside of that is that it's quite expensive.

But we're talking "making it happen" so let's look at it as a five year plan. If you happen to have $1,800,000 lying around in your spare change drawers, we could make it happen in a month or so. But I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that you're probably about $1,799,970 short of that particular goal, so we'll do it on a "start it on a shoestring" basis.

The first thing to know is that a business like this must have licenses here in the States. In addition to your DBA and other issues, you will ALSO need to be bonded by lawyers (against accidents and lawsuits and things like this) and you should pursue a standard daycare licensing. In order to be successful, you will also need a building and vehicles to transport the kids. And you're going to need employees. I know you're talented and energetic, but you GOTTA sleep sometime! Trust me on this one.

So let's get started! Although you can't go to Hawaii, you CAN work up a form of this plan there in Canada, and you can start doing it almost immediately! Have you thought about a "day camp" or "adventure camp" for homeschooled kids or for the kids in a church group you belong to? Not every parent can afford to send their kids away to day camps or summer camps, but if you could offer through a trusted association (a church or some place where they would trust you because you were a member) a one-day adventure tour (I'd take them out digging for fossils if it was me or take them out on an environmental science project (Cornell labs here in the US does a "birdwatch" and "bird count" program that makes a good excuse to get kids out and show them nature and get them to exercise their active little tails off.)) Certificates and some sort of toy to mark the occasion would probably be a good idea.

You will need: means of transporting kids, license to drive kids around (here in the US it's a "commercial license"), and it'd be a good idea to take a course on first aid (here in the US we can get certified by the Red Cross.) When you take kids anywhere, you'll need a first aid kit in addition to snacks and drinks and a lesson plan about where they're going, what the objectives are (in general. Don't get real formal), camera for photos (you can put your "adventure" photos on a website for parents and relatives to see) -- and depending on how many kids you have, you may need another adult or a trusted teen to help.

So... start with figuring out how to ge the training and the licensing and check with local agencies to see if you need vaccinations or other formalities (when I was working with the terminally ill, I needed a hepatitis vaccination.) Make sure your vehicle meets standards for transportation (if you take them by car.) Decide what rules need to be followed and what ages this is designed for (for instance, if they start hitting everyone they go back to their parents and there IS no refund. Get a lawyer to look this over. You want this in the form of an easy to read document and easy to understand document that the parents will sign.)

And while we're waiting on that, start designing your website and your brochure.

Start with clients that you know (who would be less wary of letting your kids go with them). Make a brochure and website that says (up front, please... no dancing around) how much you charge for child (and whether there's a discount for several kids from one family or what), where they will go, what activities they will do, and what they will bring home (certificate or whatever). Make a few "trial runs" (you can even offer these at a discount for willing parents.)

Once you've got this all established and yourself on good legal grounds, then approach your local hotels and ask if you can put a flyer in their "local interest flyers" rack. There's usually no charge for this (at least not here in the States, in the ones I'm familiar with.)

THEN do a little news release about the business and offer it to your local papers.

After the business is established, then see about branching out... and branching out to Hawaii.

It could take as little as 3 months to get the first phase up and going, and you could have a regular pool of clients (homeschooling association or whomever) within six months. You will learn a lot during that time, so don't rush the process and don't leap into the big business bit. Be patient and figure this for a 5 year plan, okay?